Decommissioning Rule - OMB Supporting Statement Part 72_2002

DRAFT SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR INFORMATION COLLECTIONS CONTAINED IN
THE REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION FACILITIES
TRANSITIONING TO DECOMMISSIONING PROPOSED RULE
10 CFR PART 72
LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR
FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-RELATED GREATER THAN
CLASS C WASTE

DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION COLLECTION
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations that
govern production and utilization facility licensee activities during decommissioning. The NRC’s
goals in amending these regulations are to provide for an efficient decommissioning process;
reduce the need for exemptions from existing regulations and license amendment requests;
address other decommissioning issues deemed relevant by the NRC; and support the principles
of good regulation, including openness, clarity, and reliability. The proposed rule covers a wide
range of topics, including the following that would result in incremental changes in
recordkeeping and reporting requirements relative to existing rules:
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Emergency preparedness,
Physical security,
Cyber security,
Fitness for duty,
Training requirements for a fuel handler program,
Decommissioning funding assurance,
Offsite and onsite financial protection requirements and indemnity agreements, and
Current regulatory approaches to decommissioning.

This supporting statement describes how the proposed rule would impact the information
collections in 10 CFR Part 72 (3150-0132). The supporting statements describing changes to
10 CFR Part 20 (3150-0014), 10 CFR Part 26 (3150-0146), 10 CFR Part 50 (3150-0011),
10 CFR Part 52 (3150-0151), and 10 CFR Part 73 (3150-0002) have been submitted under the
respective clearances.
Affected Entities
Under the proposed rule, changes to information collection requirements would be triggered by
specified actions, all of which would occur after a nuclear power reactor licensee formally begins
the decommissioning process by certifying its permanent cessation of operations and
permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1) or 52.110(a). The
NRC staff estimates that three nuclear power reactors will permanently shutdown during the 3year period covered by this supporting statement.
Although the proposed rule largely focuses on establishing a regulatory framework for the
transition from the operation of a nuclear reactor to the decommissioning of a nuclear reactor,
the proposed rule also would affect spent fuel storage record retention requirements. The

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changes to the spent fuel storage record retention requirements in Section 72.72(d) would affect
78 licensees to which the NRC or an Agreement State has granted a general license or specific
license to construct or operate a nuclear facility, or to receive, possess, use, transfer, or dispose
of source material, byproduct material, or special nuclear material.
Information Collections
The Part 72 information collection requirements that would be impacted by the proposed rule
are identified below by rulemaking topic. A more detailed description of each is provided at the
end of this supporting statement in “Description of Information Collection Requirements.”
Spent Fuel Management
72.218 – Termination of licenses

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Record Retention
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A.

materials

72.7 – Specific exemptions
72.72(d) – Material balance, inventory, and records requirements for stored

JUSTIFICATION
1.

Need for the Collection of Information
The regulations in 10 CFR Part 72 are issued pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, Title II of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended,
and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended. In order to obtain a license
under 10 CFR Part 72, an applicant must submit financial, safeguards, technical,
and environmental information. Such information is needed both to provide safety
assurance and to comply with complementary NRC regulations for environmental
protection (10 CFR Part 51) and safeguards requirements (10 CFR Part 73).

2.

Agency Use and Practical Utility of Information
Applicants or licensees requesting approval to construct or operate utilization or
production facilities are required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), to provide information and data that the NRC may determine necessary to
ensure the health and safety of the public.
The information collected from power reactors under Section 72.7 is used by the
NRC to assess a licensee’s request for exemption from selected requirements in
Part 72. The NRC determines if the exemption is authorized by law and otherwise in
the best interest of the public.
Under Section 72.72(d), records must be stored in a facility that meets specific
requirements to ensure that they are not destroyed. Records of material transferred
out of the facility must be preserved for 5 years after the date of transfer. The
material control and accounting procedures are used by the licensee to carry out its
material control and accounting operations and are reviewed by NRC inspectors to
ensure the adequacy of the licensee's programs and compliance with NRC

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regulations. The records are reviewed by the inspection staff to detect diversion of
material and to initiate prompt action in the event of a diversion.
3.

