Ho Nieh, chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Wednesday that the agency is aligned with the Trump administration on speeding up the licensing of nuclear power, though he sought to make it clear the NRC’s safety mission isn’t being compromised.
“Independence does not mean isolation,” Nieh said during POLITICO’s Energy Summit. “We’re not isolating ourselves from the needs and interests of the country at this point.”
Congress and President Donald Trump have directed NRC along with the Department of Energy to adopt faster timelines for conducting safety reviews and licensing for reactors. And the nuclear industry has expanded rapidly, with startup companies out of Silicon Valley developing new small reactor designs.
This year alone, and during Nieh’s brief tenure as chair, the NRC has approved an advanced reactor fuel facility and given a construction permit to an advanced nuclear project for Bill Gates’ TerraPower.
