DOE Extends Survey on Nuclear Power Plant Fuel Data
Published Date: 4/6/2026
Notice
Summary
The Department of Energy is extending its Nuclear Fuel Data Survey for three more years, asking nuclear power plant operators to keep sharing info on spent fuel. They’re bringing back a key section to better track fuel use over five years, so the data stays sharp and useful. Comments on this update are open until May 6, 2026, with no new costs for those involved.
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Three-Year Survey Extension
The Department of Energy extended the Form GC-859 Nuclear Fuel Data Survey for three more years (OMB Control Number 1901-0287). The survey continues to apply to all utilities that operate commercial nuclear reactors and others that possess irradiated fuel from commercial reactors; comments are due by May 6, 2026.
Estimated Burden Hours and Labor Cost
DOE estimates 126 annual respondents, 42 total annual responses, 3,707 annual burden hours, and an annual reporting cost burden of $352,128 (3,707 hours × $94.99/hour). DOE states respondents will have no additional costs beyond these burden hours and normal information maintenance.
Reinstate Projected Discharges Reporting
DOE is reinstating Section C.2, Projected Assembly Discharges, which was paused after the survey covering July 1, 2013 to December 31, 2017. Respondents must now report projected discharged assemblies for at least three cycles to cover the five-year gap between collections.
Clarified Instructions and Reduced Burden
DOE clarified instructions, definitions, and tables on Form GC-859 to reduce respondent burden and avoid unnecessary clarifications. Section B.2 (Reactor License Data) is discontinued because license data is publicly available on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission website.
Optional Enrichment Data Field Added
The form adds an optional data field for Assembly-Average Initial Enrichment in Section C.1.1 in addition to the existing Maximum Planar-Average Initial Enrichment field. DOE says both values help different safety analyses and planning.
Simplified Non‑Fuel Component Reporting
DOE removed three Non-Fuel Component (NFC) columns from Table C.1.1 and added NFC reporting to the D.3.3 (Assemblies in Dry Storage) table. DOE no longer requires tracking the current location of NFCs in the spent fuel pool, only the tentative amount delivered to DOE.
Damaged Fuel Canister Reporting Column
An additional column for Damaged Fuel Canister (DFC) will be added to the D.3.3 table to clarify which assemblies are damaged and to avoid confusion during canister unloading and transportation acceptance.
Appendix Updates Improve Usability
Appendix C replaces numeric reactor and storage IDs with recognizable names and removes pools no longer used; Appendix E was updated to add codes submitted in 2023 and remove unused codes. DOE revised naming to match the web application.
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