Reduction of Burden Through Information Technology
The NRC has issued Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC, which
provides direction for the electronic transmission and submittal of documents to the
NRC. Electronic transmission and submittal of documents can be accomplished via
the following avenues: the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) process, which is
available from the NRC's “Electronic Submittals” Web page, by Optical Storage
Media (OSM) (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD), by facsimile or by e-mail.
The proposed rule would not impact the proportion of documents submitted to the
NRC electronically.

4.

Effort to Identify Duplication and Use Similar Information
No sources of similar information are available. There is no duplication of
requirements.

5.

Effort to Reduce Small Business Burden
Not applicable.

6.

Consequences to Federal Program or Policy Activities if the Collection Is Not
Conducted or Is Conducted Less Frequently
Section 72.7 exemption requests are collected and evaluated when licensees are
seeking relief from the requirements of Part 72. Each exemption request needs to
be submitted only once. The schedule for collecting the information is the minimum
frequency necessary to assure that licensees are complying with the law and are
not creating undue hazard to life or property. If the information were not collected,
then licensees could be required to comply with unnecessary requirements.
Section 72.72(d) imposes record retention requirements for records related to spent
fuel and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). If the information were not collected,
then NRC inspectors would not have access to the information needed to evaluate
the adequacy of licensee’s programs and compliance with NRC regulations. The
records are reviewed by the inspection staff to detect diversion of material and to
initiate prompt action in the event of a diversion.

7.

Circumstances which Justify Variations from OMB Guidelines
The proposed revisions to Part 72 would not conflict with OMB Guidelines.

8.

Consultations Outside the NRC
Opportunity for public comment on the information collection requirements for this
clearance package has been published in the Federal Register.

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9.

Payment or Gift to Respondents
Not applicable.

10. Confidentiality of Information
Confidential and proprietary information is protected in accordance with NRC
regulations at 10 CFR 9.17(a) and 10 CFR 2.390(b). However, no information
normally considered confidential or proprietary is requested.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
This proposed rule does not request sensitive information.
12. Estimated Burden and Burden Hour Cost
Detailed burden estimates are included in the supplemental burden Excel
spreadsheet titled, “Part 72 Burden Tables for the Regulatory Improvements for
Production and Utilization Facilities Transitioning to Decommissioning Proposed
Rule.”
The overall estimated annual burden reduction is 436 hours at an estimated annual
cost reduction of $125,568.00 (436 hrs x $288/hr). This includes 46 hours for
reporting and 390 hours for recordkeeping.
Title
Annual Reporting
Annual Recordkeeping
TOTAL

Total Burden Summary
Responses
Hours
1
-46
20
-390
21
-436

Cost
-$13,248.00
-$112,320.00
-$125,568.00

* Each recordkeeper is counted as a single response on the table. All one-time recordkeepers are
included in the annual recordkeeping total. However, in ROCIS, no new recordkeeping responses
have been added. All the recordkeepers affected by the proposed rule are already included in current
ROCIS totals. Therefore, the total number of new responses for the proposed rule is 1 reporting
response.
Note: The respondents affected by the proposed rule’s 10 CFR part 72 information collections are not
new respondents; they are affected by other information collections identified in the existing 10 CFR
part 72 clearance.

The $288 hourly rate used in the burden estimates is based on the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission’s fee for hourly rates as noted in 10 CFR 170.20, “Average
cost per professional staff-hour.” For more information on the basis of this rate, see
the Revision Of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery For Fiscal Year 2021 (86 FR 32146;
June 16, 2021).
13. Estimate of Other Additional Costs
The quantity of records to be maintained is roughly proportional to the
recordkeeping burden and therefore can be used to calculate approximate records
storage costs. Based on the number of pages maintained for a typical clearance,
the records storage cost has been determined to be equal to .0004 times the

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recordkeeping burden cost. Therefore the records storage cost savings for this
clearance is estimated to be $44.93(390 recordkeeping hours x $288/hour x .0004).
The current records storage cost is $4,855. The new total record storage cost
including the proposed rule requirements would be $4,810.07.
14. Estimated Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
The annualized cost reduction for the NRC is estimated to be $8,640.00 (30 hours x
$288/hour).
NRC Action
Process
exemption
requests

