NRC Information Digest, Nureg 1350, a bridged audio book. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, also known as the NRC, has published the Information Digest annually since 1989 to provide information about agency activities and the licensees from different industries it regulates. It describes the agency's responsibilities and activities and includes general information on nuclear related topics. This audio book will incorporate the general information found in the Information Digest. In order to find more specific NRC and industry data, appendices with licensee information, infographics, and data associated with maps, please visit the NRC website at www.nrc.gov and look under popular documents section on the bottom of the home screen. The NRC welcomes comments or suggestions on the Information Digest to submit comments right to the Office of Public Affairs at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington D.C. 20055-0001 or email us at opa.resource at nrc.gov. NRC, an independent regulatory agency. About the NRC, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency created by Congress to regulate the nation's civilian, commercial, industrial, academic, and medical uses of nuclear materials. The NRC's scope of responsibility includes regulating commercial nuclear power plants, research and test reactors, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, medical, academic, and industrial uses of radioactive materials, the decommissioning of licensed facilities and sites, and the transport, storage, and disposal of radioactive materials and wastes. The agency licenses and oversees the use of radioactive materials and certifies nuclear reactor designs, spent fuel storage casks, and transportation packages. The agency also licenses the import and export of radioactive materials and works closely with its international counterparts to enhance nuclear safety and security worldwide. To fulfill its responsibilities, the NRC performs five principal regulatory functions, developing regulations and guidance for applicants and licensees, licensing or certifying applicants to use nuclear materials, operate nuclear facilities, and decommissioned facilities. Oversight of NRC-regulated facilities, including inspecting and assessing licensee operations and facilities to ensure licensees comply with NRC requirements, responding to incidents, investigating allegations of wrongdoing and taking appropriate follow-up or enforcement actions when necessary, evaluating operational experience of licensed facilities and activities, and conducting research, holding hearings, and obtaining independent reviews to support regulatory decisions. The agency's mission statement, the NRC licenses and regulates the nation's civilian use of radioactive materials to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety to promote the common defense and security and protect the environment. The NRC's vision is to demonstrate the principles of good regulation in performing the agency's mission. To be successful, the NRC must not only excel in carrying out its mission but must do so in a manner that engenders the trust of the public and stakeholders. The principles of good regulation, independence, openness, efficiency, clarity, and reliability guide the agency. They affect how the NRC reaches decisions on safety, security, and the environment, how the NRC performs administrative tasks, and how its employees interact with each other as well as with external stakeholders. By adhering to these principles, the NRC maintains its regulatory competence, conveys that competence to stakeholders, and promotes trust in the agency. The agency puts these principles into practice with effective, realistic, and timely actions. The NRC's strategic goals are for safety, to ensure the safe use of radioactive materials, and for security, to ensure the secure use of radioactive materials. Statutory Authority The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 created the NRC from a portion of the former Atomic Energy Commission. The new agency was set up to independently oversee, but not promote, the commercial nuclear industry so the United States could benefit from the use of radioactive materials while also protecting people and the environment. The agency began operations on January 18, 1975. The NRC's regulations can be found in Title X of the Code of Federal Regulations, also known as 10CFR. The principal statutory authorities that govern the NRC's work can be found online. The NRC, its licensees, or those licensed by the NRC to use radioactive materials and agreement states, or states that assume regulatory authority over certain nuclear materials, all share responsibility for protecting public health and safety and the environment. Federal regulations and the NRC's regulatory program play a key role. However, the licensees ultimately bear the primary responsibility for safely handling and using radioactive materials. On September 28, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act of 2017. The act requires the U.S. Department of Energy and the NRC to enter into a memorandum of understanding or MOU on certain topics related to advanced reactors and authorizes them to enter into an MOU on additional topics in this area. The NRC staff has been working closely with DOE to develop an MOU to implement provisions of the act. On January 14, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act. That act's provisions has impacts across the agency. It has three stated objectives. To provide a revised framework for fee recovery by the NRC, to ensure the availability of resources to meet industry needs without burdening existing licensees unfairly for inaccurate workload projections or premature existing reactor closures. To support the development of expertise and regulatory infrastructure necessary to allow innovation and the commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors and to foster more efficient regulation of uranium recovery. The NRC has begun implementing various provisions of the act. The agency is preparing the required reports to Congress, establishing performance metrics and milestone schedules for requested activities of the commission and taking actions related to the licensing process for commercial advanced reactors and research and test reactors. The NRC is committed to meeting the requirements of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act and is working diligently to do so. Major activities. The NRC fulfills its responsibilities in many different ways. It licenses the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of commercial nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities. The agency licenses the possession, use, processing, handling, exporting and importing of nuclear materials. The NRC establishes national policy and standards for the safe disposal of low-level radioactive waste. It certifies the design, construction and operation of commercial transportation cask for radioactive materials and waste. The NRC also licenses the design, construction and operation of spent fuel storage cask and interim storage facilities for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The agency licenses nuclear reactor operators. It licenses uranium enrichment facilities. The NRC conducts research to develop regulations and to anticipate potential reactor and other nuclear facility safety issues. The NRC collects, analyzes and disseminates information about the safe operation of commercial nuclear power reactors and certain nonreactor activities. The agency issues safety and security regulations, policies, goals and orders that govern nuclear activities. It also interacts with other federal agencies, foreign governments and international organizations on safety and security issues. The NRC conducts criminal, civil and administrative investigations of alleged violations by NRC licensees. And it inspects NRC licensees to ensure adequate performance of safety and security programs. The agency enforces NRC regulations and the conditions of NRC licenses and imposes when necessary civil sanctions and penalties. The NRC conducts public hearings on nuclear and radiological safety and security and on environmental concerns. It also implements international legal commitments made by the U.S. government in treaties and conventions. The NRC develops working relationships with state and tribal governments. It maintains an incident response program and oversees required emergency response activities at NRC license facilities. The NRC implements lessons learned from the March 2011 nuclear accident in Japan to enhance safety at U.S. commercial nuclear facilities while transforming the agency into a modern risk informed regulator using innovative approaches to achieve the agency's mission. The agency involves and informs the public through social media platforms and by providing interactive high value data sets allowing members of the public to search, filter or repackage the information. The NRC also allows the public to participate in the regulatory process through meetings, conferences and workshops. It provides opportunities for commenting on proposed new regulations, petitions, guidance documents and technical reports. It provides people ways to report safety concerns and the NRC provides documents either directly online or through Freedom of Information Act requests. Another important activity is transformation and innovation. Over the years the NRC has undertaken various transformative and innovative initiatives such as developing and implementing the reactor oversight process and regulations for new reactors, licensing process improvements and creating centers of expertise within the agency. The agency currently has a broad effort underway to continue active transformation of the NRC organizational culture and processes to address a dynamic environment and become a more effective and efficient regulator. This is essential to continuing to meet the agency's important safety and security mission. Key aspects of the NRC's transformation include modernizing its decision making to be more risk informed and performance based. In making decisions the NRC will also increase participation and collaboration, seek alternative views earlier in the process, embrace new ideas and innovative approaches and improve trust and commitment to final decisions once all views have been considered. The agency is seeking to recruit, retain and develop a diverse workforce with the skills and agility necessary to adapt to a rapidly changing work environment. The NRC will strive for greater clarity and transparency in its communications and will meet this challenge one decision at a time. One of the NRC's major activities is developing new regulations referred to as rulemaking. The NRC initiates a new rule or change to an existing rule when there is a need to do so to protect public health and safety. Additionally any member of the public may petition the NRC to develop, change or rescind a rule. The commission directs the staff to begin work on a new rulemaking activity through approval of a staff rulemaking plan. Proposed Rules NRC regulations or rules provide licensees with requirements that if met will result in the adequate protection of workers, the public and the environment. The impetus of a proposed rule could be a direction from the commission to the NRC staff or a petition for rulemaking submitted by a member of the public. Each proposed rule that involves significant matters of policy is sent to the NRC commission for approval. If approved the proposed rule is published in the federal register and usually contains the background information about the proposed rule and address for submitting comments, the date by which comments should be received in order to ensure consideration by the staff, an explanation indicating why the rule change is thought to be needed and the proposed text to be changed. Usually the public is given 75 to 90 days to provide written comments. Not all rules are issued for public comment. Generally those accepted from public comment concern agency organization procedure or practice are interpretive rules, for example guidance interpreting current regulations or are rules for which delaying their publication to receive comments would be contrary to the public interest and impractical. Once the public comment period has closed the staff analyzes the comments makes any needed changes and prepares a draft rule for commission approval. Upon approval the final rule is published in the federal register and usually becomes effective 30 days later. When appropriate the NRC can shorten the traditional rulemaking process by using a direct final rulemaking process. This is only used for regulatory changes that the NRC believes are non-controversial. For especially important or complex rules the NRC may publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking and conduct one or more public meetings. The notice requests public comment well in advance of the proposed rulemaking stage. The notice describes the need for the proposed action but discusses only broad concepts. The public can access a centralized web-based tracking and reporting system which provides real-time updates on all NRC rulemaking activities online. Organization and functions. The NRC's commission has five members nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for five-year terms. The members terms are staggered so one commissioner's term expires on June 30th of each year. The president designates one member to serve as chairman. The chairman is the principal executive officer and spokesperson of the agency. No more than three commissioners can belong to the same political party. The commission as a whole formulates policies and regulations governing the safety and security of nuclear reactors and materials, issues orders to licensees and adjudicates legal matters brought before it. The executive director for operations carries out the policies and decisions of the commission and directs the activities of the program and regional offices. The NRC is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland and has four regional offices. They are located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Georgia, Lyle, Illinois and Arlington, Texas. The NRC Technical Training Center is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The TTC staff trains NRC inspectors and other staff members using simulators and classroom instruction. There are resident inspector offices located at each operating nuclear power plant site. The NRC's offices provide centrally managed activities necessary for agency programs to operate and achieve goals. There are several committees and boards that play vital roles in the NRC mission. Those include the advisory committee on reactor safeguards, the advisory committee on the medical uses of isotopes and the atomic safety and licensing board panel. The NRC offices reporting directly to the commission are the office of commission appellate adjudication, the office of congressional affairs, the office of the general counsel, the office of international programs, the office of public affairs, the office of the secretary, the office of the chief financial officer and the office of the executive director for operations or EDO. The EDO offices include the office of nuclear material safety and safeguards, the office of nuclear reactor regulation, the office of nuclear regulatory research, the office of enforcement, the office of investigations, the office of nuclear security and incident response, the four regional offices, the office of the chief information officer, the office of administration, the office of the chief human capital officer and the office of small business and civil rights. The NRC also has an office of the inspector general, an independent office responsible for