NRC eases penalties for nuclear license update slip-ups
Published Date: 4/7/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing a new policy that gives some wiggle room to general licensees who adopt changes made by Certificate of Compliance holders. This means fewer penalties for certain rule slip-ups while they update their systems. If you’re a licensee, you’ve got until April 28, 2025, to share your thoughts—no extra costs, just a smoother path forward!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Enforcement discretion for general licensees
The NRC proposes an Interim Enforcement Policy to exercise enforcement discretion and not issue enforcement actions to a general licensee (GL) for certain violations of 10 CFR 72.48 and 72.212 when the noncompliance results from a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) holder's failure to comply with 10 CFR 72.48. If discretion is granted, the GL is expected to come into compliance using established processes, and the NRC staff will monitor the GL's actions. The IEP will remain in place until the underlying issue is resolved through rulemaking or other regulatory action.
No duplicate 72.48 evaluation when unchanged
Under the proposed IEP, when a GL adopts a CoC holder-generated change and does not make site-specific, technical changes, the GL would not be required to perform a separate 10 CFR 72.48 screening and/or evaluation. The GL would only need to review the CoC holder's change for applicability to its cask and for impacts on the GL's site-specific evaluations and programs (e.g., 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5) and (b)(6)).
Enforcement focused on change initiator
The proposed IEP states NRC enforcement actions will focus on the entity that initiated a change: the CoC holder will be accountable for noncompliance identified within CoC holder-generated 10 CFR 72.48 screenings and evaluations, while the GL will be accountable for noncompliance arising from GL-initiated changes. Each use of discretion will be documented with an enforcement action number.
GLs still must perform written evaluations
The IEP clarifies that GLs remain responsible for performing written evaluations to establish that a storage cask conforms to the terms and conditions of the CoC in accordance with 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5) and (b)(6). GLs must also ensure compliance with applicable quality-assurance requirements (Appendix B to 10 CFR part 50 and Subpart G to 10 CFR part 72).
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Key Dates
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