The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff recently submitted recommendations and planned actions to the Commission aimed at enhancing elements of the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) consistent with the Accelerating...more
President Trump’s February 18th Executive Order entitled, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” represents a sweeping effort to consolidate federal executive branch lawmaking power with the President. The Order’s...more
A September 2022 Preliminary White Paper issued by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Staff, “Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems,” indicates that the NRC is considering the option of regulating commercial...more
In response to reports from the NRC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and a tasking order from the NRC's executive director of operations (EDO) directing a review of NRC oversight of “counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect...more
In early 2022, blog author Amy Roma spoke with a Bloomberg Law reporter about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Part 53 rulemaking efforts to support advanced reactor licensing. Amy’s position is that the NRC...more
The Commission recently issued SRM-SECY-19-0100, in which it disapproved, by a 2-to-1 vote, a request made by the NRC staff that sought approval to discontinue the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Security...more
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved publication in the Federal Register of a proposed rule, “Regulatory Improvements for Production and Utilization Facilities Transitioning to Decommissioning” on November 3,...more
The NRC Office of Enforcement (OE) recently published its Enforcement Program Annual Report for calendar year 2020. The report shows that the number of escalated enforcement actions increased 7% over 2019, but remained below...more
The NRC’s Office of Investigations (OI) recently published its Annual Report FY 2020, summarizing its activities during the last fiscal year. The annual report shows that OI opened 13% more cases in 2020 than in 2019,...more
The NRC held a public meeting with industry on November 2 to discuss approaches for performing supplier oversight during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Although utilities generally audit their suppliers every 36 months,...more
The NRC recently released draft NUREG-1409, Backfitting Guidelines, Revision 1 for public comment. NUREG-1409 was last revised in July 1990. This is another step in a string of actions taken by the NRC to better ensure the...more
Fusion, the process that powers the Sun, has long been seen as the “holy grail” of energy production. In contrast with fission, which splits apart atoms in a nuclear reactor, fusion literally fuses hydrogen atoms together,...more
The NRC’s Reactor Decommissioning Financial Assurance Working Group recently held a public meeting to receive comments on potential guidance updates before publishing its final report. Prior to the public meeting, the working...more
The Council on Environmental Quality is proposing major changes to its regulations concerning the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), that if implemented could have impacts on advanced reactor licensing. ...more
The year 2019 comes to an end with some positive news on the advanced reactor licensing front, including the upcoming issuance of a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Early Site Permit, grant of a US Department of Energy...more
Please be aware that it appears the NRC has taken an unusual step of requesting public comment on SECY 2019-67, which is focused on proposed enhancements to the Regulatory Oversight Program (ROP). Comments are due by October...more
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in early May issued a notice seeking comments on a new draft regulatory guide impacting advanced reactor licensing. ...more