NRC amends fees for FY 2024

Details: The FY 2024 final fee rule, published on June 20 in the Federal Register, reflects a total budget authority of $944.1 million, an increase of $16.9 million from FY 2023. Under the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), the NRC is required to recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its total budget authority, with exceptions for excluded activities. A proposed fee rule was published for public comment on February 20. The final rule becomes effective on August 19, according to the NRC.

After accounting for the exclusions from the fee-recovery requirement and net billing adjustments, the NRC must recover approximately $808.3 million in fees in FY 2024. Of this amount, about $202.2 million will be recovered through service fees under 10 CFR Part 170, and about $606.1 million will be recovered through annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171.

Compared with FY 2023, annual fees are increasing for fuel facilities, spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning activities, nonpower production or utilization facilities, the lone NRC uranium recovery licensee, the Department of Energy’s transportation activities, the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Program, and all materials users fee categories. The annual fees for operating power reactors do not exceed the cap established by NEIMA and are decreasing from FY 2023 levels.

The final fee rule includes a change in the hourly rate charged for services, affecting licensees and applicants. The NRC has increased its hourly rate from $300 to $317, and the agency said that license application fees have been adjusted accordingly. The NRC is also amending its payment methods to align with the Treasury Department’s “No-Cash No-Check” policy by removing paper forms and facilitating electronic payments through pay.gov.

Payors: The NRC estimates that the FY 2024 annual fees will be paid by 94 operating commercial power reactors, three nonpower production or utilization facilities, 124 spent nuclear fuel storage and decommissioning reactor facilities, eight fuel cycle facilities, one uranium recovery facility, and about 2,400 nuclear materials licensees.