On Wednesday, June 18, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in NRC v. Texas to resolve a circuit split over the storage of spent nuclear fuel between the Tenth Circuit, D.C. Circuit, and Fifth...more
6/24/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Atomic Energy Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Judicial Review ,
Nuclear Power ,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Texas
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed four Executive Orders intended to expedite the development and deployment of American nuclear technology. The orders would affect the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), the...more
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratory, has published an updated set of recommendations to reform and streamline nuclear energy licensing. The INL/RPT-25-84292, “Recommendations...more
Today, the Supreme Court announced that it is taking up a case related to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (“NRC”) ability to license away-from-reactor interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. By hearing the case in the...more
On July 18, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) approved a new process to help streamline the agency’s mandatory hearings. The new process will go into effect immediately and should dramatically shorten the time...more
On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, President Biden signed into law the most comprehensive energy-related bill since the Inflation Reduction Act—and it’s all about nuclear energy. This new law will support the deployment of nuclear...more
An updated version of the ADVANCE Act—broad-ranging legislation intended to support deployment of new nuclear reactors in both the United States and abroad, among other things, received strong movement forward this past week...more
On February 28, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill containing a package of nuclear licensing reforms aimed at speeding the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. The bill, which had strong bipartisan...more
On August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license granted to Interim Storage Partners, LLC (ISP) for its temporary spent nuclear fuel storage...more
In April 2023, Idaho National Laboratory (“INL”), a U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) National Laboratory, published a report entitled “Recommendations to Improve the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reactor Licensing and...more
On April 13, 2023, Commissioners of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) directed the NRC staff to create a regulatory framework for fusion energy systems, building on the agency’s existing process for licensing the...more
Today, April 3, the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee (“EPW”) introduced new legislation that continues to demonstrate bipartisan support for advanced nuclear reactor developments, including expanding levels of...more
On March 30, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report walking through the benefits and latest progress in fusion energy developments, while noting certain challenges and proposing policy approaches to...more
Interest in nuclear energy—and its promise of clean, secure, and affordable power—continue to lead to new projects in the U.S. and abroad. Traditional large reactors, advanced reactors and small, modular reactors (“SMRs”) are...more
On January 3, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) staff sent to the Commission SECY-23-0001, “Options for Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems” and three related enclosures (collectively, the “Options...more
On September 14, the NRC staff publicly released its preliminary White Paper on “Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems” to support upcoming meetings with the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards on options for...more
On August 18, 2022, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works (EPW), and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the EPW, sent a letter to the Chairman of the...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 recent decision that could have wide-ranging implications, the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had overstepped its authority in...more
First, the Commission voted to not conduct a formal rulemaking on the NRC’s current environmental review process under 10 CFR Part 51. Separately, the staff proposed alternative timelines for a rulemaking to revise the...more
On April 12, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) staff completed its systematic assessment of how the NRC approaches environmental justice in its programs, policies and activities, by submitting to the...more
On February 24, 2022, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued three unusual decisions pertaining to the agency’s review of subsequent license renewal (SLR) applications. The Commission orders reversed a previous...more
On February 24, 2022, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued three unusual decisions pertaining to the agency’s review of subsequent license renewal (SLR) applications. The Commission orders reversed a previous...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