NFC always ON - takes battery?

[emoeskaite]

I have an HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus. I noticed that Google Wallet activates on startup and keeps NFC always ON (unless I deactivate it manually). This really doesn't bother me because I'm going to use Wallet (and it works in the backgroud for easy use in my understanding) but doesn't NFC use battery if it is always ON even if I don't use it?

 

[OfTheDamned]

It is my understanding that NFC is like GPS and won't consume battery unless it is actually being used.