Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2026

The NRC's fee regulations are primarily governed by two laws: (1) the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701); and (2) the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) (42 U.S.C. 2215). The IOAA authorizes and encourages Federal agencies to recover, to the fullest extent possible, costs attributable to services provided to identifiable recipients. Under NEIMA, the NRC must recover, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget, less the budget authority for excluded activities. Under section 102(b)(1)(B) of NEIMA, “excluded activities” include any fee-relief activity as identified by the Commission, generic homeland security activities, waste incidental to reprocessing activities, Nuclear Waste Fund activities, Inspector General (IG) services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, research and development at universities in areas relevant to the NRC's mission, a nuclear science and engineering grant program, advanced reactor regulatory infrastructure activities, international nuclear export and innovation activities, mission-indirect program support and agency support costs that may not be included in the reduced hourly rate charged for fees assessed to advanced nuclear reactor applicants and pre-applicants (Reduced Hourly Rate), and costs for application reviews and pre-application activities related to an early site permit (ESP) to demonstrate an advanced nuclear reactor on a Department of Energy (DOE) or critical national security infrastructure site. In fiscal year (FY) 2026, the NRC is expanding the existing fee-relief activity, “Medical isotope production infrastructure,” to include additional non-power production or utilization facilities program budgeted resources to ensure the equitability and stability of annual fees for the non-power production or utilization facilities fee class since the majority of non-power production or utilization facilities licensees are exempt from annual fees under part 171 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and Fuel Cycle Licenses and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC.” The remaining fee-relief activities identified by the Commission are consistent with prior fee rules (see table I, “Excluded Activities,” of this document for the list of all excluded activities).

Under NEIMA, the NRC must use its IOAA authority first to collect service fees for NRC work that provides specific benefits to identifiable recipients (such as licensing work, inspections, and special projects). The NRC's regulations in 10 CFR part 170, “Fees for Facilities, Materials, Import and Export Licenses, and Other Regulatory Services Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended,” explain how the agency collects service fees from specific beneficiaries. Because the NRC's fee recovery under the IOAA (10 CFR part 170) will not equal 100 percent of the agency's total budget authority for this FY (less the budget authority for excluded activities), the NRC also assesses “annual fees” under 10 CFR part 171 to recover the remaining amount necessary to comply with NEIMA.

Additionally, on July 9, 2024, the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (ADVANCE Act) was signed into law, and, among other things, it amended fee-related provisions in NEIMA. Specifically, the ADVANCE Act includes three fee- related provisions

and provides an effective date of October 1, 2025 (FY 2026), for each of these provisions: (1) section 101, “International Nuclear Export and Innovation Activities,” establishes a new excluded activity for “[c]osts for international nuclear export and innovation activities described in section 101(a)” of the ADVANCE Act; (2) section 201, “Fees for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Application Review,” requires a Reduced Hourly Rate for advanced nuclear reactor applicants and pre- applicants for certain activities and creates new excluded activities associated with the Reduced Hourly Rate; and (3) section 204, “Enabling Preparations for the Demonstration of Advanced Nuclear Reactors on Department of Energy Sites or Critical National Security Infrastructure Sites,” establishes two more excluded activities for costs for application reviews and pre-application activities for an ESP to demonstrate an advanced nuclear reactor on a DOE or “critical national security infrastructure” site.

The NRC implemented section 201 of the ADVANCE Act in the FY 2025 final fee rule (90 FR 26730; June 24, 2025) to provide greater regulatory certainty to external stakeholders and avoid burdens associated with having to delay billing for activities eligible for the Reduced Hourly Rate. As described in Section II, Discussion, “FY 2026 Fee Collection--Professional Hourly Rate and Reduced Hourly Rate,” of this document, in the FY 2025 final fee rule, the NRC amended Sec. 170.20, “Average cost per professional staff-hour,” to establish two hourly rates: (1) the professional hourly rate; and (2) the Reduced Hourly Rate for advanced nuclear reactor applicants and pre-applicants. The amendments to Sec. 170.20 in the FY 2025 final fee rule included language indicating that the Reduced Hourly Rate did not take effect until October 1, 2025, consistent with the statutory effective date in section 201 of the ADVANCE Act, and the professional hourly rate applied prior to October 1, 2025. This final rule includes revisions to Sec. 170.20 to reflect the continued implementation of the Reduced Hourly Rate and to ensure that the changes to the Reduced Hourly Rate coincide with the effective date of the final fee rule for the FY.

In addition, this final rule includes changes to implement sections101 and 204 of the ADVANCE Act, as reflected in table I, “Excluded Activities.” This final rule also includes revisions to footnote 12 in Sec. 170.31, “Schedule of fees for materials licenses and other regulatory services, including inspections, and import and export licenses,” and footnote 8 in Sec. 171.16, “Annual fees: Materials licensees, holders of certificates of compliance, holders of sealed source and device registrations, holders of quality assurance program approvals, and government agencies licensed by the NRC,” to reflect section 101 of the ADVANCE Act.