§ 171.15 - Annual fees: Non-power production or utilization licenses, reactor licenses, and independent spent fuel storage licenses.

§ 171.15 Annual fees: Non-power production or utilization licenses, reactor licenses, and independent spent fuel storage licenses.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 51816, June 20, 2024.

(a) Each person holding an operating license for one or more non-power production or utilization facilities under 10 CFR part 50 that has provided notification to the NRC of the successful completion of startup testing; each person holding an operating license for a power reactor licensed under 10 CFR part 50 or a combined license under 10 CFR part 52 that has provided notification to the NRC of the successful completion of power ascension testing; each person holding a 10 CFR part 50 or 52 power reactor license that is in decommissioning or possession only status, except those that have no spent fuel onsite; and each person holding a 10 CFR part 72 license who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 or 52 license and provides notification in accordance with 10 CFR 72.80(g), shall pay the annual fee for each license held during the Federal fiscal year in which the fee is due. This paragraph (a) does not apply to test or research reactors exempted under § 171.11(b).

(b)

(1) The FY 2023 2024 annual fee for each operating power reactor that must be collected by September 30, 20232024, is $5,492336,000.

(2) The FY 2023 2024 annual fees are comprised of a base annual fee for power reactors licensed to operate, a base spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee and associated additional charges. The activities comprising the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning base annual fee are shown in paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. The activities comprising the FY 2023 2024 base annual fee for operating power reactors are as follows:

(i) Power reactor safety and safeguards regulation except licensing and inspection activities recovered under part 170 of this chapter and generic reactor decommissioning activities.

(ii) Research activities directly related to the regulation of power reactors, except those activities specifically related to reactor decommissioning.

(iii) Generic activities required largely for NRC to regulate power reactors (e.g., updating part 50 or 52 of this chapter, operating the Incident Response Center, new reactor regulatory infrastructure). The base annual fee for operating power reactors does not include generic activities specifically related to reactor decommissioning.

(c)

(1) The FY 2023 2024 annual fee for each power reactor holding a 10 CFR part 50 license or combined license issued under 10 CFR part 52 that is in a decommissioning or possession-only status and has spent fuel onsite, and for each independent spent fuel storage 10 CFR part 72 licensee who does not hold a 10 CFR part 50 license or a 10 CFR part 52 combined license, is $261$326,000.

(2) The FY 2023 2024 annual fee is comprised of a base spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning annual fee (which is also included in the operating power reactor annual fee shown in paragraph (b) of this section). The activities comprising the FY 2023 2024 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning rebaselined annual fee are:

(i) Generic and other research activities directly related to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage; and

(ii) Other safety, environmental, and safeguards activities related to reactor decommissioning and spent fuel storage, except costs for licensing and inspection activities that are recovered under part 170 of this chapter.

(d)

(1) Each person holding an operating license for an SMR issued under 10 CFR part 50 or a combined license issued under 10 CFR part 52 that has provided notification to the NRC of the successful completion startup testing, shall pay the annual fee for all licenses held for an SMR site. The annual fee will be determined using the cumulative licensed thermal power rating of all SMR units and the bundled unit concept, during the fiscal year in which the fee is due. For a given site, the use of the bundled unit concept is independent of the number of SMR plants, the number of SMR licenses issued, or the sequencing of the SMR licenses that have been issued.

(2) The annual fees for a small modular reactor(s) located on a single site to be collected by September 30 of each year, are as follows:

Table 1 to Paragraph (d)(2)

Bundled unit thermal power rating	Minimum fee	Variable fee	Maximum fee
First Bundled Unit(s)—cumulative MWt:
0 MWt ≤ 20 MWt	TBDa	N/A	N/A.
>20 MWt ≤ 250 MWt	TBDa	TBDd	N/A.
>250 MWt ≤ 2,000 MWt	TBDb	TBDe	N/A.
>2,000 MWt ≤ 4,500 MWt	N/A	N/A	TBD.c
Additional Bundled Unit(s)—cumulative MWt (above the first bundled unit of 4,500 MWt):
0 MWt ≤ 2,000 MWt	N/A	TBDf	N/A.
>2,000 MWt ≤ 4,500 MWt	N/A	N/A	TBD.c
a Annual fee paid by the non-power production or utilization facilities fee class.
b Average of the annual fees for the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning and the non-power production or utilization facilities fee classes.
c Annual fee paid by the operating power reactors fee class.
d [((b)−(a))/230] × the difference between 20 MWt for the first bundled unit(s) and the actual cumulative licensed thermal power rating up to 250 MWt.
e [((c)−(b))/1,750] × the difference between 250 MWt for the first bundled unit(s) and the actual cumulative licensed thermal power rating up to 2,000 MWt.
f [((c)−(b))/2,000] × the difference between 4,500 MWt for the first bundled unit(s) and the total actual cumulative licensed thermal power rating up to 2,000 MWt.

(3) The annual fee for an SMR collected under this paragraph (d) is in lieu of any fee otherwise required under paragraph (b) of this section. The annual fee under this paragraph (d) covers the same activities listed for the power reactor base annual fee and the spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning reactor fee.

(e) The FY 2023 2024 annual fee for licensees authorized to operate one or more non-power production or utilization facilities under a single 10 CFR part 50 license, unless the reactor is exempted from fees under § 171.11(b), is $96$97,300200.

[72 FR 31426, June 6, 2007, as amended at 72 FR 49566, Aug. 28, 2007; 73 FR 32407, June 6, 2008; 74 FR 27665, June 10, 2009; 75 FR 34240, June 16, 2010; 76 FR 36802, June 22, 2011; 77 FR 35831, June 15, 2012; 78 FR 39487, July 1, 2013; 79 FR 37150, June 30, 2014; 80 FR 37460, June 30, 2015; 81 FR 32628, May 24, 2016; 81 FR 45964, July 15, 2016; 81 FR 41192, June 24, 2016; 82 FR 30704, June 30, 2017; 83 FR 29652, June 25, 2018; 84 FR 22356, May 17, 2019; 85 FR 37277, June 19, 2020; 86 FR 32177, June 16, 2021; 87 FR 37221, June 22, 2022; 88 FR 39146, June 15, 2023; 89 FR 51816, June 20, 2024]