Claims Administration Process

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

10 C.F.R. § 950.20 General provisions.

The parties shall include provisions in the Standby Support Contract to specify the procedures and conditions set forth in this subpart for the submission of claims and the payment of covered costs under the Standby Support Contract. A sponsor is required to establish that there is a covered event, a covered delay and a covered cost; the Department is required to establish an exclusion in accordance with § 950.14(b).

10 C.F.R. § 950.21 Notification of covered event.

(a) A sponsor shall submit in writing to the Claims Administrator a notification that a covered event has occurred that has delayed the schedule for construction or testing and that may cause covered delay. The sponsor shall submit the notification to the Claims Administrator no later than thirty (30) days of the end of the covered event and contain the following information: (1) A description and explanation of the covered event, including supporting documentation of the event; (2) The duration of the delay in the schedule for construction, testing and full power operation, and the schedule for inspections, tests, analyses and acceptance criteria, if applicable; (3) The sponsor's projection of the duration of covered delay; (4) A revised schedule for construction, testing and full power operation, including the dates of system level construction or testing that had been conducted prior to the event; and (5) A revised inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria schedule, if applicable, including the dates of Commission review of inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria that had been conducted prior to the event. (b) An authorized representative of the sponsor shall sign the notification of a covered event, certify the notification is made in good faith and the covered event is not an exclusion as specified in § 950.14(b), and represent that the supporting information is accurate and complete to the sponsor's knowledge and belief.

10 C.F.R. § 950.22 Covered event determination.

(a) Completeness review. Upon notification of a covered event from the sponsor, the Claims Administrator shall review the notification for completeness within thirty (30) days of receipt. If the notification is not complete, the Claims Administrator shall return the notification within thirty (30) days of receipt and specify the incomplete information for submission by the sponsor to the Claims Administrator in time for a determination by the Claims Administrator in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section. (b) Covered Event Determination. The Claims Administrator shall review the notification and supporting information to determine whether there is agreement by the Claims Administrator with the sponsor's representation of the event as a covered event (Covered Event Determination) based on a review of the contract conditions for covered events and exclusions. (1) If the Claims Administrator believes the event is an exclusion as set forth in § 950.14(b), the Claims Administrator shall request within 30 days of receipt of the notification of a covered event information in the sponsor's possession that is relevant to the exclusion. The sponsor shall provide the requested information to the Administrator within 20 days of receipt of the Administrator's request. (2) The sponsor's failure to provide the requested information in a complete or timely manner constitutes a basis for the Claims Administrator to disagree with the sponsor's covered event notification as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, and to deny a claim for covered costs related to the exclusion as provided in § 950.24 of this part. (c) Timing. The Claims Administrator shall notify the sponsor within sixty (60) days of receipt of the notification whether the Administrator agrees with the sponsor's representation, disagrees with the representation, requires further information, or is an exclusion. If the sponsor disagrees with the Covered Event Determination, the parties shall resolve the dispute in accordance with the procedures set forth in subpart D of this part.

10 C.F.R. § 950.23 Claims process for payment of covered costs.

(a) General. No more than 120 days of when a sponsor was scheduled to attain full power operation and expects it will incur covered costs, the sponsor may make a claim upon the Department for the payment of its covered costs under the Standby Support Contract. The sponsor shall file a Certification of Covered Costs and thereafter such Supplementary Certifications of Covered Costs as may be necessary to receive payment under the Standby Support Contract for covered costs. (b) Certification of Covered Costs. The Certification of Covered Costs shall include the following: (1) A Claim Report, including the information specified in paragraph (c) of this section; (2) A certification by the sponsor that: (i) The covered costs listed on the Claim Report filed pursuant to this section are losses to be incurred by the sponsor; (ii) The claims for the covered costs were processed in accordance with appropriate business practices and the procedures specified in this subpart; and (iii) The sponsor has used due diligence to mitigate, shorten, and end, the covered delay and associated costs covered by the Standby Support Contract. (c) Claim Report. For purposes of this part, a “Claim Report” is a report of information about a sponsor's underlying claims that, in the aggregate, constitute the sponsor's covered costs. The Claim Report shall include, but is not limited to: (1) Detailed information substantiating the duration of the covered delay; (2) Detailed information about the covered costs associated with covered delay, including as applicable: (i) The amount of payment for principal or interest during the covered delay, including the relevant dates of payment, amounts of payment and any other information deemed relevant by the Department, and the name of the holder of the debt, if the debt obligation is held by a Federal agency; or (ii) The underlying payment during the covered delay related to the incremental cost of purchasing power to meet contractual agreements, including any documentation deemed relevant by the Department to calculate the fair market price of power. (d) Supplementary Certification of Covered Cost. If the total amount of the covered costs due to a sponsor under the Standby Support Contract has not been determined at the time the Certification of Covered Costs has been filed, the sponsor shall file monthly, or on a schedule otherwise determined by the Claims Administrator, Supplementary Certifications of Covered Costs updating the amount of the covered costs owed to the sponsor. Supplementary Certifications of Covered Costs shall include a Claim Report and a certification as described in this section. (e) Supplementary information. In addition to the information required in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the Claims Administrator may request such additional supporting documentation as required to ascertain the allowable covered costs sustained by a sponsor.

