"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been busy responding to Trump’s executive order. But will the many siting and permitting changes accelerate nuclear deployment?"
"The top U.S. nuclear regulator wants to make it easier to build and operate nuclear power plants in this country — without compromising public health or safety.
That’s the TL;DR of a proposed rule that would reduce reporting requirements for nonemergency events, eliminate the expiration date for standard design approvals for reactors, increase staffing flexibility in reactor control rooms, and modify seismic risk requirements, among other changes to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s voluminous regulatory code.
The 339-page tome is the newest of several dozen NRC rulemakings initiated since last May, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the commission to implement sweeping regulatory reforms by the end of 2026. The order, which also made it official U.S. government policy to quadruple the country’s commercial nuclear reactor fleet by 2050, kicked off what one expert told Canary Media is likely the busiest period for the NRC since the early days of the nuclear power industry."
Brian Martucci reports for Canary Media September 30, 2026.
