Cost Estimates for Decommissioning Licensing Actions

The table below offers resource estimates for many of the common licensing and oversight activities in the area of storage and transportation of nuclear material. This information is being offered to enhance stakeholder awareness of the costs associated with these activities. It will also aid licensees and applicants in the planning and budgeting of future applications. This information was developed through a sampling of licensing and oversight actions that were completed in the past few years. The data provided in the table below are estimates. The actual costs will vary depending on the specific circumstances. The NRC encourages licensees and applicants to engage early in the process when submitting new actions. Licensees are encouraged to work with their NRC project manager to discuss details of any specific application. The table will be updated on a biennial basis.

The estimated hours shown in this chart represent NRC professional staff hours associated with project management, health physics, hydrogeology, engineering, and financial reviews. The distribution of time among professional staff members (job categories) working on a project vary within each activity and from project to project. However, a single professional hourly rate is applied to all hours regardless of which professional staff contributed these hours. Indirect costs are included in the applied hourly rate as published in the current NRC Fee Rule. The average, high, and low estimates of hours shown in this chart are only intended to provide an approximate estimate of the total cost of NRC work on a billable activity based upon historical data.

In addition, contractors are used to assist the NRC to complete projects. Contractors can be used to supplement NRC staff or provide a particular expertise required for the project. Similar to the hourly estimates, the average, high, and low estimates for contractor costs shown here are only intended to provide an approximate estimate of total contractor billable costs on an activity based upon historical data.

Materials And Waste Licensing Action Cost Estimates (March 2023)
Major Licensing Action	Billed Number of NRC Direct Staff Hours: Low Estimate of Level of Effort	Billed Number of NRC Direct Staff Hours: High Estimate of Level of Effort	Billed Number of NRC Direct Staff Hours: Average Estimate of Level of Effort	Billed Contractor Costs: Low Estimate of Level of Effort	Billed Contractor Costs: High Estimate of Level of Effort	Billed Contractor Costs: Average Estimate of Level of Effort
COST ESTIMATES FOR DECOMMISSIONING AND LOW LEVEL WASTE BUSINESS LINE
Decommissioning Plan (DP)*	5,000	20,500	12,750	$0	$400,000	$200,000
Decommissioning License Termination Plan (LTP)**	1,500	6,000	2,500	$0	$300,000	$100,000
Decommissioning Financial Assurance Reviews (Complex Materials and Uranium Recovery Sites)***	24	1,450	90	$0	$22,700	$3,240
SAFSTOR Power Reactors Regional Inspections (Per FY)	40	140	80	$0	$0	$0
DECON Power Reactors Regional Inspections (Per FY)	220	540	400	$0	$0	$0

* The resource estimates are based on a limited number of complex materials license decommissioning plan reviews.

** The resource estimates are based on a limited number of power reactor license termination plan reviews.

*** The resource estimates are based on a complex materials licensed site (the high value in the table) and a limited number of uranium recovery sites undergoing decommissioning financial assurance reviews.