audits and investigations of the NRC's programs and operations. Taking a closer look at the NRC's major program offices, the office of nuclear reactor regulation handles licensing and inspection activities for existing nuclear power reactors and research and test reactors. Beginning in October 2019, the office of new reactors will merge with the office of nuclear reactor regulation, also known as NRR and the combined office will also oversee the design, siting, licensing and construction of new commercial nuclear power reactors. The office of nuclear regulatory research provides independent expertise and information for making timely regulatory judgments, anticipates potentially significant safety problems and helps resolve safety issues. It helps develop technical regulations and standards and collects, analyzes and disseminates information about the safety of commercial nuclear power plants and certain nuclear materials activities. The office of nuclear material safety and safeguards regulates the production of commercial nuclear fuel, uranium recovery activities, decommissioning of nuclear facilities and the use of radioactive materials in medical, industrial, academic and commercial applications. It also regulates safe storage, transportation and disposal of low and high level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. And the office works with other federal agencies, states and tribal and local governments on regulatory matters. The office of nuclear security and incident response is responsible for the NRC security policy for nuclear facilities and users of radioactive material. It also coordinates with other federal agencies and international organizations on security issues and maintains the NRC's emergency preparedness and incident response programs. The NRC regional offices conduct inspections and investigations, take enforcement actions in coordination with the office of enforcement and maintain incident response programs for nuclear reactors, fuel facilities and materials licensees. In addition the regional offices carry out licensing for certain materials licensees. The advisory committees including the advisory committee on reactor safeguards and the advisory committee on the medical uses of isotopes are independent of the NRC staff. The ACRS reports directly to the commission which appoints its members. The advisory committees are structured to provide a forum where experts representing many technical perspectives can provide independent advice that is factored into the commission's decision making process. Most committee meetings are open to the public and any member of the public may request an opportunity to make an oral statement during committee meetings. The NRC has four regional offices. The Region 1 office near Philadelphia covers the northeastern states as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Region 2 office in Atlanta covers the southeastern states and the Region 3 office near Chicago is responsible for the mid-western states. The NRC Region 4 office near Dallas covers the western states as well as American Samoa, Guam and the northern Mariana Islands. Each regional office oversees the plants in its region except for the Callaway plant in Missouri which Region 4 oversees. Region 1 oversees nuclear material licensees and federal facilities located in both Region 1 and Region 2. Region 3 and Region 4 oversees material licensees and federal facilities located in their respective regions. Region 2 oversees the fuel processing facilities in all four regions. Region 2 also handles construction inspection activities for new nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities in all four regions. NRC budget. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 as amended requires the NRC to recover through fees billed to licensees approximately 90 percent of its new budget authority, less the amounts appropriated from general funds for activities related to waste incidental to processing activities, generic homeland security activities, advanced reactors, regulatory infrastructure activities, international activities on the office of the Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The NRC collects fees each year by September 30th and transfers them to the U.S. Treasury. Nuclear energy in the U.S. and worldwide. Worldwide Electricity Generated by Commercial Nuclear Power Nuclear reactor technology was first developed in the 1940s initially for producing weapons, but President Dwight Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace program shifted the focus from weapons to power generation, scientific research, and the production of medical and industrial isotopes. Today nuclear technology is global, and nuclear generated power is a major part of the worldwide energy portfolio. As of May 2019, there were 452 operating reactors in 30 countries with a total install capacity of 399,354 megawatts electric. In addition, 54 reactors were under construction. Based on preliminary data from 2018, France had the highest portion at 71.7 percent of total domestic energy generated by nuclear power. The other of the top five countries with the highest nuclear share of electricity generated in 2018 were Slovakia with 55 percent, Ukraine with 53 percent, Hungary with 50.6 percent, and Sweden with 40.3 percent. In addition to generating electricity, nuclear materials and technology are used worldwide for many other peaceful purposes, such as diagnosing and treating medical conditions, irradiating food to make it safer and last longer, and assisting in making pest resistant seed varieties with higher yields, using nuclear gauges to maintain quality control in industry, and using radioactive isotopes to date objects and identify elements. The NRC engages in international activities to exchange regulatory information, enhancing the safe and secure civilian use of nuclear materials and technologies. International activities. The NRC's international activities support the agency's domestic mission, as well as broader U.S. domestic and international interests. They are wide-ranging and include convention and treaty implementation, nuclear non-proliferation, export and import licensing for nuclear materials and equipment, international nuclear safety, security and safeguards cooperation and assistance, international safety and security information exchanges, and cooperative safety research. The NRC works with multinational organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and bilaterally with regulators in other countries through cooperation and research agreements. These interactions allow the NRC to share and acquire regulatory safety and security best practices. In addition, joint research projects give the NRC access to research facilities not available in the United States. Conventions and treaties. All countries that ratify nuclear-related conventions and treaties must take actions to implement them. Their actions help ensure high levels of safety and security. For example, the NRC actively participates in and provides leadership for the implementation of the convention on nuclear safety. The objectives of the convention are to maintain a high level of nuclear safety worldwide to prevent accidents with radiological consequences and to mitigate such consequences should they occur. In addition, the NRC's international cooperation and assistance activities, as well as import and export licensing of nuclear materials and equipment, fulfill U.S. obligations undertaken under the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. This treaty says that all parties to the treaty have the right to participate in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, provided that they meet their non-proliferation obligations. The NRC, therefore, participates in review meetings and associated activities under this treaty. The NRC also actively participates in meetings and activities for several conventions. The conventions on the safety of spent fuel management and on the safety of radioactive waste management. The convention on the physical protection of nuclear material and its amendment. The convention on early notification of a nuclear accident and the convention on assistance in the case of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency. Export and import licensing. The NRC also reviews applications to license export and imports of nuclear materials and equipment to determine that such exports and imports will be in the best interest of the United States and will be consistent with agreements for the peaceful use of nuclear materials. The NRC's export and import regulations are found in 10 CFR Part 110. The NRC participates in meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources to ensure that U.S. export and import controls are appropriate. On bilateral cooperation and assistance, the NRC has information-sharing agreements with other countries as well as Taiwan and the European Atomic Energy Community. International cooperation. The NRC participates in a wide range of programs that enhance the safety and security of peaceful nuclear activities worldwide. With countries that have mature nuclear power or radioactive materials programs, the NRC focuses on sharing information and best practices. With countries that have new programs, the NRC focuses on helping develop and improve their regulatory activities. Some of the benefits of consulting with mature regulatory programs include awareness of reactor construction activities that could apply to new reactors being built in the U.S., prompt notification to foreign partners of U.S. safety issues and vice versa, and sharing of safety and security information. Assistance. The NRC offers bilateral training, workshops, and peer reviews to assist countries as they develop or enhance their national nuclear regulatory infrastructures and programs. The NRC also participates in regional working groups to exchange technical information among specialists. Foreign Assignee Program. The NRC provides long-term on-the-job assignments to foreign regulators at the NRC through its foreign assignee program. This helps both organizations better understand each other's regulatory programs capabilities and commitments. It also helps to enhance the expertise of both foreign assignees and the NRC staff. The program also fosters relationships between the NRC and key officials in other countries. Since its inception in 1975, the NRC has hosted more than 400 foreign assignees. Foreign Trainee Program. The NRC provides opportunities for engineers, scientists, and regulatory personnel from other countries to attend NRC training courses at the Technical Training Center and Professional Development Center. Multilateral Cooperation and Assistance. The NRC plays an active role in the different programs and committee work of multilateral organizations. The agency works with multiple regulatory counterparts through the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Energy Agency, and other multilateral organizations on issues related to safety research and development of standards, radiation protection, risk assessment, emergency preparedness, waste management, transportation, safeguards, physical protection and security, and training communications and public outreach. International Cooperative Research. The NRC participates in international cooperative research programs to share U.S. operating experience and to learn from the experience of other countries. This helps leverage access to foreign research data and test facilities, otherwise unavailable to the United States. Nuclear Reactors. U.S. electricity generated by commercial nuclear power. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, in 2018, about 4.18 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States. About 63% of this electricity generation was from coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other fossil fuels. Nuclear energy provided 19.3%, and about 17% came from renewable energy sources. EIA estimates that an additional 30 billion kilowatt hours of electricity generation was from small-scale solar systems in 2018. Since the 1970s, the nation's utilities have asked permission to generate more electricity from existing nuclear plants. The NRC regulates how much heat a commercial nuclear reactor may generate. This amount of heat is used with other data in many analyses to demonstrate the safety of the plant. This power level is included in the plant's license and technical specifications. The NRC must review and approve any requested change to a license or technical specification. Increasing a commercial nuclear power plant's maximum power level is called a power upgrade. The NRC has approved power upgrades that have collectively added the equivalent of seven new reactors worth of electrical generation to the power grid. According to the EIA in 2018, each of the following states generated more than 40,000 megawatt hours of electricity from nuclear power. Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. Illinois ranked first in the nation in both generating capacity and net electricity generation from nuclear power. Illinois nuclear power plants accounted for 12% of the nation's nuclear power generation. The data cited reflect the total net generation electricity from nuclear sources in each of these states. 30 of the 50 states generated some electricity from nuclear power plants. Power plants convert heat into electricity using steam. At nuclear power plants, the heat to make the steam is created when atoms split apart in a process called fission. When the process is repeated over and over, it is called a chain reaction. The heat from fission creates steam to turn a turbine. As the turbine spins, the generator turns, and its magnetic field produces electricity. Nuclear power plants are very complex. There are many buildings at the site and many different systems. Some of the systems work directly to make electricity. Some of the systems keep the plant operating safely. All nuclear power plants have a containment structure that houses the reactor. To keep reactors performing efficiently, operators remove about one-third to one-half of the fuel every year or two and replace it with fresh fuel. Used fuel is stored and cooled in deep pools of water located on site or in large sturdy containers. The process of removing used fuel and adding fresh fuel is known as refueling. The United States has two types of commercial nuclear reactors. Pressurized water reactors are known as PWRs. They keep water under pressure, so it heats to high temperatures, but does not boil. Water from the reactor and the water that is turned into steam are in separate pipes and systems. In boiling water reactors or BWRs, the water heated in the reactor actually boils and turns into steam, which then turns a turbine generator, producing electricity. In both types of plants, the steam is cooled and the water is used again in the process. There are several operating companies and vendors and several different types of reactor designs. Of these designs, only PWRs and BWRs are currently in commercial operation in the United States. Although commercial U.S. reactors have many similarities, each one is considered unique. Since the late 1970s, the NRC has maintained its own set of eyes and ears at the nation's nuclear power plants. These on-site NRC staff members are referred to as resident inspectors. Each plant has at least two such inspectors, and their work is at the core of the agency's reactor inspection program. These highly trained and qualified professionals inspect and review activities at the plants and verify adherence to federal safety requirements. Oversight includes inspectors visiting the control room and reviewing operator logbook entries, looking at and assessing areas of the plant, observing test of or repairs to imported systems or components, interacting