Regulation of nuclear power plant decommissioning funding by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. An industry perspective on the NRC's proposed regulations

The rules on decommissioning criteria that the NRC published this past February represent an evolutionary process. The rulemaking began in 1978, and during the interim period a considerable amount of study of decommissioning methods, costs and financing has been undertaken by the Commission, its Staff and outside consultants and contractors. The utility industry's view is that many aspects of the Commission's proposed rule are quite sound. For example, the proposed rule recognizes that for most utility licensees (specifically, multi-asset licensees, i.e., those owning an interest in more than one generating station) the internal reserve method of decommissioning funding provides reasonable funding assurance