[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12571-12572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6287]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 51 / Monday, March 17, 2003 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 12571]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
RIN 3150-AG52
Decommissioning Trust Provisions; Correction
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendments.
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SUMMARY: This document contains a correction to an amendment included
with the final regulations establishing licensing criteria for the
decommissioning trust provisions for nuclear power plants that the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission published in the Federal Register of
December 24, 2002.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 24, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian J. Richter, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-1978; e-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The final regulations that are the subject of this correction
become effective on December 24, 2003. The final rule, published
December 24, 2002 (67 FR 78332), amended parts 50 and 72 of 10 CFR
Chapter 1. One of the amendments included in the final rule was to
Sec. 50.75(e). However, as a result of that amendment, paragraphs
(e)(1)(ii)(A) and (e)(1)(ii)(B) would be inadvertently removed from the
NRC's regulations at Sec. 50.75(e) when the December 24, 2002, final
rule becomes effective. The NRC does not intend to remove these
paragraphs.
Need for Correction
As published, the final regulations erroneously omit two paragraphs
of Sec. 50.75(e) that address the requirements for an external sinking
fund sufficient to fund decommissioning costs for a nuclear power
facility at the time permanent termination of operations is expected.
This correction restores those paragraphs to 10 CFR Part 50.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 50
Antitrust, Classified information, Criminal penalties, Fire
protection, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear power plants and
reactors, Radiation protection, Reactor siting criteria, and Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
Accordingly, 10 CFR Part 50 is corrected by making the following
correcting amendments:
PART 50--DOMESTIC LICENSING OF PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION
FACILITIES
1. The authority citation for Part 50 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 161, 182, 183, 186, 189, 68
Stat. 936, 937, 938, 948, 953, 954, 955, 956, as amended, sec. 234,
83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2201,
2232, 2233, 2236, 2239, 2282); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).
Section 50.7 also issued under Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat.
2951 (42 U.S.C. 5841). Section 50.10 also issued under secs. 101,
185, 68 Stat. 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2131, 2235); sec. 102, Pub.
L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 50.13, 50.54(dd),
and 50.103 also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42
U.S.C. 2138). Sections 50.23, 50.35, 50.55, and 50.56 also issued
under sec. 185, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2235). Sections 50.33a,
50.55a and Appendix Q also issued under sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83
Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 50.34 and 50.54 also issued
under sec. 204, 88 Stat. 1245 (42 U.S.C. 5844). Sections 50.58,
50.91, and 50.92 also issued under Pub. L. 97-415, 96 Stat. 2073 (42
U.S.C. 2239). Section 50.78 also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939
(42 U.S.C. 2152). Sections 50.80--50.81 also issued under sec. 184,
68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Appendix F also issued
under sec. 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2237).
2. In Sec. 50.75, revise paragraph (e)(1)(ii) to read as follows:
Sec. 50.75 Reporting and recordkeeping for decommissioning planning.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(1) * * *
(ii) External sinking fund. An external sinking fund is a fund
established and maintained by setting funds aside periodically in an
account segregated from licensee assets and outside the administrative
control of the licensee and its subsidiaries or affiliates in which the
total amount of funds would be sufficient to pay decommissioning costs
at the time permanent termination of operations is expected. An
external sinking fund may be in the form of a trust, escrow account, or
Government fund, with payment by certificate of deposit, deposit of
Government or other securities, or other method acceptable to the NRC.
This trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other type of agreement
shall be established in writing and maintained at all times in the
United States with an entity that is an appropriate State or Federal
government agency, or an entity whose operations in which the external
linking fund is managed are regulated and examined by a Federal or
State agency. A licensee that has collected funds based on a site-
specific estimate under Sec. 50.75(b)(1) of this section may take
credit for projected earnings on the external sinking funds using up to
a 2 percent annual real rate of return from the time of future funds'
collection through the decommissioning period, provided that the site-
specific estimate is based on a period of safe storage that is
specifically described in the estimate. This includes the periods of
safe storage, final dismantlement, and license termination. A licensee
that has collected funds based on the formulas in Sec. 50.75(c) of
this section may take credit for collected earnings on the
decommissioning funds using up to 2 percent annual real rate of return
up to the time of permanent termination. A licensee may use a credit of
greater than 2 percent if the licensee's rate-setting authority has
specifically authorized a higher rate. However, licensees certifying
only to the formula amounts (i.e., not a site-specific estimate) can
take a pro-rata credit during the dismantlement period (i.e.,
recognizing both cash expenditures and earnings the first 7 years after
shutdown). Actual earnings on existing funds may be used
[[Page 12572]]
to calculate future fund needs. A licensee, whose rates for
decommissioning costs cover only a portion of these costs, may make use
of this method only for the portion of these costs that are collected
in one of the manners described in this paragraph, (e)(1)(ii). This
method may be used as the exclusive mechanism relied upon for providing
financial assurance for decommissioning in the following circumstances:
(A) By a licensee that recovers, either directly or indirectly, the
estimated total cost of decommissioning through rates established by
``cost of service'' or similar ratemaking regulation. Public utility
districts, municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, and State and
Federal agencies, including associations of any of the foregoing, that
establish their own rates and are able to recover their cost of service
allocable to decommissioning, are assumed to meet this condition.
(B) By a licensee whose source of revenues for its external sinking
fund is a ``non-bypassable charge,'' the total amount of which will
provide funds estimated to be needed for decommissioning pursuant to
Sec. Sec. 50.75(c), 50.75(f), or 50.82 of this part.
* * * * *
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of March, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael T. Lesar,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-6287 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
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