with plant employees, and checking corrective action documents to ensure that problems have been identified and appropriate fixes put in place. A day in the life of an NRC resident inspector. The NRC resident inspector is a specially trained expert who lives in the community near the plant. Each plant has at least two resident inspectors. Just like everyone who works at or visits the plant, the inspector must pass through security checkpoints. Each morning, the inspector visits the reactor's control room, gets information on the plant's status and other issues, and relays this information to NRC offices. The inspector also typically attends the plant of the day meeting with plant officials to ensure what activities are planned. As part of their routine, inspectors complete inspections, observe plant workers, make sure the plant staff is following NRC rules, and report any concerns. Inspectors routinely inspect safety systems, discuss safety issues with plant employees, and submit publicly available reports. Resident inspectors play a very important role for the NRC. They have access to all parts of the plant and are the agencies on the ground, eyes, and ears. You can learn more about resident inspectors at the NRC's YouTube channel. Resident inspectors promptly notify plant operators of any safety significant issues they find so they can be corrected, and those issues are communicated to NRC management. If problems are significant enough, the NRC will consider whether enforcement action is warranted. More information about the NRC's reactor oversight process and the resident inspector program is available online. Post Fukushima Safety Enhancements On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake followed by a large tsunami heavily damaged many of the structures and systems at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Facility. Following this accident, the NRC required significant enhancements to U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. On the front lines of this effort were the agency's resident inspectors and regional staff. They inspected and monitored U.S. reactors as the plants worked on these enhancements. The enhancements included adding more capabilities to maintain key plant safety functions following a large-scale natural disaster, updating evaluations on the potential impact from seismic and flooding events, installing new equipment to better handle potential events, and strengthening emergency preparedness capabilities. Combined, these actions help ensure that the nuclear industry and the NRC are prepared for the unexpected. This work will continue to ensure plants have the required resources, plans, and training. Principal Licensing, Inspection, and Enforcement Activities The NRC's commercial reactor licensing and inspection activities include many different areas. The agency reviews license change requests from power reactor licensees and performs numerous inspections at every operating reactor site. The NRC conducts initial reactor operator licensing examinations. It ensures NRC licensed reactor operators maintain current knowledge and skills by requiring operators to pass rigorous requalification exams every two years and renew their NRC licenses every six years. The NRC reviews applications for proposed new reactors and inspects construction activities to ensure the plant meets all requirements. The agency staff reviews operating experience items each year and distributes lessons learned that could help licensed facilities operate more safely and effectively. If necessary, the NRC issues notices of violation, civil penalties, or orders to operating reactors for significant violations of NRC regulations on public health and safety. The agency also investigates allegations of inadequacy or impropriety associated with NRC regulated activities. The NRC incorporates independent advice from the advisory committee on reactor safeguards, which holds both full committee meetings and subcommittee meetings to examine potential safety issues for existing or proposed reactors. Oversight of U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors. The NRC establishes requirements for the design, construction, operation, and security of U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The agency ensures that plants operate safely and securely within these requirements by licensing the plants to operate, licensing control room personnel, establishing technical specifications for operating each plant, and inspecting plants daily. Reactor oversight process. The NRC's reactor oversight process, or ROP, verifies that U.S. reactors are operating in accordance with NRC rules, regulations, and license requirements. NRC inspectors conduct thousands of hours of inspection at each nuclear power plant each year. The ROP uses color-coded inspection findings and indicators to measure plant performance. The colors start at green and increase to white, yellow, or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. Inspection findings or performance indicators with more than very low safety significance trigger increased NRC oversight. This can range from conducting additional inspections to issuing an order shutting down a reactor. The NRC staff uses the ROP to evaluate NRC inspection findings and performance indicators for each reactor and applies this information to assess the reactor's safety and security performance. Every three months through the ROP, the NRC places each reactor in one of five categories, ranging from fully meeting all safety cornerstone objectives to unacceptable performance. NRC inspections start with detailed baseline level activities for every reactor. As the number of risk-significant issues at a reactor increases, the NRC's inspections increase. The agency's supplemental inspections and other actions, if needed, ensure licensees promptly address significant performance issues. The latest reactor-specific inspection findings and historical performance information can be found online. The ROP is informed by 50 years of improvements in nuclear industry performance. The process continues to improve approaches to inspecting and evaluating the safety and security performance of NRC licensed nuclear plants. More ROP information is available online in New Reg 1649 Revision 6, issued in July 2016. Reactor License Renewal The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, authorizes the NRC to issue 40-year initial licenses for commercial power reactors. The Act also allows the NRC to renew licenses. Under the NRC's current regulations, the agency can renew reactor licenses for 20 years at a time. Congress set the original 40-year term after considering economic and antitrust issues, as opposed to nuclear technology issues. Some parts of a reactor, however, may have been engineered based on an expected 40-year service life. These parts must be maintained and monitored during the additional period of operation, and licensees may choose to replace some components. Nuclear power plant owners typically seek license renewal based on a plant's economic situation and on whether it can continue to meet NRC requirements in the future. The NRC reviews a licensed renewal application on two tracks, safety and environmental impacts. The safety review regulates the licensees' plans for managing aging plant systems, structures and components during the renewal period. For the environmental review, the agency uses the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, or New Reg 1437, issued in May 1996, to evaluate impacts common to all nuclear power plants, then prepares a supplemental environmental impact statement for each individual plant. The supplement examines impacts unique to the plant site. The public has two opportunities to contribute to the environmental review at the beginning and when the draft report is published. The NRC considered the environmental impacts of the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel during rulemaking activities and published its final continued storage rule and supporting generic environmental impact statement in 2014. Previously known as Waste Confidence, the rule addresses the environmental impacts of the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel beyond a reactor's licensed operating life before ultimate disposal. The environmental impacts of continued storage of spent nuclear fuel are incorporated into each environmental review for license renewal, subsequent license renewal. The NRC staff developed guidance and a standard review plan for subsequent license renewals that would allow plants to operate for more than 60 years, or more than the 40 years of the original license plus 20 years of the initial license renewal. The commission determined the agency's existing regulations are adequate for subsequent license renewals, but the new guidance would help licensees develop aging management programs appropriate for the 60 to 80 year period. The public plays an important role in the license renewal process. Members of the public have several opportunities to contribute to the environmental review. The NRC shares information provided by the applicant and holds public meetings. The agency fully and publicly documents the results of its technical and environmental reviews. In addition, ACRS public meetings often discuss technical or safety issues related to reactor designs or a particular plant or site. Individuals or groups can raise legal arguments against the license renewal application in an atomic safety and licensing board hearing if they would be affected by the renewal and meet basic requirements for requesting a hearing. The NRC also regulates research and test reactors. Nuclear research and test reactors, also called non-power reactors, are primarily used for research, training and development to support science and education in nuclear engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, anthropology, medicine, material sciences, and related fields. These reactors do not produce electricity. Most U.S. research and test reactors are at universities or colleges. The largest non-power reactor, which operates at 20 megawatts thermal, is approximately 80 times smaller than the smallest U.S. commercial nuclear power reactor, which operates at 1677 megawatts thermal. The NRC regulates a wide variety of non-power reactors located across the country. The NRC does not regulate the Department of Energy's research reactors. NRC inspectors visit each research and test reactor facility about once a year to conduct varying levels of oversight. Those licensed to operate at two megawatts thermal or more receive a full NRC inspection every year. While those licensed to operate at less than two megawatts thermal receive a full inspection every two years. The NRC's research and test reactor licensing and inspection activities include licensing new and current operating sites, including license renewals and license amendments, overseeing decommissioning, licensing operators, overseeing operator relicensing programs, conducting inspections each year based on inspections, frequency, and procedures for operating non-power reactors or research and test reactors, and overseeing facility security and emergency preparedness programs. New commercial nuclear power reactor licensing. Until the early 90s, the NRC's review process for new power reactor license applications involved approval of a construction permit and then another major step for approval of the operating license. The current process allows for a decision on a combined operating license before construction begins and detailed inspections during the construction of the plant. The combined operating license process includes public meetings, hearings, a thorough environmental review resulting in an environmental impact statement, and a safety review leading to the final safety evaluation report. In 2012, the NRC issued the first combined operating license or COL under the new licensing process. The NRC continues to review applications submitted by prospective licensees and, when appropriate, issues standard design certifications, early site permits, limited work authorizations, construction permits, operating licenses, and combined licenses for facilities in a variety of projected locations throughout the United States. The NRC has implemented the commission's policies on new reactor safety through rules, guidance, staff reviews, and inspection. The NRC's ongoing design certification, combined license, and early site permit reviews are incorporating lessons learned from the Fukushima accident and current operating experience. The environmental impacts of continued storage of spent nuclear fuel are incorporated into each environmental review for new reactors. The NRC considered these impacts in a rulemaking and published its final continued storage rule and supporting generic environmental impact statement in September 2014. Combined license applications, construction, and operating. By issuing a combined license, the NRC authorizes the licensee to construct and with specified conditions operate a nuclear power plant at a specific site in accordance with established laws and regulations. If the commission finds that the acceptance criteria are met, a combined license is valid for 40 years. A combined license can be renewed for an additional 20-year term. The current review schedule for active license applications is available on the NRC's website. Even before the NRC receives an application, the agency holds a public meeting to talk to the community near the proposed reactor location. The agency explains the review process and outlines how the public may participate. After the application is submitted, the NRC asks the public to comment on which factors the agency should consider in its environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The NRC later posts a draft environmental evaluation on the agency's website and asks for public input. There is no formal opportunity for public comment on the staff's safety evaluation, but members of the public are welcome to attend public meetings and provide comments or information. Individuals or groups can raise legal arguments against a new reactor application in an atomic safety and licensing board hearing if they would be affected by the new reactor and meet the requirements for requesting a hearing. Early Site Permits An early site permit review examines whether a parcel of land is suitable for a nuclear power plant. The review covers site safety, environmental protection, and emergency preparedness. The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards reviews safety-related portions of an early site permit application. As with combined license reviews, the public participates in the environmental portion of the NRC's early site permit review and the public can challenge an application in a hearing. Design Certifications The NRC issues certifications for reactor designs that meet the requirements for ensuring safe operation. Utilities can cite a certified design when applying for a nuclear power plant combined license. The certification is valid for 15 years from the date issued and can be renewed for an additional 15 years. The new reactor designs under review incorporate new elements such as passive safety systems and simplified system designs. The six certified designs are GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's Advanced Boiling Water Reactor or ABWR, Westinghouse Electric Company's System 80 Plus, Westinghouse Electric Company's AP600, Westinghouse Electric Company's AP1000, GE Hitachi's Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor or ESBWR, and Korean Electric Power Corporation's APR 1400 or Advanced Power Reactor. Design Certification Renewals The NRC is also reviewing an application to renew the ABWR Design Certification. Advanced Reactor Designs Several companies are