[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 201 (Thursday, October 19, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71988-71990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23062]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 140
[NRC-2023-0130]
RIN 3150-AL02
Increase in the Maximum Amount of Primary Nuclear Liability
Insurance
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
[[Page 71989]]
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
regulations to increase the required amount of primary nuclear
liability insurance from $450 million to $500 million for each nuclear
reactor that is licensed to operate, is designed for the production of
electrical energy, and has a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical
kilowatts or more. This change complies with the provision in the
Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 that states the amount of primary
financial protection required of licensees by the NRC shall be the
maximum amount available at reasonable cost and on reasonable terms
from private sources.
DATES: This final rule is effective on January 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0130 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may
obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of
the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0130. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407;
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the
first time that it is mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-4123, email:
[email protected] and Mable Henderson, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3760, email:
[email protected]. Both are employees of the NRC.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Discussion
II. Rulemaking Procedure
III. Section-by-Section Analysis
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
V. Regulatory Analysis
VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VII. Plain Writing
VIII. National Environmental Policy
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act
X. Congressional Review Act
I. Discussion
The NRC's regulations in part 140 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Financial Protection Requirements and
Indemnity Agreements,'' provide requirements and procedures for
implementing the financial protection requirements for certain
licensees and other persons under the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of
1988 (Pub. L. 100-408) (Price-Anderson Act), incorporated as Section
170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). The Price-
Anderson Act amended Sec. 170b.(1) to state that for facilities
designed for producing substantial amounts of electricity and having a
rated capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more (henceforth
referred to as large operating reactors), ``the amount of primary
financial protection required shall be the maximum amount available at
reasonable cost and on reasonable terms from private sources.'' This
requirement of the Price-Anderson Act is implemented in the NRC's
regulations at Sec. 140.11 ``Amounts of financial protection for
certain reactors.'' Section 140.11(a)(4) refers to the current dollar
amount of the maximum amount liability insurance from private sources
of $450 million. Therefore, Sec. 140.11(a)(4) currently requires large
operating reactors to have and maintain primary nuclear liability
insurance in the amount of $450 million.
In a letter dated July 14, 2023, American Nuclear Insurers (ANI),
the underwriter of American nuclear liability policies, acting on
behalf of its member companies, notified the NRC that it will be
increasing ``its maximum available primary nuclear liability limit from
$450 million to $500 million, effective on January 1, 2024'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML23212A986). The ANI makes such adjustments on a non-
periodic basis. The last such adjustment was made in 2017, and the NRC
revised Sec. 140.11 to reflect the increased maximum available amount
of primary nuclear liability insurance (81 FR 96347; December 30,
2016).
To implement this adjustment, in accordance with the Price-Anderson
Act, the NRC is revising 10 CFR part 140 to require large operating
reactors to have and maintain $500 million in primary financial
protection.
The NRC is not currently revising the appendices in Sec. 140.91,
Sec. 140.92, or Sec. 140.93 that provide general forms of liability
policies and indemnity agreements that were determined to be acceptable
to the Commission. These appendices include historical insurance
providers and protection amounts for primary liability insurance that
are no longer in use (for example, values of $124 million and $36
million from the 1979 final rule (44 FR 20632; April 6, 1979) and
values of $200 million, $155 million, and $45 million from the 1989
final rule (54 FR 24157; June 6, 1989)). However, these appendices
continue to provide relevant general forms of policies and agreements.
II. Rulemaking Procedure
This final rule is being issued without prior public notice or
opportunity for public comments. The Administrative Procedure Act (5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B)) does not require an agency to use the public notice
and comment process ``when the agency for good cause finds (and
incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefore in
the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' In
this instance, the NRC finds, for good cause, that solicitation of
public comment on this final rule is unnecessary because the Price-
Anderson Act requires a non-discretionary adjustment in the maximum
amount required for primary nuclear liability insurance. Requesting
public comment on this non-discretionary adjustment, which is required
by statute, would not result in a change to the adjusted amount.
III. Section-by-Section Analysis
The following paragraph describes the specific changes that are
reflected in this final rule.
Sec. 140.11 Amounts of Financial Protection for Certain Reactors
In paragraph (a)(4), this final rule removes ``$450,000,000'' and
replaces it with the increased maximum amount of
[[Page 71990]]
primary nuclear liability insurance of ``$500,000,000''.
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to regulations for
which a Federal agency is not required by law, including the rulemaking
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b), to
publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 604). As
discussed in this document under Section II, ``Rulemaking Procedure,''
the NRC is not publishing this final rule for notice and comment.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that the requirements of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply to this final rule.
V. Regulatory Analysis
A regulatory analysis was not prepared for this final rule because
the change in the maximum amount of nuclear liability insurance is
mandated by the Price-Anderson Act. This final rule does not involve an
exercise of Commission discretion.
VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality
The NRC has not prepared a backfit analysis for this final rule.
This final rule does not involve any provision that would impose a
backfit, nor is it inconsistent with any issue finality provision, as
those terms are defined in 10 CFR chapter I. These mandatory
adjustments are non-discretionary, required by statute, and do not
represent any change in position by the NRC with respect to the design,
construction, or operation of a licensed facility.
VII. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR
31885).
VIII. National Environmental Policy Act
The NRC has determined that this final rule is the type of action
described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore,
neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental
assessment has been prepared for this final rule.
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule does not contain any new or amended collections of
information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.). Existing collections of information were approved by the
Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0039.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
X. Congressional Review Act
This final rule is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget
has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional
Review Act.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140
Criminal penalties, Extraordinary nuclear occurrence, Insurance,
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants
and reactors, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization
Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting
the following amendments to 10 CFR part 140.
PART 140--FINANCIAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY
AGREEMENTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 140 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 161, 170, 223, 234
(42 U.S.C. 2201, 2210, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of
1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
Sec. 140.11 [Amended]
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2. In Sec. 140.11, amend paragraph (a)(4) by removing the number
``$450,000,000'' and adding in its place the number ``$500,000,000''.
Dated: September 29, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-23062 Filed 10-18-23; 8:45 am]
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