The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday proposed sweeping reforms in what it described as its most comprehensive update to nuclear power plant licensing in decades.
The proposal would update licensing, safety oversight and siting requirements across every stage of a nuclear plant's lifecycle, from design and construction through operation, license renewal and decommissioning.
The NRC said the proposal draws on decades of operating experience, lessons from new reactor licensing and the emergence of advanced reactor technologies. It also advances reforms required under the ADVANCE Act of 2024 and Executive Order 14300.
"This proposed rule strips out rigid frameworks and unnecessary conservatism to accelerate the safe deployment of new reactors and expand existing capacity across America," NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said.
The proposal would streamline reactor construction by concentrating regulatory oversight on the most safety-significant systems and permitting certain early site activities under a general license after an application is docketed.
Applicants and licensees would gain greater flexibility to use risk-informed methods instead of traditional approaches for safety reviews and model updates. The proposal also expands performance-based emergency planning to all reactor types.
The proposal would let operators adopt an internationally recognized quality assurance standard. It also extends license renewal periods, broadens siting rules and introduces more flexible decommissioning funding requirements for advanced reactors.
The NRC also proposed updating safety rules to support higher-enriched and accident-tolerant fuels by focusing on credible, risk-significant scenarios.
Separately, in a related proposal also released Wednesday, the NRC unveiled revisions to its radiation protection regulations.
While the proposed changes retain existing public and worker dose limits, they would replace the long-standing "as low as reasonably achievable" or the ALARA principle with a framework centered on compliance with established regulatory precautions and existing dose limits.
According to the NRC, the current dose limits are already set well below levels associated with known health effects, and maintaining ALARA as a separate regulatory expectation has added costs and complexity without delivering measurable safety benefits.
"We're raising the standard for regulatory clarity, not lowering the standard for safety," Nieh said, adding that the proposal would not alter existing public or occupational radiation exposure limits.
The regulator said the proposal is part of its broader effort to modernize its regulatory framework, reduce unnecessary compliance burdens, and ensure its rules reflect current science while maintaining public health and safety protections.
The NRC will accept public comments for 45 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register and plans to hold a public meeting during the comment period.