considering advanced reactor designs and technologies and are conducting pre-application activities with the NRC. These technologies are cooled by liquid metals, molten salt mixtures or inert gases. Advanced reactors can also consider fuel materials and designs that differ radically from today's enriched uranium dioxide pellets with zirconium cladding. While developing the regulatory framework for advanced reactor licensing, the NRC is examining not only the technical and safety aspects of the designs, but policy issues in areas such as security and emergency preparedness. Small Modular Reactors Small modular reactors or SMRs use water to cool the reactor core like today's large light water reactors. SMR designs also use the same enriched uranium fuel as today's reactors. However, SMR designs are considerably smaller. New Reactor Construction Inspections NRC inspectors based in the agency's Region 2 office in Atlanta monitor reactor construction activities. These experts ensure licensees carry out construction according to NRC license specifications and related regulations. The NRC staff examines the licensees operational programs in areas such as security, radiation protection and operator training and qualification. Inspections at a construction site verify that a licensee has completed required inspections, tests and analyses and has met associated acceptance criteria. The NRC's on-site resident construction inspectors oversee day-to-day licensee and contractor activities. In addition, specialists from NRC Region 2's Center for Construction Inspection frequently visit the site to ensure the facilities are being constructed according to the approved design. The NRC's construction reactor oversight process assesses all of these activities. Before the agency will allow a new reactor to start up, NRC inspectors must confirm that the licensee has met all of the acceptance criteria in its combined license. The agency also inspects domestic and overseas factories and other vendor facilities. This ensures new U.S. reactors receive high-quality products and services that meet the NRC's regulatory requirements. Go online for more information on new reactor licensing activities. New commercial non-power production and utilization facility licensing. Doctors around the world rely on a steady stream of molybdenum 99 or moly99 to produce technetium 99M in hospitals which is used in radiopharmaceuticals in approximately 50,000 medical diagnostic procedures daily in the United States. The NRC supports the national policy objective of establishing a reliable domestically available supply of this medical radioisotope by reviewing license applications for moly99 production facilities. Since 2013, the NRC staff has received two construction permit applications for non-power production and utilization facilities from SHINE Medical Technologies and Northwest Medical Isotopes. The proposed facilities would irradiate low-enriched uranium targets in utilization facilities such as SHINE's accelerator-driven subcritical operating assemblies then separate the moly99 from other fission products in hot cells contained within a production facility. The NRC approved the construction permits for SHINE in February 2016 and for Northwest Medical Isotopes in 2018. The NRC staff conducts safety and environmental reviews on these construction permit applications which are also the subject of both a mandatory hearing and an independent review by the advisory committee on reactor safeguards. If the NRC issues a construction permit, each facility must also submit an application for and be granted an operating license. The NRC anticipates receiving additional construction permit applications, operating license applications, materials license applications, and license amendment requests in the coming years from other potential moly99 producers. Ahead of issuance of any permit or license, the NRC continues to develop necessary infrastructure programs for these facilities including inspection procedures for construction and operation. The agency provides updates on the status of these licensing reviews through NRC-hosted public meetings, commission meetings, and interagency interactions. Nuclear Regulatory Research The NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research supports the agency's mission by providing technical advice, tools, methods, data, and information. This research can identify, explore, and resolve safety issues as well as provide information supporting licensing decisions and new regulations and guidance. NRC's research includes independently confirming other parties work through experiments and analyses, developing technical support for agency safety decisions, and preparing for the future by evaluating the safety implications of new technologies and designs for nuclear reactors, materials, waste, and security. The research program focuses on the challenges of an evolving industry as well as on retaining technical skills when experienced staff members retire. The NRC's research covers the light water reactor technology developed in the 1960s and 70s, today's advanced light water reactor designs and fuel cycle facilities with longer term research plans on more exotic reactor concepts such as those cooled by high temperature gases or molten salts. The NRC's research programs examine a broad range of subjects including material performance such as environmentally-assistant degradation and cracking of metallic alloys, aging management of reactor components and materials, boric acid corrosion, radiation effects on concrete, alkali-silica reaction in concretes, and embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels. Research also looks at events disrupting heat transfer from a reactor core, criticality safety, severe reactor accidents, and how radioactive material moves through the environment and how that material could affect human health and sometimes using NRC developed computer codes for realistic simulations. Other programs focus on computer codes used to analyze fire conditions in nuclear facilities, codes to examine how reactor fuels perform, and to assess nuclear power plant risk. Research is underway on new and evolving technologies such as additive manufacturing and accident-tolerant fuel, earthquake and flood hazards as well as experience gained from operating reactors. Another program looks at digital instrumentation and controls such as analyzing digital system components, security aspects of digital systems, and probabilistic assessment of digital system performance. The Office of Research is studying enhanced risk assessment methods, tools, and models to support the increased use of probabilistic risk assessment in regulatory applications. Ultrasonic testing and other non-destructive means of inspecting reactor components and dry cask storage systems and developing and accessing ultrasonic testing simulation tools to optimize examination procedure variables are also the subject of research as is the human side of reactor operations including safety culture and computerization and automation of control rooms. The Office of Research also plans, develops and manages research on fire safety and risk including modeling and evaluates potential security vulnerabilities and possible solutions. NRC research funding. The NRC's research program involves about 5% of the agency's staff and uses about 7% of its contracting funds. The NRC's budget includes contracts with national laboratories, universities, research organizations, and other federal agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey. NRC research funds support access to a broader group of experts and international research facilities. The majority of the NRC's research budget supports maintaining operating reactor safety and security. The remaining budget supports regulatory activities for new and advanced reactors, industrial and medical use of nuclear materials, and nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste programs. The NRC cooperates with universities and nonprofit organizations on research for the agency's specific interests. The NRC's international cooperation and research areas leverages agency resources, facilitates work on advancing existing technologies, and determines any safety implications of new technologies. The NRC's leadership role in international organizations such as the IAEA and the Nuclear Energy Agency helps guide the agency's collaborations. The NRC maintains international cooperative research agreements with more than two dozen foreign governments. This work covers technical areas from severe accident research and computer code development to materials degradation, non-destructive examination, fire risk, and human factors research. Cooperation under these agreements is more efficient than can knocking research independently. Nuclear Materials The NRC regulates each phase of the nuclear fuel cycle. The steps needed to turn uranium or into fuel for nuclear power plants as well as storing and disposing of the fuel after it is used in a reactor. In some states, the NRC also regulates nuclear materials used for medical, industrial, and academic purposes. Work includes reviewing applications for and issuing new and renewed licenses and amendments to existing licenses. The NRC also regularly conducts safety and security inspections. Materials Licenses States have the option to regulate certain radioactive materials under agreements with the NRC. Those that do are called agreement states. The agreement states then develop regulations and appoint officials to ensure nuclear materials are used safely and securely. Agreement states must adopt rules consistent with the NRCs. Only the NRC regulates nuclear reactors, fuel fabrication facilities, consumer product distribution, and certain amounts of what is called special nuclear material, that is radioactive material that can fission or split apart. Radioactive materials are used for many purposes. They are used in civilian and military industrial applications, basic and applied research, the manufacture of consumer products, academic studies, and medical diagnosis treatment and research. They can be produced in a reactor or an accelerator, a machine that propels charged particles. While the NRC does not regulate accelerators, it does license the use of radioactive materials produced in accelerators. For medical and academic uses, the NRC and agreement states review the facility's personnel, program controls, and equipment involved in using radioactive materials in medical and academic settings. These reviews ensure the safety of the public, patients, and workers who might be exposed to radiation from those materials. The NRC regulates only the use of radioactive material and does not regulate X-ray machines or other devices that produce radiation without using radioactive materials. Medical. The NRC and the agreement states license hospitals, physicians, medical physicists, veterinarians, and radiopharmacists to use radioactive materials in medical treatments and diagnoses. The NRC also develops guidance and regulations, which require licensees to have experience and special training focusing on operating equipment safely, controlling the radioactive material, and keeping accurate records. To help the NRC stay current, the agency sponsors the advisory committee on the medical uses of isotopes, an expert committee made up of scientists, physicians, health physicists, and other health care professionals who have experience with medical radionuclides. Nuclear medicine. Doctors use radioactive materials to diagnose or treat about a third of all patients admitted to hospitals. This branch of medicine is known as nuclear medicine and the radioactive materials are called radiopharmaceuticals. Two types of radiopharmaceutical tests can diagnose medical problems. In vivo tests where radiopharmaceuticals are administered directly to patients and in vitro tests where radioactive materials are added to lab samples taken from patients. Radiation therapy. Doctors also use radioactive materials and radiation producing devices to treat medical conditions, a procedure called radiation therapy. They can treat hyperthyroidism and some cancers, for example, and can also ease the pain caused by bone cancer. Radiation therapy aims to deliver an accurate radiation dose to a target site while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. To be most effective, treatments often require several exposures over a period of time. When used to treat malignant cancers, radiation therapy is often combined with surgery or chemotherapy. There are three main categories of radiation therapy. External beam therapy, called teletherapy, is a beam of radiation directed to the target tissue. Several different types of machines are used in external beam therapy. Treatment machines regulated by the NRC contained high activity radioactive sources, usually Cobalt 60, that emit photons to treat the target site. A second type is brachetherapy, in which treatments use sealed radioactive sources placed near or even directly in cancerous tissue. The radiation dose is delivered at a distance of up to an inch or 2.54 centimeters from the target area. And finally, therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals deliver a large radiation dose inside the body. Different radioactive materials can be given to patients and will concentrate in different regions or organ systems. The NRC also issues licenses to academic institutions for education and research. For example, qualified instructors may use radioactive materials in classroom demonstrations. Scientists in many disciplines use radioactive materials for laboratory research. Industrial. For industrial uses, the NRC and the agreement states issue licenses that specify the type, quantity and location of radioactive materials to be used. Radionuclides can be used in industrial radiography, gauges, well logging, and manufacturing. Radiography uses radiation sources to find structural defects in metal and welds. Gas chromatography uses low energy radiation sources to identify the chemical elements in an unknown substance. Gas chromatography devices are used to analyze air pollutants, blood alcohol content, essential oils, and food products. These devices can also be used in biological and medical research to identify the parts that make up complex proteins and enzymes. Well logging devices use radioactive sources and detection equipment to make a record of geological formations from within a well. This process is used extensively for oil, gas, coal, and mineral exploration. Nuclear gauges. Nuclear gauges are used to measure the physical properties of products and industrial processes non-destructively as part of quality control. Gauges use radiation sources to determine the thickness of paper products, fluid levels in oil and chemical tanks, and the moisture and density of soil at construction sites. Gauges may be fixed or portable. A gauge has shielding to protect the operator while the radioactive source is exposed. When the measuring process is completed the source is retracted or shutter closes, minimizing exposure from the source. A fixed gauge has a radioactive source shielded in a container. When the user opens the container shutter a beam of radiation hits the material or product being processed or controlled. A detector mounted opposite the source measures the radiation passing through the product. The gauge readout or computer monitor shows the measurement. The material and process being monitored dictate the type, energy, and strength of radiation used. Fixed fluid gauges are used by the beverage, food, plastics, and chemical industries. Installed on a pipe or the side of a tank these gauges measure the density, flow rate, level, thickness, and weight of a variety of materials and surfaces. A portable gauge uses both a shielded radioactive source