Nuclear Regulation: Better Oversight Needed to Ensure Accumulation of Funds to Decommission Nuclear Power Plants
RCED-99-75
Published: May 03, 1999. Publicly Released: May 06, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the potential cost to decommission nuclear power plants and the implications of competition within the electricity industry, focusing on whether: (1) there is adequate assurance that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) licensees are accumulating sufficient funds for decommissioning; and (2) NRC is adequately addressing the effects of electricity deregulation on the funds that will eventually be needed for decommissioning.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | After NRC reviews licensees' initial reports on decommissioning financial assurances, the Chairman, NRC, should provide licensees and the interested public with information on the: (1) objectives, scope, and methodologies of NRC's reviews of the reports; (2) thresholds for identifying, on the basis of these reviews, acceptable, questionable, and unacceptable indications of financial assurances; and (3) criteria for the actions to be taken on the results of these reviews. |
Closed – Implemented
NRC does not agree because it believes that all of its licensees are on track to provide necessary funds for decommissioning commensurate with NRC funding assurance regulations. NRC said that it has taken extensive action to ensure that adequate funds for decommissioning nuclear power plants are available when needed. It initiated a comprehensive reevaluation of its policies and regulations which resulted in a final policy statement on the financial assurance requirements for decommissioning nuclear power reactors in 1998 and a final standard review plan on power reactor licensee financial qualifications and decommissioning funding assurance in 1999. While the standard review plan cited examples of information that NRC would verify, review methodologies, and thresholds for identifying acceptable, questionable, and unacceptable indications of financial assurances, the plan did not show criteria for actions NRC would take as a result of its reviews.
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