The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rolled out a proposed rule Friday that aims to streamline licensing for microreactors, advanced technology that the NRC, White House and developers of artificial intelligence say could help meet surging power demand.
In its proposal, the agency said the rulemaking would “establish a risk-informed and performance-based regulatory framework” for licensing small advanced reactors, as directed by Congress. The proposed rule could allow the agency to issue an operator license within six months to a year after accepting an application.
“This proposed rule is needed to establish a regulatory framework specifically tailored to rapid licensing of first-of-a-kind microreactors and other reactors with comparable risk profiles and high-volume deployment of these reactors,” the NRC said in its proposal. “The proposed processes and requirements in this rule would enable shorter licensing timeframes that require fewer resources than those supported by existing regulations for nuclear power reactors.”
Further, projects could be exempt from certain National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Namely, if “specific conditions are met,” then under the proposal, the NRC may not have to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