and a detector. The gauge is placed on the object to be measured. Some gauges rely on radiation from the source to reflect back to the gauge. Others insert the source into the object. The detector measures the radiation either directly from the inserted source or from the reflected radiation. A moisture density gauge is a portable gauge that places a gamma source under the surface of the ground through a tube. Radiation is transmitted directly to the detector on the bottom of the gauge allowing accurate measurements of compaction. Industry uses such gauges to monitor the structural integrity of roads, buildings, and bridges. Airport security uses nuclear gauges to detect explosives in baggage. Commercial Irradiators The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other agencies have approved the irradiation of food. Commercial irradiators expose food and spices, medical supplies, blood, and wood flooring to gamma radiation to eliminate harmful germs and insects or for hardening or other purposes. The gamma radiation does not leave radioactive residue or make the treated products radioactive. The radiation can come from radioactive materials like cobalt-60, an x-ray, or an electron beam. The NRC and Agreement States license about 50 commercial irradiators. Up to 10 million curies of radioactive material can be used in these types of irradiators. NRC regulations protect workers and the public from this radiation. Two main types of commercial irradiators are used in the United States. Underwater and wet-source storage panoramic models. Underwater irradiators use sealed sources that remain in the water at all times, providing shielding for workers and the public. Products are placed in a watertight container, lowered into the pool, irradiated, and then removed. Wet-source storage panoramic irradiators also store radioactive sealed sources in water, but the sources are raised into the air to irradiate products that are automatically moved in and out of the room on a conveyor system. Sources are then lowered back into the pool. This type of irradiator has thick concrete walls and ceilings or steel barriers to protect workers and the public when the sources are lifted from the pool. Transportation. More than 3 million packages of radioactive materials are shipped each year in the United States by road, rail, air, or water. This represents less than 1% of the nation's yearly hazardous material shipments. The NRC and the U.S. Department of Transportation, or DOT, share responsibility for regulating the safety of radioactive material shipments. The vast majority of these shipments consist of small amounts of radioactive materials used in industry research and medicine. The NRC requires such materials to be shipped in accordance with DOT's safety regulations. Material security. While radioactive sources have many beneficial uses, they can be dangerous in the wrong hands, which is why the NRC works to secure radioactive material across the nation. The first line of defense is licensing. The NRC and the agreement states issue licenses to ensure only qualified people use licensed materials for proper uses. In the second line of defense, license holders are required to have security plans and procedures to detect, assess, and respond to unauthorized attempts to access radioactive sources. Finally, the NRC coordinates with other federal and state agencies to identify potential security threats, be they natural or man-made. The NRC's security requirements are consistent with the International Atomic Energy Agency's code of conduct on the safety and security of radioactive sources. To monitor the manufacture, distribution, and possession of the most high-risk sources, the NRC set up the National Source Tracking System in January 2009. Licensees use this secure web-based system to enter information on the receipt or transfer of tracked radioactive sources. The NRC and the agreement states use the system to monitor where high-risk sources are made, shipped, and used. Sources tracked in the system are known as Category 1 and Category 2 sources. They have the potential to cause permanent injury and even death if they are not handled securely and safely, and in compliance with NRC requirements. The majority of these sources are Cobalt 60. The NRC and the agreement states have increased control on the most safety significant radioactive materials. Stronger physical security requirements and stricter limits on who can access the materials give the NRC and the agreement states added confidence in their security. The NRC has also joined with other federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration to set up an additional layer of voluntary protection. Together, these activities help make potentially dangerous radioactive sources even more secure and less vulnerable to malevolent uses. Nuclear Fuel Cycle The typical nuclear fuel cycle uses uranium in different chemical and physical forms. The nuclear fuel cycle includes uranium recovery, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. Uranium is recovered or extracted from ore, converted and enriched. The enriched uranium is manufactured into pellets, and these pellets are placed into fuel assemblies to power reactors. Uranium Recovery The NRC does not regulate conventional mining, but does regulate the processing of uranium ore known as milling. This processing can be done at three types of uranium recovery facilities, conventional mills and situ recovery facilities and heap leach facilities. Once this processing is done, the uranium is in a powder form known as yellow cake, which is packed into drums and transported to a fuel cycle facility for further processing. The NRC has an established regulatory framework for uranium recovery facilities. This framework ensures they are licensed, operated, decommissioned and monitored to protect the public and the environment. Conventional Uranium Mill A conventional uranium mill is a chemical plant that extracts uranium from ore. Most conventional mills are located away from population centers and usually within about 30 miles of a uranium mine. In a conventional mill, the process of uranium extraction from ore begins when ore is hauled to the mill and crushed. Sulfuric acid dissolves and removes 90 to 95 percent of the uranium from the ore. The uranium is then separated from the solution, concentrated and dried to form yellow cake. Insitu Recovery Insitu recovery is another way to extract uranium, in this case directly from underground ore. In this process a solution of native groundwater typically mixed with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide and sodium bicarbonate or carbon dioxide is injected into the ore to dissolve the uranium. The solution is then pumped out of the rock and the uranium separated to form yellow cake. Heap Leach Facility Heap Leach Facilities also extract uranium from ore. At these facilities the ore is placed in piles or heaps on top of liners. The liners prevent uranium and other chemicals from moving into the ground. Sulfuric acid is dripped onto the heap and dissolves uranium as it moves through the ore. Uranium solution drains into collection basins where it is piped to a processing plant. At the plant uranium is extracted, concentrated and dried to form yellow cake. The NRC does not currently license any heap leach facilities. Licensing Uranium Recovery Facilities The NRC currently regulates an active insitu uranium recovery facility in Nebraska. Two insitu facilities, one in South Dakota and another in New Mexico have been licensed but have not been constructed. Nine insitu recovery facilities are operating in Wyoming under state regulations since Wyoming became an NRC agreement state in 2018. The NRC takes into account the views of people in the area including Native American tribal governments to address their concerns when licensing new uranium recovery facilities. The NRC is also overseeing the decommissioning of five uranium recovery facilities, three in New Mexico, one in Oklahoma and another in Wyoming. The NRC has several major responsibilities for NRC licensed uranium recovery operations. The agency inspects and oversees both active and inactive uranium recovery facilities. It ensures the safe management of mill tailings or waste at the facilities requiring those areas to minimize radon release and disturbances by weather or seismic activity. The NRC enforces requirements to ensure cleanup of active and closed uranium recovery facilities. It applies stringent financial requirements to ensure funds are available for decommissioning. The agency also makes sure licensees follow requirements for underground disposal of mill tailings and liners for tailings and poundments. The NRC requires monitoring to prevent groundwater contamination and the agency monitors and oversees decommissioned facilities. Fuel cycle facilities. The NRC licenses all commercial fuel cycle facilities involved in conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication. The NRC reviews applications for licenses, license amendments and renewals. The agency also routinely inspects licensees safety, safeguards, security and environmental protection programs. These facilities turn the uranium that has been removed from ore and made into yellow cake into fuel for nuclear reactors. In this process, the conversion facility converts yellow cake into uranium hexafluoride or UF6. Next, an enrichment facility heats the solid UF6 enough to turn it into a gas which is enriched or processed to increase the concentration of the isotope uranium-235. The enriched uranium gas is mechanically and chemically processed back into a solid uranium dioxide or U02 powder. The powder is blended, milled, pressed and fused into ceramic fuel pellets about the size of a fingertip. The pellets are stacked into long tubes or rods and are made of materials such as zirconium alloys. This material is referred to as cladding. These fuel rods are made to maintain both their chemical and physical properties under the extreme conditions of heat and radiation present inside an operating reactor. The individual fuel rods are bundled into fuel assemblies for use in reactors. The assemblies are washed, inspected and stored in a special rack until ready for shipment to a nuclear power plant. The NRC inspects this operation to ensure it is conducted safely. Domestic Safeguards Program The NRC's domestic safeguards program for fuel cycle facilities and transportation is aimed at ensuring that special nuclear material such as plutonium or enriched uranium is not stolen and does not pose a risk to the public from sabotage or terrorism. Through licensing and inspections, the NRC verifies that licensees apply safeguards to protect special nuclear material. The NRC and the Department of Energy develop the nuclear materials management and safeguards system to track transfers and inventories of special nuclear material, source material from other countries and other material. These licensees verify and document their inventory in the system's database. The NRC and agreement states have licensed several hundred additional sites that possess special nuclear material in smaller quantities. Licenses possessing small amounts of special nuclear material must confirm their inventory annually in the database. Radioactive waste, low-level radioactive waste disposal. Low-level radioactive waste includes items contaminated with radioactive material or exposed to neutron radiation. This waste typically consists of contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters, reactor water treatment residues, equipment and tools, medical waste, and laboratory animal carcasses and tissue. Some low-level radioactive waste is very low in radioactivity, even as low as just above background levels found in nature. Some licensees, notably hospitals, store such waste on site until it has decayed and lost most of its radioactivity that it can be disposed of as ordinary trash. Other low-level radioactive waste, such as parts of a reactor vessel from a nuclear power plant, is more radioactive and requires special handling. Waste that does not decay fairly quickly is stored until amounts are large enough for shipment to a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in containers approved by the Department of Transportation and the NRC. Commercial low-level radioactive waste can be disposed of in facilities licensed by either the NRC or agreement states. The facilities are designed, constructed and operated to meet NRC and state safety standards. The facility operator analyzes how the facility will perform in the future based on the environmental characteristics of the site. Current low-level radioactive waste disposal uses shallow land disposal sites with or without concrete vaults. Determining the classification of waste can be a complex process. The NRC classifies low-level radioactive waste based on the potential hazards. The NRC has specified disposal and waste requirements for three classes of waste, A, B and C, with progressively higher concentrations of radioactive material. Class A waste, the least radioactive, accounts for about 96 percent of the total volume of low-level radioactive waste in the United States. A fourth class of low-level radioactive waste called Greater Than Class C waste must be disposed of in a geological repository licensed by the NRC unless the commission approves an alternative proposal. Under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, DOE is responsible for disposal of Greater Than Class C waste. The volume and radioactivity of waste varies from year to year. Waste volumes currently include several million cubic feet each year from operating and decommissioning reactor facilities and from cleanup of contaminated sites. The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act gave the state's responsibility for low-level radioactive waste disposal. The Act authorized states to form regional compacts with each compact to provide for low-level radioactive waste disposal site access, to manage low-level radioactive waste, import to and export from a compact, and to exclude waste generated outside a compact. The states have licensed four active low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. Energy Solutions has a facility located in Barnwell, South Carolina. Previously, Barnwell accepted low-level radioactive waste from all U.S. generators of low-level waste. Barnwell now accepts waste only from the Atlantic Compact States of Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Carolina. The state of South Carolina has licensed Barnwell to receive Class A, B, and C waste. Energy Solutions also has a facility located in Clive, Utah. Clive accepts waste from all regions of the United States, and the state of Utah has licensed Clive for Class A waste only. U.S. Ecology's facility, located in Richland, Washington, on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, accepts waste from the Northwest Compact States, which include Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and the Rocky Mountain Compact States, which include Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. The state of Washington has licensed Richland to receive Class A, B, and C waste. Waste Control Specialist Facility, located in Andrews, Texas, accepts waste from the Texas Compact, which includes Texas and Vermont. It also accepts waste from out-of-compact generators on a case-by-case basis. The state of Texas has licensed Andrews to receive Class A, B, and C waste. High-level radioactive waste management. Spent nuclear fuel storage. Commercial spent nuclear fuel, although highly radioactive, is stored safely and securely throughout the United States in poles and in dry casks at sites with operating nuclear power reactors. Several storage facilities do not have operating reactors, but are safely and securely storing spent