Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) recently clarified the need to expedite its proposal regarding decommissioning legislation, asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to increase transparency and effectiveness in nuclear plant shutdown procedures.
“NEI strongly urges the agency to continue on a path of completing a rulemaking to improve the efficiency of the transition from operations to decommissioning as expeditiously as possible,” NEI said in a letter to the NRC.
Prioritizing the issue would both ease the process and save costs, according to a press release. At present, whenever a reactor is shut down, regulatory status does not automatically change. A waiting period of sometimes up to 18 months total ensues, during which paperwork adds to administrative workload both for the industry and the regulating body. Consequently, streamlining the legislation is of utmost importance for NEI.
“We continue to encourage the NRC to utilize the proposal we submitted in response to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in developing the final [decommissioning] rule language,” NEI said. “In the meantime, it continues to be important that NRC staff remain committed to the timely review of exemptions and license amendments that are necessary until this rulemaking can be completed.”
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