Who regulates nuclear power and how

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the most important agency for any U.S. reactor project, and also one of the most open. Almost every document it receives and issues is public, filed under a docket number, searchable online. Anyone who learns to use that record gets ahead of press releases by months. In 2024 and 2025, Congress and the White House changed the NRC's rules of the road more than at any time since Three Mile Island, so this lesson covers both how the system works and what changed.

Who does what

Agency	Role in nuclear power
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)	Licenses, inspects and enforces rules for civilian reactors, fuel facilities, spent fuel storage and radioactive materials. Five commissioners appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate; no more than three from one party.
Department of Energy (DOE)	Runs national labs including INL; authorizes its own research and demonstration reactors; funds advanced reactors; owns defense waste and the obligation to take commercial spent fuel.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)	Sets environmental radiation standards, including for a geologic repository.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)	Regulates interstate transmission and wholesale power markets, including deals where a data center connects directly to a nuclear plant.
State utility commissions	Decide whether utilities can build plants and charge customers for them; approve power contracts.
Agreement States	About 40 states regulate certain nuclear materials (medical isotopes, some uranium mills) under agreements with the NRC. Reactors stay federal.

The NRC was created in 1974 when Congress split the old Atomic Energy Commission in two: one agency to promote nuclear power (which became part of DOE) and one to regulate it. That split, made because the AEC was seen as too cozy with the industry it regulated, is the background to every current argument about how fast the NRC should move.

Licensing paths

A commercial reactor can be licensed by any of these paths.

• Part 50 (two steps): the original path. A construction permit lets you build. Later, an operating license lets you load fuel and run. TerraPower's Natrium and TVA's Clinch River BWRX-300 both got Part 50 construction permits in 2026 and will need operating licenses.
• Part 52 (one step): created in 1989 to fix the delays of the 1970s and 80s. A vendor can get a design certified once, a utility can get an early site permit, and a combined license (COL) authorizes building and operating together. Vogtle 3 and 4 used this path.
• Part 53 (new): a "risk-informed, technology-inclusive" framework meant to fit non-water reactors better, required by the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act of 2019. The NRC page shows the final rule published in the Federal Register in March 2026.

The safety review produces a safety evaluation report. The environmental review, required by the National Environmental Policy Act, produces an environmental impact statement or a shorter environmental assessment. The independent Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) reviews safety questions and writes letters to the commission. The Atomic Energy Act requires a hearing on construction permits; members of the public who meet standing rules can petition for a contested hearing before a licensing board. The commissioners then vote.

The ADVANCE Act of 2024

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act passed with large bipartisan majorities and became law on July 9, 2024, as Division B of Public Law 118-67. Key sections:

• Fees (Sec. 201): caps the hourly rate the NRC charges advanced reactor applicants starting October 1, 2025; a similar cap for pre-applicants ends September 30, 2030.
• Prizes (Sec. 202): lets DOE reimburse NRC fees for the first reactors in several categories, subject to appropriations.
• Russian and Chinese fuel (Sec. 102): bars licensing possession of fuel assemblies made by companies owned or controlled by those governments, unless the Energy and State secretaries find it does not threaten national security.
• Brownfields and coal sites (Sec. 206): requires the NRC to evaluate and streamline licensing at retired fossil plant and brownfield sites.
• Expedited licensing (Sec. 207): creates a faster combined license process for reactors at or next to existing reactor sites, with a 25-month target for a decision.
• Microreactors (Sec. 208): requires risk-informed licensing guidance for microreactors within 18 months.
• Mission statement (Sec. 501): requires the NRC to update its mission so licensing is efficient and does not "unnecessarily" limit the benefits of nuclear technology.

Supporters, including the industry and most members of Congress, saw it as overdue modernization. Groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists warned that changing the mission statement could tilt the regulator toward promotion, the problem the 1974 split was meant to solve. Both views show up in NRC commission votes on how to apply the new mission.

The May 2025 executive orders

On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed four nuclear executive orders. The three most relevant to this course:

Order	Main directives
EO 14300, Ordering the Reform of the NRC	Goal of 400 GW of U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050 (from about 100 GW); maximum 18 months for decisions on new reactor applications and 1 year for existing reactor renewals; "wholesale revision" of NRC rules, with final rules within 18 months; reconsider the linear no-threshold model and ALARA; reorganize the agency, possibly with staff reductions; cut ACRS to its statutory minimum
EO 14301, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at DOE	Affirms DOE authority over research reactors it controls that do not sell commercial power; pilot program with a goal of three reactors critical by July 4, 2026
EO 14302, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base	10 new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030; 5 GW of uprates; plans to expand conversion and enrichment, including HALEU; a recommended national policy on spent fuel and recycling

The fourth order dealt with reactors for national security and military bases.

Effects are already visible. NRC reviews that once took years have been finishing faster: the Natrium construction permit review took 18 months against an initial 27-month schedule, and TVA's Clinch River review took 14 months. Three test reactors reached criticality by the July 4 goal (lesson 4). Supporters credit the orders and the ADVANCE Act together. Critics, including former NRC officials and some members of Congress, have argued that White House deadlines and staff cuts undermine the NRC's independence, and that rushing reviews risks missing problems the process exists to catch. Legal scholars have also debated how far a president can direct an independent commission. These arguments were still active in October 2026.

Where the documents are

• ADAMS: the NRC's document system, searchable by docket number, with applications, requests for more information, safety evaluations, inspection reports and meeting transcripts.
• Project pages: the NRC lists active new reactor and advanced reactor applicants with review schedules.
• Federal Register: notices of applications, hearing opportunities (usually a 60-day window to petition) and proposed rules.
• Inspection reports and the Reactor Oversight Process: every operating plant gets color-coded performance ratings (green, white, yellow, red) updated quarterly.
• Event reports: plants must report certain events to the NRC, and daily event reports are published online.