The NRC recently issued Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2025-02, which asks reactor licensees to voluntarily provide information about their plans for power-uprate licensing submittals. The NRC will use this information to set...more
In the face of ever-increasing electricity supply demands across the country, the future is looking very bright for the nuclear energy industry. We review below recent policy and market developments that can inform what lies...more
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced that it intends to issue, by the end of 2023, the final rule and associated regulatory guide that sets emergency preparedness requirements for new reactors. The rulemaking...more
As part of long-range plans to address climate change, many states have adopted policies to spur the transition to a low-carbon future. Renewable sources like solar, wind and geothermal energy have garnered considerable...more
The NRC commissioners unanimously approved on January 23, 2023 the publication of a proposed rule to update the NRC’s environmental regulations in Part 51 and issue a draft update to the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact...more
On July 27, 2022, Senator Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Manchin (D-WV) reached an agreement to provide $369 billion for climate and energy projects in the proposed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA” or the...more
In an action that distinguishes the unique traits of advanced reactors from large, light water reactors, on July 13, 2022, the NRC Commission approved in SRM-SECY-20-0045 a new approach for determining where advanced reactors...more
In a 2-1 vote, NRC Commissioners have approved a new approach for evaluating where reactors can be sited in the United States, opening the door to siting advanced reactors in more densely populated areas than has been allowed...more
The NRC recently issued its Allegation Program Annual Trends Report, analyzing regional, national, and site-specific allegation trends for calendar year 2021. The report’s top-line numbers show that allegations increased...more
The NRC staff recently provided the Commission with their annual Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Self-Assessment for Calendar Year 2021 (SECY-22-0029). These annual self-assessments have been part of the ROP since the ROP was...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced on April 19 that it is now accepting sealed bids from reactor owners and operators to receive initial credits under the Civil Nuclear Credit Program (CNCP). Concurrent with this...more
On February 11, 2022, Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office Nuclear Energy announced the launch of the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program aimed at preserving the existing U.S. fleet of nuclear power reactors and the...more
The NRC is taking an important step toward an inclusive licensing regime for a new generation of reactors. On January 3, the NRC staff submitted for commission approval a recommended final rule on “Emergency Preparedness for...more
The NRC staff recently issued findings from their review of the 2021 decommissioning funding status (DFS) reports submitted by power reactor licensees and licensees of power reactors in decommissioning. These reports are...more
On December 7, 2021, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) introduced legislation to change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (“NRC”) fee structure for licensing advanced technology. The legislation,...more
An NRC working group released a report on July 23 after conducting a “fundamental” review of 10 CFR Part 110 (Part 110) and the NRC’s readiness to license exports of advanced reactors and their associated nuclear material....more
The NRC’s Commissioners approved an NRC Staff request on August 5 to withdraw two SECY memoranda related to improvements of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP). These SECY papers were...more
A little over two weeks after the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, I wrote a column for The Hill, “Keep calm and carry on with nuclear power,” in which I stated: Now is not the time...more