David Wright, the new chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, inherits a pivotal moment for the nuclear industry, which is navigating an era of advanced reactor development and grappling with long-standing challenges like waste management.
A member of the NRC since 2018 and a former South Carolina utility regulator, Wright has long been vocal about the potential for a nuclear resurgence. That appears more likely as small modular reactors gain recognition in Washington and among big U.S. tech companies as essential for providing reliable, 24-7 power to support cloud service data centers driving artificial intelligence.
“A lot of people thought … the renaissance was coming a few years back and didn’t quite materialize,” he said at a 2023 meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. “But I believe this one’s going to be real.”
Wright will face pressure to bolster industry growth without compromising safety.
“This wave of interest and different developers is really different, and I think that’s something he will pay attention to,” said Stephen Burns, a former NRC chair under then-President Barack Obama and a fellow at the Third Way think tank.
President Donald Trump has pointed to overregulation as a factor holding back nuclear power, and his ally Vivek Ramaswamy has called the NRC an example of “too much bureaucracy” resulting in “less innovation and higher costs.”
In July, Congress passed the bipartisan ADVANCE Act, which directs the NRC to streamline the permitting process for advanced reactors, reduce regulatory fees for companies looking to license advanced reactors and update outdated rules that limit international investment.
Wright’s optimism partly stems from the recent completion of the long-delayed Vogtle units in Georgia, the first new reactors in the U.S. in over 30 years, and advancements in small modular reactor technology. SMRs are a fraction of the size of large traditional reactors and are designed to be factory-assembled and transported to a location for installation.
In October, Trump appeared to suggest that SMRs were preferable to large conventional reactors because of their smaller size and potential for mass production.
The NRC chair acts as both the agency’s chief executive and public spokesperson, overseeing day-to-day operations, setting the agenda, and representing the agency in domestic and international forums.
While Wright’s chairmanship begins with the promise of innovation, regulatory challenges loom large. In addition to the agency reorganizing to meet requirements under the ADVANCE Act, the NRC has debated whether reactor licenses could be extended to 80 years. In 2022, the NRC ruled that licenses for three plants seeking the extension required updated environmental studies.
Wright, dissenting from the commission’s decision, criticized the move for undermining transparency and consistency in regulation. “For the NRC to function as an effective and credible regulator, our stakeholders must be able to rely on our statements and positions,” he said.
This stance reflects Wright’s broader commitment to balancing regulatory integrity with practical industry needs, said Burns. “He will take a very measured view towards some of the policy initiatives that are up for it now,” Burns said.
Burns, who worked with Wright for two years at the NRC, added that the new chair is likely to temper the ambitions of agency staff more than most.
Burns noted Wright’s work narrowing the proposal for the “Part 53” rule, designed to provide a new regulatory framework for advanced reactors like SMRs. The initial proposal was over 1,200 pages long, but Wright guided staff to streamline the rule by revising risk metrics, delegating specifics to guidance documents, simplifying the rule’s structure and exploring the use of applicant safety cases.
In Wright’s own words, the NRC must be prepared to “get [reactors] through the licensing part so that they can get to market.”
Wright’s history with nuclear waste policy could also shape his tenure.
In 2018, he faced calls to recuse himself from Yucca Mountain deliberations, given his prior support for the controversial project. While Wright maintained he was impartial, Nevada’s resistance highlights the contentious politics of waste storage, a persistent challenge as advanced reactors promise to add to the waste burden.