The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a proposed rule to establish a pathway for leveraging design information from proven Department of Energy (DOE) or Department of War (DOW) reactor demonstrations in NRC reviews of commercial nuclear power plant applications. This approach is in line with President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14300, Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Section 5 of the EO, Reforming and Modernizing the NRC’s Regulations, requires NRC to undertake a review and wholesale revision of its regulations and guidance documents. It also requires the NRC to establish an expedited pathway to approve reactor designs that DOE or DOW have tested and that have demonstrated the ability to function safely. EO 14300 further states that NRC reviews of such designs shall focus solely on risks that may arise from new applications permitted by NRC licensure, rather than revisiting risks that have already been addressed in the DOE or DOW processes.
The proposed new rule will enhance NRC licensing regulations, establishing a clear pathway for new reactor applicants to justify how designs authorised by DOE or DOW meet NRC safety requirements. Applicants would need to address any changes from the authorised DOE or DOW design to a commercial reactor version licensed by NRC. The NRC’s use of information from DOE or DOW technical reviews would depend on the extent to which an applicant demonstrates that the information addresses the requirements of an NRC licence application. NRC plans to issue guidance to complement these regulatory changes later and in alignment with the rulemaking process.
“Once DOE or DOW thoroughly tests a reactor design and shows it operates safely, we’re going to build on that work, not repeat it,” said Jeremy Bowen, director of the NRC’s newly-formed Office of Advanced Reactors. “We’re proposing changes to our regulations to make it clearer how that can be done.”
According to NRC, this rulemaking would improve NRC licensing review efficiency, where applicable, by explicitly establishing by regulation an additional means for reactor applicants to demonstrate the safety functions of their reactor designs, and thus, would contribute to the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies.
The NRC will conduct a public meeting on 14 April to provide an overview of the proposed rule and supporting documents. Comments may be submitted until 4 May.
The NRC has not prepared a separate draft regulatory analysis on the proposed changes. However, the NRC performed a qualitative economic analysis of the rule impacts. As a result, NRC would not need to repeat technical reviews previously performed by DOE or DOW, to the extent that those reviews cover the same scope as the related content in the NRC licence application.
In general, NRC expects cost savings to both applicants in preparing an application and the NRC in reviewing that application. NRC said it was not able to quantify these potential savings in a useful way at this time. These savings would depend on the applicability of the DOE/DOW reviews to NRC requirements and the ability of applicants to demonstrate that applicability; the number of applications that may reference a previous DOE/DOW authorisation; and how any potential differences (changes to the design or site-specific factors) from the previously authorised design also meet NRC requirements.