fuel. The NRC licenses and regulates the storage of spent fuel, both at commercial nuclear power plants and at separate storage facilities. Waste can be stored safely in poles or casks for 100 years or more. How does nuclear fuel become spent? A nuclear reactor is powered by enriched uranium-235 fuel. Fission, which is the splitting of atoms, generates heat, which produces steam that turns turbines to produce electricity. A reactor rated at several hundred megawatts may contain 100 or more tons of fuel in the form of bullet-sized pellets loaded into long metal rods that are bundled together into fuel assemblies. Pressurized water reactors, or PWRs, contain between 120 and 200 fuel assemblies, while boiling water reactors, or BWRs, contain between 370 and 800 fuel assemblies. After five to six years spent fuel assemblies, which are typically 14 feet or 4.3 meters long and which contain nearly 200 fuel rods for PWRs and 80 to 100 fuel rods for BWRs, are removed from the reactor and allowed to cool in storage poles. At this point, the 900-pound or 409-kilogram assemblies contain only about a fifth of the original amount of uranium-235. Commercial light-water reactors store spent radioactive fuel in a steel-lined, seismically designed concrete pool under about 40 feet or 12.2 meters of water that provides shielding from radiation. Pumps supply continuously flowing water to cool the spent fuel, while other pumps that can be powered from an on-site emergency diesel generator provide extra water. Support features, such as water level monitors and radiation detectors, are also in the pool. Spent fuel is stored in the pool until it is transferred to dry casks on-site or transported off-site for interim storage or disposal. Most nuclear power plants spent fuel pools were not designed to store the full amount of spent fuel that would be generated during the life of the plant. Facilities originally planned to store spent fuel temporarily in spent fuel pools, then after a few years, send the fuel to a reprocessing plant. However, in 1977, the U.S. government declared a moratorium on reprocessing spent fuel in the United States. Although the restriction was later lifted, reprocessing has not resumed. As a result, facilities expanded their storage capacity by using high-density storage racks in the spent fuel pools. To provide supplemental storage, some fuel assemblies are stored in dry casks on-site in what's called an independent spent fuel storage installation, or ISFACI. These large casks, which are licensed by the NRC, are typically made of leak-tight welded and bolted steel and concrete, surrounded by another layer of steel or concrete. The spent fuel sits in the center of the cask in an inert gas. Dry cask storage shields people and the environment from radiation and keeps the spent fuel inside dry and non-radioactive. Once the spent fuel has sufficiently cooled in the pool, it is loaded into these special canisters.  It is then placed in a cask for storage or transportation. The dry casks are then loaded onto concrete pads or in above-ground concrete bunkers, each of which is about the size of a one-car garage. A consolidated interim storage facility is another type of ISFACI. An interim storage facility would store fuel from multiple commercial reactors, including those permanently shut down, on an interim basis until a permanent disposal option is available. Additional information on consolidated interim storage is available online. The NRC regulates facilities that store spent fuel in two different ways. The agency may grant site-specific licenses after a safety review of the technical requirements and operating conditions for an ISFACI. The NRC has issued a general license authorizing nuclear power reactor licensees to store spent fuel on site in dry storage casks certified by the NRC. Following a similar safety review, the NRC may issue a certificate of compliance and add the casks to a list of approved systems for rulemaking. The agency issues licenses and certificates for terms not to exceed 40 years, but they can be renewed for up to an additional 40 years. The public can participate in decisions about spent nuclear fuel storage as it can in many licensing and rulemaking decisions. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended and the NRC's own regulations call for public meetings on certain site-specific licensing actions and allow the public to comment on certificate of compliance rulemakings. Members of the public may also file petitions for rulemaking. Additional information on ISFACIs is available online. Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal The current U.S. policy governing permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste is defined by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as amended and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. These acts specify that high-level radioactive waste will be disposed of underground in a deep geologic repository licensed by the NRC. Because the timing of repository availability is uncertain, the NRC looked at potential environmental impacts of storing spent fuel over three possible time frames. The short term, which includes 60 years of continued storage after a reactor's operating license has expired, the medium term, or 160 years after license expiration, and indefinite, which assumes a repository never becomes available. The NRC's finding that any environmental impacts can be managed appears in the 2014 report New Reg 2157 Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel. The NRC adopted those findings into NRC regulations in a continued storage role. This role provides an important basis for issuing new or renewed licenses for nuclear power plants and spent fuel storage facilities. Transportation The transportation of spent nuclear fuel is also regulated by the NRC. The agency establishes safety and security requirements in collaboration with the Department of Transportation, certifies transportation cask designs, and conducts inspections to ensure that requirements are being met. Spent nuclear fuel transportation casks are designed to meet the following safety criteria under both normal and accident conditions. Transportation casks must prevent the loss or dispersion of radioactive contents, shield everything outside the cask from the radioactivity of the contents, dissipate the heat from the contents, and prevent nuclear criticality, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction from occurring inside the cask. Transportation casks must be designed to survive a sequence of tests, including a 30-foot or 9-meter drop onto an unyielding surface, a puncture test, a 30-minute fully engulfing fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit or 800 degrees Celsius, and immersion underwater. This very severe test sequence akin to the cask striking a concrete pillar along a highway at high speed and being engulfed in a severe and long-lasting fire then falling into a river simulates conditions more severe than 99% of vehicle accidents. To ensure the safe transportation of spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear materials, each year the NRC conducts transportation safety inspections of fuel, reactor and materials licensees, reviews, evaluates and certifies new renewed or amended transportation package design applications, and conducts inspections of cask vendors and manufacturers to ensure the quality of dry cask design and fabrication. Additional information on materials transportation is available online. Decommissioning. Once a nuclear power plant has permanently shut down, it must be decommissioned. Decommissioning is the safe removal of a nuclear facility from service and the reduction of residual radioactivity to a level that permits release of the property and termination of the license. NRC rules establish site release criteria and provide for unrestricted and under certain conditions restricted release of a site. The NRC also requires all licensees to maintain financial assurance that funds will be available when needed for decommissioning. The NRC regulates the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, materials and fuel cycle facilities, research and test reactors, and uranium recover facilities with the ultimate goal of license termination. Reactor decommissioning. When a nuclear power plant operator decides to seize operations, it must submit to the NRC a post shutdown decommissioning activities report, or PSDAR, no later than two years following permanent cessation of operations. The PSDAR includes detailed plans for decommissioning the facility as well as a total cost estimate. The first stage of nuclear power plant decommissioning is transitioning from operating status to a permanently shutdown condition. The licensee must certify to the NRC that it has permanently ceased operation and that it has permanently removed the fuel from the reactor. At this point, the license no longer authorizes the plant to operate. Licensees typically then apply for several exemptions from NRC requirements that apply to operating reactors but are no longer appropriate after permanent shutdown because a reactor accident can no longer occur. These changes are in areas such as personnel, spent fuel management, physical and cyber security, emergency preparedness and incident response. The NRC is developing new regulations to make this transition from operations to decommissioning more efficient. The NRC allows up to 60 years to complete decommissioning. This may include extended periods of inactivity called safe store during which residual radioactivity is allowed to decay, making eventual cleanup easier and more efficient. A facility is said to be in decon when active demolition and decontamination are underway. Active decommissioning of a nuclear power plant takes about 10 years on average. NRC oversight and inspection continue throughout the entire process. Two years before decommissioning is completed, the plant operator must submit a license termination plan detailing procedures for the final steps. The agency inspects and verifies that the site is sufficiently decontaminated before terminating the license and releasing the site for another use. Decommissioning of materials licenses. The NRC also oversees decommissioning of materials licensees. The agency terminates approximately 100 materials licenses each year. Most are routine and the sites require little to no cleanup to meet the NRC's criteria for unrestricted release. The decommissioning program focuses on the termination of licenses for research and test reactors, uranium recovery facilities, fuel cycle facilities, and sites involving more complex decommissioning activities. These facilities typically were manufacturing or industrial sites that processed uranium, radium, or thorium, or were military bases. They are required to begin decommissioning within two years of ending operations unless the NRC approves an alternate schedule. Security and emergency preparedness. Nuclear security is a high priority for the NRC. For decades, effective NRC regulation and strong partnerships with federal, state, tribal, and local authorities have ensured the effectiveness of security programs in nuclear facilities and radioactive material sites across the country. It's likely that nuclear power plants are the best protected private sector facilities in the United States. However, given today's threat environment, the agency recognizes the need for continued vigilance and high levels of security. The NRC has made many enhancements to the security of nuclear power plants. Because nuclear power plants are inherently robust structures, these additional security upgrades largely focus on well-trained and armed security officers, high-tech equipment and physical barriers, greater standoff distances for vehicle checks, intrusion detection and surveillance systems, tested emergency preparedness and response plans, and restrictive side access control, including background checks and fingerprinting of workers. The NRC also coordinates and shares threat information with the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Agencies, and local law enforcement. The security features at nuclear facilities work together to ensure that the materials and processes are protected. These features include access controls, barriers, intrusion detection systems, fixed security positions, and roving patrols. Facility security. Under NRC regulations, nuclear power plants and fuel facilities that handle highly enriched uranium must be able to defend successfully against a set of threats the agency calls the design basis threat. The NRC does not make details public because of security concerns, but it includes threats to a facility's physical security, personnel security, and cyber security. The design basis threat is based on realistic assessments of the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by terrorist groups. The NRC constantly evaluates the threat environment and assesses the need to change the details. The NRC verifies that licensees are complying with security requirements through its baseline inspection program. This includes force-on-force inspections designed to test a facility's defenses. Force-on-force inspections are held at each nuclear power plant once every three years, employing a highly trained mock adversary force to simulate an attack against a nuclear facility. Cyber security. Nuclear facilities use digital and analog systems to monitor, control, and run various types of equipment, as well as to obtain and store vital information. Protecting these systems and the information they contain from sabotage or malicious use is called cyber security. The reactor control systems of nuclear plants are isolated from the internet, but for added security, all nuclear power plants licensed by the NRC must have a cyber security program. In 2013, the NRC began regular cyber security inspections of nuclear power plants under new regulations designed to guard against the cyber threat. The experience that the NRC gained in developing the cyber security requirements for nuclear power plants provided a basis for developing cyber requirements for nonreactor licensees and other nuclear facilities. The NRC's cyber security team includes technology and threat experts who evaluate and identify emerging cyber-related issues that could possibly endanger plant systems. The team also makes recommendations to other NRC offices and programs on cyber security issues. In October 2014, the NRC joined other independent regulatory agencies to create the Cyber Security Forum for Independent and Executive Branch Regulators. According to its mission statement, the forum aims to increase the overall effectiveness and consistency of regulatory authorities' cyber security efforts pertaining to U.S. critical infrastructure, much of which is operated by industry and overseen by a number of federal regulatory authorities. Materials security. Radioactive materials must be secured to reduce the possibility that terrorists could use them to make a radiological dispersal device, sometimes called a dirty bomb. The NRC has established rules to provide the requirements for the physical protection of certain types and quantities of radioactive material. Additionally, the NRC works with the agreement states, other federal agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and licensees to protect radioactive materials from theft and malicious use. In 2009, the NRC deployed a system designed to track the most risk-sensitive radioactive materials in sources. Other improvements allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to promptly validate whether radioactive materials coming into the United States are properly licensed by the NRC or an agreement state. In addition, the NRC improved and upgraded the joint NRC DOE database, tracking the movement