ASHINGTON,
Dec. 24 (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has failed to
adequately ensure that owners have enough money to safely own,
operate and later decommission nuclear power plants, a Congressional
review says.
The commission needs to tighten its review of requests to
transfer licenses, especially because the costs of dismantling a
plant and disposing of radioactive waste could increase, said the
study by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of
Congress.
The review was requested by Representative Edward J. Markey,
Democrat of Massachusetts, because of concerns that deregulation and
recent license transfers have reduced money available for
decommissioning a plant, which costs $300 million to $400
million.
The regulatory commission has licensed 125 nuclear power plants
for limited times. Utilities have sold or are selling all or part of
15 plants. Another 30 plants have had licenses transferred.
Before transferring licenses to new plant owners, the commission
requires companies to make periodic deposits into a trust fund;
prepay costs; or obtain a bond, insurance or credit to guarantee
they can meet certain financial requirements.
In general, enough money is being set aside to take plants out of
service, the report said, but the commission has not done enough to
monitor the financial arrangements.
The commission's "reviews were not always rigorous enough to
ensure that decommissioning funds would be adequate," it said.
"Moreover, N.R.C. did not always adequately verify the new owners'
financial qualifications to safely own and operate the plants."
The commission should ask for guarantees of additional revenue
and document its review of any financial information, including
revenue projections, the report said.
It also said the commission gave plant owners about two years
before their licenses are terminated to determine whether additional
cleanup was needed. The accounting office recommended shortening
that time.
But the commission said an earlier deadline "would not add
significant value to the decommissioning process." It also disagreed
that it should modify its financial reviews "because many of the
proposed license transfers are unique."