10 C.F.R. § 950.24 Claims determination for covered costs.

(a) No later than thirty (30) days from the sponsor's submission of a Certification of Covered Costs, the Claims Administrator shall issue a Claim Determination identifying those claimed costs deemed to be allowable based on an evaluation of: (1) The duration of covered delay, taking into account contributory or concurrent delays resulting from exclusions from coverage as established by the Claims Administrator in accordance with § 950.22; (2) The covered costs associated with covered delay, including an assessment of the sponsor's due diligence in mitigating or ending covered costs, as set forth in § 950.23; (3) Any adjustments to the covered costs, as set forth in § 950.26; and (4) Other information as necessary and appropriate. (b) The Claim Determination shall state the Claims Administrator's determination that the claim shall be paid in full, paid in an adjusted amount as deemed allowable by the Claims Administrator, or rejected in full. (c) Should the Claims Administrator conclude that the sponsor has not supplied the required information in the Certification of Covered Costs or any supporting documentation sufficient to allow reasonable verification of the duration of the covered delay or covered costs, the Claims Administrator shall so inform the sponsor and specify the nature of additional documentation requested, in time for the sponsor to supply supplemental documentation and for the Claims Administrator to issue the Claim Determination. (d) Should the Claims Administrator find that any claimed covered costs are not allowable or otherwise should be considered excluded costs under the Standby Support Contract, the Claims Administrator shall identify such costs and state the reason(s) for that decision in writing. A determination by the Claims Administrator that an event is an exclusion or that the sponsor has not provided complete or timely information relevant to the exclusion as specified in § 950.22 shall provide a basis for the Claims Administrator to find covered costs are not allowable. If the parties cannot agree on the covered costs, they shall resolve the dispute in accordance with the requirements in subpart D of this part.

10 C.F.R. § 950.25 Calculation of covered costs.

(a) The Claims Administrator shall calculate the allowable amount of the covered costs claimed in the Certification of Covered Costs as follows: (1) Costs covered through Program Account. The principal or interest on any debt obligation financing the advanced nuclear facility for the duration of covered delay to the extent the debt obligation was included in the calculation of the loan cost; and (2) Costs covered by Grant Account. The incremental costs calculated for the duration of the covered delay. In calculating the incremental cost of power, the Claims Administrator shall consider: (i) Fair Market Price. The fair market price may be determined by the lower of the two options: The actual cost of the short-term supply contract for replacement power, purchased by the sponsor, during the period of delay, or for each day of replacement power by its day-ahead weighted average index price in $/MWh at the hub geographically nearest to the advanced nuclear facility as posted on the previous day by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) or an alternate electronic marketplace deemed reliable by the Department. The daily MWh assumed to be covered is no more than its nameplate capacity multiplied by 24 hours; multiplied by the capacity-weighted U.S. average capacity factor in the previous calendar year, including in the calculation any and all commercial nuclear power units that operated in the United States for any part of the previous calendar year; and multiplied by the average of the ratios of the net generation to the grid for calculating payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund to the nameplate capacity for each nuclear unit included. In addition, the Claims Administrator may consider “fair market price” from other published indices or prices at regional trading hubs and bilateral contracts for similar delivered firm power products and the costs incurred, including acquisition costs, to move the power to the contract-specified point of delivery, as well as the provisions of the covered contract regarding replacement power costs for delivery default; and (ii) Contractual price of power. The contractual price of power shall be determined as the daily weighted average price in equivalent $/MWh under a contractual supply agreement(s) for delivery of firm power that the sponsor entered into prior to any covered event. The daily MWh assumed to be covered is no more than the advanced nuclear facility's nameplate capacity multiplied by 24 hours; multiplied by the capacity-weighted U.S. average capacity factor in the previous calendar year, including in the calculation any and all commercial nuclear power units that operated in the United States for any part of the previous calendar year; and multiplied by the average of the ratios of the net generation to the grid for calculating payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund to the nameplate capacity for each nuclear unit included.