and location of certain forms and quantities of special nuclear material. Emergency preparedness. Operators of nuclear facilities are required to develop and maintain effective emergency plans and procedures to protect the public in the unlikely event of an emergency. Emergency preparedness plans include public information, preparations for evacuation, and in structures for sheltering or other actions to protect the residents near nuclear power plants in the event of a serious incident. The NRC includes emergency preparedness in its inspections and monitors performance indicators associated with emergency preparedness. At least once every two years, nuclear power plant operators must conduct full scale exercises in coordination with state and local officials, and these exercises are evaluated by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Once every eight-year exercise cycle, these exercises include hostile action-based scenarios. These exercises test and maintain the skills of emergency responders and identify areas that need to be addressed. Nuclear power plant operators also conduct their own emergency response trails. Emergency Planning Zones or EPZs. The NRC defines two emergency planning zones around each nuclear power plant. The exact size and configuration of the zones vary from plant to plant, based on local emergency response needs and capabilities, population, land characteristics, access routes, and jurisdictional boundaries. The zone boundaries are flexible and the NRC may expand these zones during an emergency if circumstances warrant. The two types of emergency planning zones are the plume exposure pathway and ingestion pathway. The plume exposure pathway covers a radius of about 10 miles or 16 kilometers from the plant and is the area of greatest concern for the public's exposure to and inhalation of airborne radioactive contamination. Research has shown the most significant impacts of an accident would be expected in the immediate vicinity of a plant and any initial protective actions, such as evacuations or sheltering in place, should be focused there. The ingestion pathway or food safety sampling area extends to a radius of about 50 miles or 80 kilometers from the plant and is the area of greatest concern for the ingestion of food and liquid that could possibly be contaminated by radioactivity. Protective actions. During an actual nuclear power plant accident, the NRC would use radiation dose projection models to predict the nature and extent of a radiation release. The dose calculations would account for weather conditions to project the extent of radiation exposure to the nearby population. The NRC would communicate its results to appropriate state and county governments. Plant personnel would also provide assessments. State and local officials in communities within the EPC have detailed plans to protect the public during a radiation release. These officials make their protective action decisions, including decisions to order evacuations based on these and other assessments. Evacuation, sheltering, and the use of potassium iodide. Protective actions considered for a radiological emergency include evacuation, sheltering, and the preventive use of potassium iodide or KI supplements to protect the thyroid from radioactive iodine, which can cause thyroid cancer. Under certain conditions, it may be best to evacuate the public away from further exposure to radioactive material. However, a completed evacuation of the 10 mile or 16 kilometer zone around a nuclear power plant is not likely to be needed in most cases. The release of radioactive material from a plant during a major incident would move with the wind, not in all directions surrounding the plant. The release would also expand and become less concentrated as it traveled away from a plant. For these reasons, evacuations can be planned based on the anticipated path of the release. Under some conditions, people may be instructed to take shelter in their homes, schools, or office buildings. Depending on the type of structure, sheltering can significantly reduce someone's dose when compared to staying outside. In certain situations, KI may be used as a supplement to sheltering. It may also be appropriate to shelter when the release of radioactive material is known to be short term or is controlled by the nuclear power plant operator. The risk of an offsite radiological release is significantly lower and the types of possible accidents significantly fewer at a nuclear power reactor that has permanently ceased operations and removed fuel from the reactor vessel. Nuclear power plants that have begun decommissioning may therefore apply for exemptions from certain NRC emergency planning requirements. Once the exemptions are granted, state and local agencies may apply their comprehensive emergency plans known as all hazard plans to respond to incidents at the plant. Additional information on emergency preparedness is available online. Incident Response Quick communication among the NRC, other federal and state agencies and the nuclear industry is critical when responding to any incident. The NRC staff supports several federal incident response centers where officials can coordinate assessments of event-related information. The NRC Headquarters Operations Center, located in the agency's headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, is staffed around the clock to disseminate information and coordinate response activities. The NRC also reviews intelligence reports and assesses suspicious activity to keep licensees and other agencies up to date on current threats. The NRC works within the National Response Framework to respond to events. The framework guides the nation in its response to complex events that might involve a variety of agencies and hazards. Under this framework, the NRC retains its independent authority and ability to respond to emergencies involving NRC license facilities or materials. The NRC may request support from the Department of Homeland Security in responding to an emergency at an NRC license facility or involving NRC license materials. In response to an incident involving possible radiation releases, the NRC activates its Incident Response Program at its Headquarters Operations Center and one of its Regional Incident Response Centers. Teams of specialists at these centers evaluate event information, independently assess the potential impact on public health and safety, and evaluate possible recovery strategies. The NRC staff provides expert consultation, support, and assistance to state and local public safety officials and keeps the public informed of agency actions. Meanwhile, other NRC experts evaluate the effectiveness of protective actions the licensee has recommended to state and local officials. If needed, the NRC will dispatch a team of technical experts from the responsible regional office to the site. This team would assist the NRC's resident inspectors who work at the plant. The Headquarters Operations Center would continue to provide around-the-clock communications, logistical support, and technical analysis throughout the response. Emergency Classifications Emergencies at nuclear facilities are classified according to the risk posed to the public. These classifications help guide first responders on the actions necessary to protect the population near the site. Nuclear power plants use four emergency classifications. The lowest level is called a notification of unusual event, which means that a potential degradation in the level of safety or a security threat to the plant is in progress or has occurred. No release of radioactive material requiring off-site response or monitoring is expected unless further degradation occurs. The next level is called an alert, meaning an actual or potential substantial degradation in the level of plant safety or a security event that involves probable life-threatening risks to site personnel or damage to site equipment. Any releases of radioactive material are expected to be small. The third level is called a site area emergency, and that declaration means that there are actual or likely major failures of plant functions needed to protect the public or hostile action that results in intentional damage or malicious acts. Any releases of radioactive material are not expected to exceed the regulatory limits except near the site boundary. The most serious classification is called a general emergency and involves actual or imminent substantial core damage or melting of reactor fuel with the potential for loss of containment integrity or hostile action that results in an actual loss of physical control of the facility. Radioactive releases can be expected to exceed the regulatory limits for more than the immediate site area. Nuclear materials and fuel cycle facility licensees only use two emergency classifications. An alert means events that could lead to a release of radioactive materials are in progress or have occurred. The release is not expected to require a response by an off-site response organization to protect residents near the site. A site area emergency for nuclear materials or fuel facilities means events that could lead to a significant release of radioactive materials are in progress or have occurred. The release could require a response by off-site response organizations to protect residents near the site. International Emergency Classifications The International Atomic Energy Agency uses the International Nuclear and Radiological VITS Scale, or INES, as a tool for promptly and consistently communicating to the public the safety significance of reported nuclear and radiological incidents and accidents worldwide. The INES has seven levels, with each level being about 10 times more serious than the next lower level. Each level on the scale also represents the potential to affect a larger area. The scale can be applied to any event associated with nuclear facilities, as well as to the transport, storage, and use of radioactive material and radiation sources. Licenses are not required to classify events or provide off-site notifications using the INES. However, the NRC has a commitment to transmit to the International Atomic Energy Agency an INES-based rating for an applicable event occurring in the United States, rated at level 2 or above, or events attracting international public interest. NRC at a Glance This section provides a snapshot of specific agency information and current activities as of July 2019. For the latest information, visit the NRC online at www.nrc.gov 2019-2020 NRC at a Glance. The NRC was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. The most significant laws that govern the regulatory process of the agency are the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended, Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, the Uranium-Mill-Talings Radiation Control Act of 1978, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, the West Valley Demonstration Policy Act of 1980, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Low-Level Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, and the Energy Policy Acts of 1992 and 2005. The Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act of 2017 and the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act of 2019. The Commission The NRC's commission has five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate for five-year terms. The members terms are staggered, so one commissioners expires on June 30 of each year. The president designates one member to serve as chairman. Listed by seniority, the current commission includes Chairman Christine L. Svineke whose term expires in 2022, Commissioner Jeff Barron whose term expires in 2023, Commissioner Annie Caputo whose term expires in 2021, Commissioner David A. Wright whose term expires in 2020, and one vacancy with a term expiring in 2024. Fiscal Year 2019 Budget For fiscal year 2019 that runs from October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019, the NRC's budget is $911 million. The NRC has 3,106 full-time equivalents, including the Office of the Inspector General. The Office of the Inspector General received its own appropriation of $12.6 million, which is included in the total NRC budget. The budget breakdown is Nuclear Reactor Safety Program, $690.4 million, Nuclear Materials and Waste Safety Program, $193 million, the Integrated University Program, $15 million, the Inspector General, $12.6 million. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 as amended requires the NRC to recover through fees billed to licensees, approximately 90% of its new budget authority, less the amounts appropriated from general funds for activities related to waste incidental to reprocessing activities, generic homeland security activities, advanced reactors regulatory infrastructure activities, international activities, and the Office of the Inspector General services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The NRC collects fees each year by September 30, and transfers them to the U.S. Treasury. Recovery of NRC Budget The breakdown of recovery fees is Reactor Fees, $710.9 million, Nuclear Materials Fees, $70 million. Budget Not Recovered by Fees, $130.1 million. The Agency estimates that it will recover $780.8 million in fees in fiscal year 2019. Recovered fees do not include the use of prior year carryover where fees were previously collected. By the Numbers U.S. Electricity Generated by Commercial Nuclear Power NRC licensed nuclear reactors generate about 19% of U.S. gross electricity, or about 807 billion kilowatt hours. Nuclear Reactors There are 97 commercial nuclear power plants operating in 29 states at 58 sites. 65 of them are pressurized water reactors, and 32 are boiling water reactors. There are four reactor fuel vendors, 23 parent operating companies, and about 80 different designs. About 6,535 total inspection hours were performed at each operating reactor site in 2018. A number of units are expected to shut down or not seek license renewal. Next error is Dwayne Arnold Plant is set to shut down by the end of 2020. Entergy's Indian Point units 2 and 3 are planning to shut down in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Beaver Valley Unit 1 will close in May 2021. Unit 2 will close in October 2021. Both are operated by 1st Energy. Palisades, operated by Entergy Nuclear, will close by May 2022. Pacific Gas and Electric has said it will not renew the licenses for Diablo Canyon, and the two units will permanently shut down by 2024 and 2025 respectively. 1st Energy's Davis Bessie is slated to close in May 2020 and the company's Perry Plant will shut down in 2021. Reactor License Renewal Commercial power reactor operating licenses are valid for 40 years and may be renewed for additional 20-year terms. 