Up & Atom

As fiscal year 2024 approaches, a partial government shutdown looms on the horizon once more. This would be the first partial government shutdown since the 36-day shutdown that began in late December 2018 and ended on January 25, 2019. While the NRC was unaffected by that shutdown because its FY 2019 budget had been enacted, at this time Congress has not passed any of the annual appropriation bills for FY 2024, including that for the NRC.

In a Federal Register Notice published September 5, 2023, the NRC amended its regulations to be effective October 5, 2023, to adjust for inflation the maximum total and annual deferred premium amounts for the “secondary layer” of offsite liability coverage, as required by the Price-Anderson Act, as amended, Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 USC 2210) (Price-Anderson).

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced that it intends to issue, by the end of 2023, the final rule and associated regulatory guide that sets emergency preparedness requirements for new reactors. The rulemaking will allow small modular reactor (SMR) and advanced reactor license applicants to develop performance-based emergency preparedness programs as an alternative to the current offsite radiological emergency planning requirements. This rulemaking is a significant development toward providing flexibility in meeting the NRC’s emergency preparedness requirements.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published an order in the Federal Register on August 14, 2023 suspending the general license to export special nuclear material, source material, and deuterium for nuclear end use to China. Under the NRC’s order, which is effective immediately, any person wishing to export special nuclear material, source material, or deuterium to China must apply for, and receive, a specific license before they can make the export.

The NRC has now followed up on that guidance with revisions to RG 5.83, “Cybersecurity Event Notifications (Revision 1),” to address new cybersecurity concerns, provide clarification, and align with new guidance in RG 5.71. This guidance is critical for the nuclear industry given the rapid pace at which cybersecurity threats and deterrent strategies evolve. All nuclear power reactor owners must review NRC’s latest guidance and confirm that their cybersecurity programs are in compliance.

The NRC’s Office of Enforcement (OE) recently published its Enforcement Program Annual Report for Calendar Year 2022. In 2022, the NRC issued 73 escalated enforcement actions to licensees, non-licensees, and individuals. This is 13 more than in 2021, an increase of 22%, and is higher than the five-year average of 60. Even so, this remains below the highs seen in 2016 and 2017, which had more than 80 each year. Non-escalated enforcement actions also increased in 2022 for reactor and materials licensees.

The NRC published a draft interim staff guidance (ISG) on June 15, 2023, reemphasizing limitations on the use of funds previously reported to the NRC as providing radiological decommissioning funding assurance (DFA).

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has set a course to create a regulatory framework for fusion energy systems that builds on NRC’s existing nuclear materials licensing process. As we have previously reported, NRC had considered three options for regulating nuclear fusion. NRC chose to work from the existing process for licensing the use of byproduct materials contained in 10 CFR Part 30, which requires only a limited-scope rulemaking.

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy recently issued an update to its “road map for implementing a consent-based siting process” to site one or more federal interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel. The 2023 update retains most of the features of the prior 2017 version, but further clarifies the focus of DOE’s spent fuel siting efforts, incorporates some changes and updates, and provides the current aspirational timelines for the key stages of the effort.

The Nine Mile Point nuclear power station in Oswego, New York began producing hydrogen in March 2023 as part of a demonstration project sponsored by the US Department of Energy. Although Nine Mile Point produced hydrogen solely for internal use, the project validates that reliable and emission-free nuclear energy can be used to produce clean-burning hydrogen.