10 C.F.R. § 950.26 Adjustments to claim for payment of covered costs.

(a) Aggregate amount of covered costs. The sponsor's aggregate amount of covered costs shall be reduced by any amounts that are determined to be either excluded or not covered. (b) Amount of Department share of covered costs. The Department share of covered costs shall be adjusted as follows: (1) No excess recoveries. The share of covered costs paid by the Department to a sponsor shall not be greater than the limitations set forth in § 950.27(d). (2) Reduction of amount payable. The share of covered costs paid by the Department shall be reduced by the appropriate amount consistent with the following: (i) Excluded claims. The Department shall ensure that no payment shall be made for costs resulting from events that are not covered under the contract as specified in § 950.14; and (ii) Sponsor due diligence. Each sponsor shall ensure and demonstrate that it uses due diligence to mitigate, shorten, and to end the covered delay and associated costs covered by the Standby Support Contract.

10 C.F.R. § 950.27 Conditions for payment of covered costs.

(a) General. The Department shall pay the covered costs associated with a Standby Support Contract in accordance with the Claim Determination issued by the Claims Administrator under § 950.24 or the Final Claim Determination under § 950.34, provided that: (1) Neither the sponsor's claim for covered costs nor any other document submitted to support the underlying claim is fraudulent, collusive, made in bad faith, dishonest or otherwise designed to circumvent the purposes of the Act and regulations; (2) The losses submitted for payment are within the scope of coverage issued by the Department under the terms and conditions of the Standby Support Contract as specified in subpart B of this part; and (3) The procedures specified in this subpart have been followed and all conditions for payment have been met. (b) Adjustments to Payments. In the event of fraud or miscalculation, the Department may subsequently adjust, including an adjustment obligating the sponsor to repay any payment made under paragraph (a) of this section. (c) Suspension of payment for covered costs. If the Department paid or is paying covered costs under paragraph (a) of this section, and subsequently makes a determination that a sponsor has failed to meet any of the requirements for payment specified in paragraph (a) of this section for a particular covered cost, the Department may suspend payment of covered costs pending investigation and audit of the sponsor's covered costs. (d) Amount payable. The Department's share of compensation for the initial two reactors is 100 percent of the covered costs of covered delay but not more than the coverage in the contract or $500 million per contract, whichever is less; and for the subsequent four reactors, not more than 50 percent of the covered costs of the covered delay but not more than the coverage in the contract or $250 million per contract, whichever is less. The Department's share of compensation for the subsequent four reactors is further limited in that the payment is for covered costs of a covered delay that occurs after the initial 180-day period of covered delay.

10 C.F.R. § 950.28 Payment of covered costs.

(a) General. The Department shall pay to a sponsor covered costs in accordance with this subpart and the terms of the Standby Support Contract. Payment shall be made in such installments and on such conditions as the Department determines appropriate. Any overpayments by the Department of the covered costs shall be offset from future payments to the sponsor or returned by the sponsor to the Department within forty-five (45) days. If there is a dispute, then the Department shall pay the undisputed costs and defer payment of the disputed portion upon resolution of the dispute in accordance with the procedures in subpart D of this part. If the covered costs include principal or interest owed on a loan made or guaranteed by a Federal agency, the Department shall instead pay that Federal agency the covered costs, rather than the sponsor. (b) Timing of Payment. The sponsor may receive payment of covered costs when: (1) The Department has approved payment of the covered cost as specified in this subpart; and (2) The sponsor has incurred and is obligated to pay the costs for which payment is requested. (c) Payment process. The covered costs shall be paid to the sponsor designated on the Certification of Covered Costs required by § 950.23, or to the sponsor's assignee as permitted by § 950.13(h). A sponsor that requests payment of the covered costs must receive payment through electronic funds transfer.

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