General Provisions

10 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart A
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

10 C.F.R. § 140.1 Purpose.

The regulations in this part are issued to provide appropriate procedures and requirements for determining: (a) The financial protection required of licensees and for the indemnification and limitation of liability of certain licensees and other persons pursuant to section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; and (b) The liability insurance required of uranium enrichment facility licensees pursuant to section 193 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

10 C.F.R. § 140.2 Scope.

(a) The regulations in this part apply: (1) To each person who is an applicant for or holder of a license issued under 10 CFR parts 50, 52, or 54 to operate a nuclear reactor, and (2) With respect to an extraordinary nuclear occurrence, to each person who is an applicant for or holder of a license to operate a production facility or a utilization facility (including an operating license issued under part 50 of this chapter and a combined license under part 52 of this chapter), and to other persons indemnified with respect to the involved facilities. (3) To each person licensed pursuant to part 70 of this chapter to possess and use plutonium in a plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant. (4) To each person licensed pursuant to parts 40 and 70 of this chapter to construct and operate a uranium enrichment facility. (b)(1) Subpart B of this part does not apply to any person subject to subparts C or D of this part. Subpart C of this part applies only to persons found by the Commission to be Federal agencies. Subpart D of this part applies only to persons found by the Commission to be nonprofit educational institutions with respect to licenses and applications for licenses for the conduct of educational activities. (2) Any applicant or licensee subject to this part may apply for a finding that such applicant or licensee is subject to the provisions of subparts C or D of this part. The application should state the grounds for the requested finding. Any application for a finding pursuant to this paragraph may be included in an application for a license. (c) Subpart E of this part sets forth the procedures the Commission will follow and the criteria the Commission will apply in making a determination as to whether or not there has been an extraordinary nuclear occurrence. The form of nuclear energy liability policy for facilities (appendix A) and the forms of indemnity agreements with licensees (appendices B, C, D, and E) include provisions requiring the waiver of certain defenses with respect to an extraordinary nuclear occurrence. These provisions and subpart E are incorporated in this part pursuant to Pub. L. 89-645 (80 Stat. 891). They provide additional assurance of prompt compensation under available indemnity and underlying financial protection for injury or damage resulting from the hazardous properties of radioactive materials or radiation, and they in no way detract from the protection to the public otherwise provided under this part.

10 C.F.R. § 140.3 Definitions.

As used in this part: Act means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 919) including any amendments thereto. Commission means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its duly authorized representatives. Department means the Department of Energy established by the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), to the extent that the Department, or its duly authorized representatives, exercises functions formerly vested in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, its Chairman, members, officers and components and transferred to the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration and to the Administrator thereof pursuant to sections 104 (b), (c) and (d) of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1233 at 1237, 42 U.S.C. 5814) and retransferred to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to section 301(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565 at 577-578, 42 U.S.C. 7151). Federal agency means a Government agency such that any liability in tort based on the activities of such agency would be satisfied by funds appropriated by the Congress and paid out of the United States Treasury. Financial protection means the ability to respond in damages for public liability and to meet the cost of investigating and defending claims and settling suits for such damages. Government agency means any executive department, commission, independent establishment, corporation, wholly or partly owned by the United States of America which is an instrumentality of the United States, or any board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government. Nuclear reactor means any apparatus, other than an atomic weapon, designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction. Person means: (1) Any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, Government agency other than the Commission or the Department, except that the Department shall be considered a person within the meaning of the regulations in this part to the extent that its facilities and activities are subject to the licensing and related regulatory authority of the Commission pursuant to section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1244), any State or any political subdivision thereof, or any political entity within a State, any foreign government or nation or any political subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity; and (2) Any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing. Plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant means a plant in which the following operations or activities are conducted: (1) Operations for manufacture of reactor fuel containing plutonium, where the license or licenses authorize the possession of either five or more kilograms of plutonium, excluding that contained in sealed sources and welded or otherwise sealed unirradiated or irradiated fuel rods, at the site of the plant or authorize the processing of one or more kilograms of plutonium, excluding that contained in sealed sources and welded or otherwise sealed unirradiated or irradiated fuel rods, at the plant, including any of the following processes: (i) Preparation of fuel material; (ii) Formation of fuel material into desired shapes; (iii) Application of protective cladding; (iv) Recovery of scrap material; and (v) Storage associated with such operations; or (2) Research and development activities involving any of the operations described in paragraph (1) of this definition, except for research and development activities where the operator is licensed to possess or use plutonium in amounts less than those specified in paragraph (1). Source material means source material as defined in the regulations contained in part 40 of this chapter. Special nuclear material means: (1) Plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of section 51 of the Act, determines to be special nuclear material, but does not include source material; or (2) Any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material. Testing reactor means a nuclear reactor which is of a type described in § 50.21(c) of this chapter and for which an application has been filed for a license authorizing operation at: (1) A thermal power level in excess of 10 megawatts; or (2) A thermal power level in excess of 1 megawatt, if the reactor is to contain: (i) A circulating loop through the core in which the applicant proposes to conduct fuel experiments; or (ii) A liquid fuel loading; or (iii) An experimental facility in the core in excess of 16 square inches in cross-section. Uranium enrichment facility means: (1) Any facility used for separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235, except laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes only; or (2) Any equipment or device, or important component part especially designed for such equipment or device, capable of separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235.