94 reactors have received renewed licenses, including five now permanently shut down. Eight reactors currently operate under their original license. Subsequent License Renewal. Reactor operators can apply to renew plant licenses a second time. This is called subsequent license renewal and would allow plants to operate from 60 to 80 years. Six reactors at three sites have subsequent license renewal applications under review. Another site with two reactors has submitted a letter of intent to request subsequent license renewal. The agency is reviewing three applications for subsequent license renewal for turkey points units three and four, peach bottom two and three, and Surrey one and two. The NRC has also received a letter of intent for North Anna units one and two to apply for subsequent license renewal in 2020. Early Site Permits The NRC is reviewing one early site permit application from the Tennessee Valley Authority for two or more small modular reactor modules at the Clinch River nuclear site in Rhone County, Tennessee. Five early site permits have been issued to System Energy Resources for the Grand Gulf site in Mississippi, to Exelon Generation Company for the Clinton site in Illinois, to the Dominion Nuclear North Anna site for the North Anna site in Virginia, Southern Nuclear Company for the Vogel site in Georgia, and to PSEG Power and PSEG Nuclear for site in New Jersey. Combined License Construction and Operating for New Reactors Since June 2007, the NRC has received and docketed 18 combined operating license applications called COLs for 28 new large light water reactors. The NRC suspended or canceled 10 COL application reviews at the requests of the applicant for the proposed Bell Bend reactor in Pennsylvania, the Bellafont units in Alabama, Calaway in Missouri, an additional reactor at Calver Cliffs in Maryland, a Comanche Peak in Texas, and Grand Gulf in Mississippi for 9 Mile Point in New York, River Bend in Louisiana, Sheeran Harrison, North Carolina, and Victoria County Station in Texas. The NRC has issued COLs for 14 reactors at Fermi in Michigan, Levy County in Florida, North Anna in Virginia, South Texas Project, Turkey Point in Florida, VC Summer in South Carolina, Vogel in Georgia, and WS Lee in South Carolina. At the license use request, 6 of those COLs have been terminated at 3 sites, Levy County 1 and 2 in Florida, VC Summer Units 2 and 3 in South Carolina, and South Texas Project Units 3 and 4. Reactor Design Certification 6 reactor design certifications have been issued for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's ABWR and ESBWR, Westinghouse Electric Company's System 80 Plus, Westinghouse's AP600 and AP1000, and Korean Electric Power Corporation's APR 1400. Two design certification applications are under review for the US APWR and new scale designs. One design certification application for US EPR is suspended at the request of the applicant, and one renewal application is under review for the ABWR design. Nuclear Research and Test Reactors There are 31 licensed research and test reactors operating in 21 states. Two medical radioisotope production facilities are authorized for construction, shine medical technologies in Janesville, Wisconsin, and Northwest Medical Isotopes in Columbia, Missouri. Nuclear Materials Materials Licensing The NRC and the agreement states have approximately 19,300 licensees for medical, academic, industrial, and general users of nuclear materials. The NRC regulates approximately 2,800 licensees and maintains regulatory authority over materials users in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, Michigan, Vermont, and the US Territories, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. An agreement state application from the state of Vermont is under review. The 38 agreement states regulate approximately 16,500 licensees. The agency issues about 1600 new licenses, renewals, or amendments for existing licenses and conducts about 900 safety and security inspections of materials licensees every year. Nuclear Fuel Cycle There are currently three uranium recovery sites that are licensed by the NRC. Ten fuel cycle facilities are licensed by the NRC. One uranium hexafluoride conversion facility is currently in ready idle status. Five uranium fuel fabrication facilities, two gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facilities, one operating and one with construction pending, one uranium enrichment laser separation facility with construction on hold, and one depleted uranium deconversion facility with a construction decision pending. The NRC issues about 50 fuel cycle facility licensing actions per year, including amendments, renewals, new licenses, and safety environmental and safeguards reviews. National Source Tracking System The National Source Tracking System tracks more than 76,000 sources held by about 1400 NRC and agreement state licensees. Of those sources, about 52% are Category 1 sources and 48% are Category 2. The majority are Cobalt 60, the most widely used isotope in large sources. Domestic Safeguards The NRC and the U.S. Department of Energy use the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguard System to track transfers and inventories of source and special nuclear material. Licenses must report their inventories, transfers, purchases, and sales, including import and export of these materials. More than 300 licensees report to the database, verifying their inventories at least annually by reconciling their transactions against the previous year's inventory. The database supports U.S. participation in the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Radioactive Waste For low-level radioactive waste, there are currently 10 regional compacts and four state-licensed disposal facilities. For high-level radioactive waste management, there are 80 licenses for independent spent fuel storage installations in 34 states, including 15 site-specific licenses and 65 general licenses. Two applications are under review for consolidated interim storage facilities for spent fuel in Andrews County, Texas, and Lee County, New Mexico. In the transportation arena, there are about 1,000 safety inspections of fuel, reactor, and materials licensees conducted annually, and 50-70 new, renewed, or amended container design applications for the transport of nuclear materials reviewed annually. 150 license applications for the import and export of nuclear materials from the United States are also reviewed annually. More than 3 million packages of radioactive materials are shipped each year in the United States by road, rail, air, or water. This represents less than 1% of the nation's yearly hazardous material shipments. Decommissioning Under the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, the NRC is required to submit a report to Congress on best practices for community engagement panels in areas surrounding nuclear power plants that have permanently ceased operations. The NRC is consulting with host states, communities within the nuclear power plant emergency planning zones, and existing local community advisory boards. This consultation also includes a minimum of 10 public meetings in locations that ensure geographic diversity across the United States with priority given to states that have nuclear power reactors currently undergoing decommissioning. The best practices report is scheduled to be issued to Congress by June 2020 and will include a discussion of the composition of existing community advisory boards and best practices during the establishment and operation, such as logistical considerations, frequency of meetings, and the selection of board members. About 100 materials licenses are terminated each year. The NRC's decommissioning program focuses on the termination of licenses that are not routine and that require complex activities. 22 nuclear power reactors are in various stages of decommissioning. Three research and test reactors permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning. 11 complex material sites are also in various stages of decommissioning. One fuel cycle facility is in partial decommissioning and five NRC licensed uranium recovery facilities are in various stages of decommissioning. Security and emergency preparedness. Every two years each operating nuclear power plant performs a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise inspected by the NRC and evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. Plants conduct additional emergency drills between full-scale exercises to maintain their preparedness and proficiency in responding to emergencies. The NRC spends about 15,000 hours a year scrutinizing security at nuclear power plants, including 8,000 hours of force-on-force inspections. These inspections include mock combat drills and are conducted on a cycle so that each plant undergoes a force-on-force inspection every three years. The NRC has implemented a comprehensive cybersecurity oversight program for power reactors, which includes routine inspections and requires licensees to isolate critical systems from the internet. NRC accomplishments and highlights for 2018-2019. Nuclear power reactors. The staff completed more than 1,300 licensing actions and other licensing tasks, including license renewal applications and actions that support the safe transition of operating plants to decommissioning. The agency confirmed implementation of safety enhancement orders in response to the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Plants in Japan related to the mitigating strategies, spent fuel pool instrumentation and severe accident-capable hardened containment vent orders. The staff also completed post-Fukushima flood and seismic hazard reevaluation activities for more than three-quarters of reactor sites and completed all post-Fukushima activities for about half of the reactor sites. NRC also issued a final rule for mitigating severe events at U.S. nuclear reactors based on lessons learned from the Fukushima accident. The agency issued renewed operating licenses for River Bend Unit 1, Waterford Unit 3 and Seabrook Station to authorize operation for an additional 20 years beyond the original license expiration dates. These issuances bring the total number of renewals to 94 units. The staff is currently reviewing three subsequent license renewal applications for Turkey Point 3 and 4, Peach Bottom 2 and 3, and Surrey Units 1 and 2, which would extend their operating licenses from 60 to 80 years. The agency continued its oversight of construction for two reactors at Vogle and completed all required inspection and assessment activities of the reactor oversight process, including initiating four inspections in response to safety significant events. The NRC participated in Eagle Horizon 2018 and 2019 national level exercises that tested the NRC's ability to relocate senior managers during a continuity of operations event and continued to conduct four-sum-four security inspections at U.S. nuclear power plants testing licensees capabilities to protect against the design basis threat. The staff completed the first series of full implementation cybersecurity inspections and published extensive research results on a variety of topics related to operating facility safety, severe accident analysis, improved methods for risk assessment, reliability of examination methods for primary system boundary components, seismic analysis guidelines, and fire phenomena for electrical faults. The agency strengthened nuclear safety cooperation through more than 100 active international agreements, including partnerships under the recently created Radiation Protection Analysis Program, non-power reactors. The NRC issued a license amendment to Purdue University, authorizing a complete replacement of the analog instrumentation and control systems with an all-digital system and reactor console, a first of its kind for a research reactor. And the agency prepared the regulatory framework and infrastructure for licensing and oversight of construction and operation of medical radioisotope production facilities. Materials and Waste. The staff completed approximately 1600 radioactive materials licensing actions. The agency completed the review of the agreement state application for Wyoming, which became an agreement state on September 30th, 2018. The NRC finalized a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to share information on new medical technologies, leverage expertise, and explore the possibility of streamlining the respective processes to reduce duplication of effort while still fulfilling the respective missions of each agency. The NRC evaluated the training and experience requirements for physicians who use certain by-product material to treat patients to determine whether to tailor training and experience requirements for different categories of radiopharmaceuticals. In addition, the agency transmitted the 2018 Radiation Source Protection and Security Task Force Report to the President and Congress. It concluded that there are no significant gaps in the area of radioactive source protection and security that are not already being addressed through continued attention by the appropriate task force agencies. The staff completed nine integrated materials performance evaluation program reviews of agreement states and terminated the license for the research reactor for the State University of New York at Buffalo and released the site for unrestricted use. The license for the Westinghouse Electric hematite site in Festus, Missouri was terminated and the site was released for unrestricted use. The agency issued NRC Information Notice 2018-06 Determination of Management Measures for Process Isolation Controls designated as items relied on for safety and implementation of adequate quality assurance measures for plant features and procedures dated April 10th, 2018. The NRC submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency the Inventory Reporting Information for NRC Licensees in Puerto Rico with source or special nuclear material, completing the initial obligations for the U.S. government under the U.S. IAEA Caribbean Territories Safeguards Agreement. The NRC terminated the special nuclear material license for the Arriva Nuclear Materials Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Idaho Falls in August 2018. It was licensed but never constructed. The agency issued a special nuclear material license for Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland in February 2019 and terminated the construction authorization for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in Aiken, South Carolina in February 2019. Agency-wide, the NRC continued to oversee the safe and secure operation of nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities as well as the possession and use of radioactive materials. The agency pursued substantial rulemaking activities on topics including American Society of Mechanical Engineers Codes and Code Cases, Reactor Vessel Material Surveillance, Enhanced Weapons, Firearms Background Checks, and Security Event Notifications, Enhanced Security for Special Nuclear Material, Industrial Radiography, Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal, and Petitions for Rulemaking, submitted by members of the public. It issued the fiscal year 2019 final fee rule after increasing transparency and openness through a public meeting and other stakeholder outreach. It implemented and piloted an E-concurrent system within the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The system was developed in adherence to a 2016 NRC Management Directive and aligns with the 2011 White House Directive that requires federal government agencies to transition from paper-based records management to electronic records management. The agency issued 45 escalated enforcement actions under traditional enforcement, of which 12 involved civil penalties totaling $489,500, two were enforcement orders without an imposed civil penalty, and 31 were escalated notices of violation without a proposed civil penalty. International Activities, NRC staff members represented the NRC as part of U.S. Delegations negotiating agreements for civil nuclear cooperation and participated in various U.S. government nuclear safety and security initiatives in collaboration with U.S. executive branch agencies through activities such as meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the IAEA Board of Governors, the Group of Seven Nuclear Safety and Security Group, and the Joint Standing Committees on Nuclear Energy Cooperation. The NRC participated as part of U.S. government delegations to international meetings addressing the implementation of treaties and conventions, including the sixth review meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the Technical Meeting of Representatives to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and its Amendment and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Preparatory Committee Meeting. The ag