The chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday defended the agency’s proposals to cut security at U.S. nuclear power plants amid an escalating war in the Middle East.
Driven by a 2025 executive order, the NRC is restructuring to accelerate the licensing of advanced reactors while significantly cutting safety inspections and security oversight hours. Although leadership describes the reorganization as an efficiency-focused “flattening,” some agency staffers and former officials have warned that these changes could compromise regulatory independence and national security.
“Nuclear power plants are — in my opinion, having been to many of them — among the most hardened and most well-protected industrial facilities in the country,” NRC Chair Ho Nieh told reporters. “They are probably not the most attractive target for somebody who would want to do harm to America.”
Nieh’s comments come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the “most intense day” of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The Pentagon has reported the deaths of at least seven U.S. servicemembers since the start of conflict on Feb. 28.
