STATE REGULATION OF DECOMMISSIONING COSTS

Abstract

Even though the NRC has jurisdiction over setting regulations governing financial assurance for decommissioning, the states have the specific responsibility of setting rates for fund accumulation. Each state must include many factors in determining the appropriateness of the rate requests from the utility companies under this jurisdiction, including plant size, date of decommissioning, and configuration of the nuclear component (single or multiple units). It also must decide on proper contingency factors, estimation methodology, the likelihood of early retirement, and whether fund accumulations will include amounts for the removal of nonradioactive components and site restoration. In this chapter the authors discuss the results of their survey of how 37 state utility commissions treat these factors.