10 C.F.R. § 140.4 Interpretations.

Except as specifically authorized by the Commission in writing, no interpretations of the meaning of the regulations in this part by any officer or employee of the Commission other than a written interpretation by the General Counsel will be recognized to be binding upon the Commission.

10 C.F.R. § 140.5 Communications.

Except where otherwise specified, all communications and reports concerning the regulations in this part and applications filed under them should be sent by mail addressed to: ATTN: Document Control Desk, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, or Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, as appropriate, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by hand delivery to the NRC's offices at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; or, where practicable, by electronic submission, for example, via Electronic Information Exchange, or CD-ROM. Electronic submissions must be made in a manner that enables the NRC to receive, read, authenticate, distribute, and archive the submission, and process and retrieve it a single page at a time. Detailed guidance on making electronic submissions can be obtained by visiting the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html; by e-mail to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov; or by writing the Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. The guidance discusses, among other topics, the formats the NRC can accept, the use of electronic signatures, and the treatment of nonpublic information.

10 C.F.R. § 140.6 Reports.

(a) In the event of bodily injury or property damage arising out of or in connection with the possession or use of the radioactive material at the location or in the course of transportation, or in the event any claim is made therefor, written notice containing particulars sufficient to identify the licensee and reasonably obtainable information with respect to the time, place, and circumstances thereof, or to the nature of the claim, shall be furnished by or for the licensee to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, or Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, as appropriate, using an appropriate method listed in § 140.5, but in any case as promptly as practicable. The terms the radioactive material, the location, and in the course of transportation as used in this section shall have the meanings defined in the applicable indemnity agreement between the licensee and the Commission. (b) The Commission may require any person subject to this part to keep such records and furnish such reports to the Commission as the Commission deems necessary for the administration of the regulations in this part.

10 C.F.R. § 140.7 Fees.

(a)(1) Each reactor licensee shall pay a fee to the Commission based on the following schedule: (i) For indemnification from $500 million to $400 million inclusive, a fee of $30 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal capacity authorized in the license; (ii) For indemnification from $399 million to $300 million inclusive, a fee of $24 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal capacity authorized in the license; (iii) For indemnification from $299 million to $200 million inclusive, a fee of $18 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal capacity authorized in the license; (iv) For indemnification from $199 million to $100 million inclusive, a fee of $12 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal capacity authorized in the license; and (v) For indemnification from $99 million to $1 million inclusive, a fee of $6 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal capacity authorized in the license. (2) No fee will be less than $100 per annum for any nuclear reactor. This fee is for the period beginning with the date on which the applicable indemnity agreement is effective. The various levels of indemnity fees are set forth in the schedule in this paragraph. The amount of indemnification for determining indemnity fees will be computed by subtracting from the statutory limit of liability the amount of financial protection required of the licensee. In the case of licensees subject to the provision of § 140.11(a)(4), this total amount will be the amount, as determined by the Commission, of the financial protection available to licensees at the close of the calendar year preceding the one in which the fee becomes due. For those instances in which a certified financial statement is provided as a guarantee of payment of deferred premiums in accordance with § 140.21(e), a fee of $1,000 or the indemnity fee, whichever is greater, is required. (b) Where a licensee manufactures a number of nuclear reactors each having a power level not exceeding 3 1/3 megawatts, for sale to others and operates them at the licensee's location temporarily prior to delivery, the licensee shall report to the Commission the maximum number of such reactors to be operated at that location at any one time. In such cases, the fee shall equal $100 multiplied by the number of reactors reported by the licensee. In the event the number of reactors operated at any one time exceed the estimate so reported, the licensee shall report the additional number of reactors to the Commission and additional charges will be made. If experience shows that less than the estimated number of reactors have been operated, appropriate adjustment in subsequent bills will be made by the Commission. (c) Each person licensed to possess and use plutonium in a plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant shall pay to the Commission a fee of $5,000 per year for indemnification. This fee is for the period beginning with the date on which the applicable indemnity agreement is effective. (d) Indemnity fee payments, made payable to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are to be made in U.S. funds by check, draft, money order, credit card, or electronic funds transfer such as ACH (Automated Clearing House) using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). Federal agencies may also make payments by the On-Line Payment and Collections System (OPAC's). Where specific payment instructions are provided on the invoices, payment should be made accordingly, e.g. invoices of $5,000 or more should be paid via ACH through NRC's Lockbox Bank at the address indicated on the invoice. Credit card payments should be made up to the limit established by the credit card bank, in accordance with specific instructions provided with the invoices, to the Lockbox Bank designated for credit card payments.

10 C.F.R. § 140.8 Specific exemptions.

The Commission may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of the regulations in this part as it determines are authorized by law and are otherwise in the public interest.

10 C.F.R. § 140.9 Modification of indemnity agreements.

The Commission will publish in the Federal Register a notice of its intent to enter into an indemnity agreement, or agreement amending an indemnity agreement, which contains provisions different from the form of the applicable indemnity agreement set forth in the appendices to this part, as such appendices may be amended from time to time.

10 C.F.R. § 140.9a a Information collection requirements: OMB approval.

(a) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has submitted the information collection requirements contained in this part to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. OMB has approved the information collection requirements contained in this part under control number 3150-0039. (b) The approved information collection requirements contained in this part appear in §§ 140.6, 140.7, 140.8, 140.13, 140.13a, 140.13b, 140.15, 140.17, 140.20, and 140.21.

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