NRC asks for comments on FY 2026 fees proposal

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking for feedback on its proposed rule for fees for fiscal year 2026, which begins October 1. The proposal was published in the March 12 Federal Register.

Based on the FY 2026 budget request because a full-year appropriation has not yet been enacted for the fiscal year, the proposed request is $971.5 million, an increase of $27.4 million from FY 2025.

Deep dive: The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) requires the NRC to recover approximately 100 percent of its total budget authority in FY 2026, except for funds used for specific excluded activities.

Based on the FY 2026 budget request, these exclusions total just over $152 million, which is an increase of $15 million from the previous year.

The NRC has estimated that after accounting for the excluded activities and net billing adjustments, it must recover approximately $819.7 million in fees in FY 2026. Of this amount, the estimate is that $189.4 million will be recovered through service fees under 10 CFR Part 170 and $630.3 million through annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171.

Compared to FY 2025, the proposed fees would increase for operating power reactors, nonpower production or utilization facilities, uranium recovery facilities, materials users, and transportation fee classes. The proposed fees for spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning and for the fuel facilities fee classes would decrease from the previous year.

The proposal includes revisions to implement Sec. 201 of the ADVANCE Act, which includes the establishment of two hourly rates: 1) the professional hourly rate of $336 and 2) the reduced hourly rate for advanced nuclear reactor applicants and preapplicants of $154 for certain activities.

The professional hourly rate for 2026 is an $8 increase from 2025. "The approximately 5.7 percent increase in the professional hourly rate is primarily due to the decrease in mission-direct FTE [full-time equivalent,] compared to FY 2025," according to the notice.

Furthermore, the $154 hourly reduced rate, which represents a more-than 50 percent reduction from the proposed $336 hourly rate, is approximately 4 percent higher than it was in 2025.

EO amendments: The fees proposal also includes amendments to establish fixed caps on service fees to implement section 5(a) of President Trump's Executive Order 14300, ''Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.''

"The proposed fixed fee caps implementing Executive Order 14300 would drive increased efficiency and accountability in the NRC's licensing activities and other activities requested by applicants and licensees," the Federal Register notice stated.

According to the notice, the fixed caps apply to service fees in the following areas:

• Standard design approvals.
• Design certifications.
• Licenses.
• Construction permits.
• Early site permits.
• Limited work authorizations.
• License amendments (including power uprates) and DC amendments.
• Restart activities.
• License renewals.
• Certificates of compliance.
• Topical reports.
• Independent spent fuel storage installation.
• Exemptions.
• Code reliefs.
• License transfers.

"We need to cultivate accountability internally, incentivize applicants, and lower barriers for new technologies. This rule supports innovation and aligns with the NRC's principles of efficiency and reliability," Chairman Ho Nieh said of the rule proposal.

Providing feedback: Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through April 13. A public meeting will be held via webcast on March 27. Comments may be submitted at regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2023-0212. Further information and instructions can be found in the FR notice.