The areas: These include providing additional monitoring or a detailed review on the use of the decommissioning trust funds; additional financial oversight assistance when reviewing and monitoring the use of the funds; documented policies, procedures, and workflows; and maintaining a master list of sites with license notification conditions.
The OIG also identified best practices developed by the NRC for the use of decommissioning trust funds when licensees are restarting nuclear reactors that were formerly in decommissioning status, including a universal process for establishing a regulatory hold point, tracking the level of effort, and instituting a license condition for the restarting plant related to the use of its decommissioning trust fund.
Adequate oversight: While the OIG concluded that the NRC could enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of its oversight program, the assessment found that the agency has demonstrated adequate oversight of licensee compliance with its regulatory requirements pertaining to decommissioning trust funds.
Nuclear power plant operators are required to maintain a dedicated trust fund to ensure there will be enough money to pay for the eventual decommissioning of plants. Every two years, licensees must report the status of their decommissioning trust funds to the NRC, which reviews them to ensure there is reasonable assurance that the funds are adequate to complete the decommissioning work.
Some violations: The assessment, which was completed on August 14 and made public on November 14, was conducted as a result of four NRC violations (totaling $266,000) where decommissioning trust funds were used on activities unrelated to decommissioning. The violations all occurred in 2023 and 2024.