Annualized NRC Cost Reduction

Rule Text
Provision
72.7

No.
Actions/
Year

Reduced
Burden
Hours/Action

Total
Reduced
Hours

1

30

30

Total Cost
Reduction
$8,640.00

This cost reduction is the result of NRC not having to process and review exemption
requests associated with record retention requirements.
The current cost to the Federal government is $11,291,991. The new cost to the
Federal government including the proposed rule requirements would be
$11,283,351.
The staff has developed estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government
related to the conduct of this collection of information. These estimates are based
on staff experience and subject matter expertise and include the burden needed to
review, analyze, and process the collected information and any relevant operational
expenses.
15. Reasons for Changes in Burden or Cost
The estimated incremental burden reduction from the proposed rule is 436 hours.
The proposed rule would decrease the recordkeeping burden for licensees opting to
store records related to spent fuel and HLW in a single location that meets the
requirements of an NRC-approved quality assurance program, as opposed to two
separate locations. This proposed revision also would reduce the number of
licensees submitting exemption requests.
16. Publication for Statistical Use
The information being collected is not expected to be published for statistical use.
17. Reason for Not Displaying the Expiration Date
The recordkeeping and reporting requirements for this information collection are
associated with regulations and are not submitted on instruments such as forms or
surveys. For this reason, there are no data instruments on which to display an OMB
expiration date. Further, amending the regulatory text of the CFR to display

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information that, in an annual publication, could become obsolete would be unduly
burdensome and too difficult to keep current.
18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement
None.
B.

COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
Not applicable.

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DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS CONTAINED IN THE
REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION FACILITIES
TRANSITIONING TO DECOMMISSIONING PROPOSED RULE
10 CFR PART 72
The Part 72 information collection requirements that would be impacted by the proposed rule
are discussed below by rulemaking topic.
Spent Fuel Management
Section 72.218 requires that there be notification regarding the program for the management of
spent fuel at the reactor under Section 50.54(bb), including notification of a plan for removal of
the spent fuel stored under the general license for the reactor site. Currently, requirements in
Section 50.54(bb) focus primarily on reporting on the planned funding for storing and managing
spent nuclear fuel, while the corresponding requirements in existing Section 72.218 focus on
reporting on the planned management. The proposed rulemaking would eliminate this
discrepancy by removing the spent fuel management requirements under Section 72.218 and
clarifying them under Section 50.54(bb). This proposed revision would not impact the paperwork
burden for decommissioning licensees. Additionally, Paragraph c of 72.218 requires that reactor
licensees send a copy of any notification regarding spent fuel management at the reactor and
any application for termination of the reactor operating license to the appropriate NRC Regional
Office. The proposed rule would eliminate Paragraph c. As a result, licensees entering
decommissioning would no longer submit the reports to the NRC. No licensee would be affected
by this requirement during the period of this clearance. Therefore, the proposed rule would not
change the reporting burden in the existing Part 72 Clearance (3150-0132). (Amended)
Record Retention
Section 72.7 specifies that the Commission may, upon application by a licensee or upon its own
initiative, grant an exemption from the requirements of the regulations in Part 72 if the
Commission determines an exemption is authorized by law and otherwise in the best interest of
the public. Section 72.72(d) requires that records of spent fuel and HLW in storage be kept in
duplicate, at separate sites, to ensure that a single event cannot destroy both sets of records.
Records of materials transferred out of the facility must be preserved for five years after the date
of transfer. Currently, to decrease the burden associated with long-term record storage and
increase the overall efficiency of the decommissioning process, licensees that are transitioning
to decommissioning frequently request exemptions from these requirements. Proposed
revisions to Section 72.72(d) allow for the storage of records in a single location if a storage
facility is available that meets the requirements of an NRC-approved quality assurance program
for the storage of records. This proposed revision to Section 72.72(d) would result in a reduction
to the exemption request related reporting burden for licensees transitioning to
decommissioning because fewer licensees would be expected to submit exemption requests to
NRC. (Change in Respondents)
Section 72.72(d) requires that records of spent fuel and HLW in storage be kept in duplicate, at
separate sites, to ensure that a single event cannot destroy both sets of records. Records of
materials transferred out of the facility must be preserved for five years after the date of transfer.
Proposed revisions to Section 72.72(d) allow for the storage of records in a single location if a
storage facility is available that meets the requirements of an NRC-approved quality assurance
program for the storage of records. The proposed revision would also result in a reduction in the
recordkeeping burden for licensees. (Amended)