Pathways for New Nuclear Development Proceedings of a Workshop (2025) / Chapter Skim
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8 The Elements of Regulatory Risk
8 The Elements of Regulatory Risk
Pages 58-66
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From page 58... ...
license applications, along with opportunities to further improve processes to enable advanced nuclear technology, increase efficiency, and prioritize societal benefits. The panelists were Michael King, NRC; Marcus Nichol, Nuclear Energy Institute; Peter Hastings, Kairos Power LLC; and Mark Shaver, NuScale Power.
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From page 59... ...
He added that it is appropriate for the NRC to play a leading role in this effort as it leans into its new mission, collaborates with stakeholders, and accelerates advanced nuclear projects. While progress has been made to modernize regulations, Hastings emphasized that investors and energy markets need to know that it is possible, if sometimes difficult, for advanced reactors to be licensed through the existing regulatory framework.
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From page 60... ...
A new regulatory framework can also help to drive cultural change, which will require full stakeholder support, especially from the NRC, along with sustained, continuous improvement moving forward. PANEL DISCUSSION Outcomes of the ADVANCE Act Stein asked panelists to comment on what they view as the most significant outcomes of the ADVANCE Act.
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From page 61... ...
Shaver highlighted how changes to emergency planning zones, emergency response organizations, and site characterization requirements have opened new markets and end uses for smaller plants or those closer to population centers, while expedited reviews and upfront licensing can speed up deployments. He added that factory fabrication could also shorten deployment timelines, but it creates challenging regulatory questions, especially if the NRC does not know who -- or where -- the end user will be.
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From page 62... ...
Stein asked panelists how they perceive changes aimed specifically at streamlining the EIS review process, which is a large part of the environmental review and has been impacted by other laws, such as the F iscal Responsibility Act (FRA) .5 King replied that the NRC has complied with the FRA directives to make environmental reviews more efficient by lowering page limits and instituting mandated deadlines.6 Other proposed improvements are before the commission or still in the ideation phase.7 Hastings added that the FRA codified changes and simplifications that the NRC was already making and had broad staff support, such as encouraging shorter EISs, instituting a generic EIS, and lowering the requirements on the number of alternatives to be evaluated.
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From page 63... ...
Long-Term Objectives Stein asked panelists to comment on longer-term objectives, specifically Part 53: Risk Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Advanced Reactors, which is mandated by the Nuclear Energy Innovation Modernization Act from 2019 but has yet to be finalized.8 Part 53 is intended to provide a regulatory pathway for advanced reactor designs that minimizes the focus on rigid design specifications and is risk informed, technologically inclusive, and performance based.9 Hastings explained that while Part 53 today represents an improvement over its initial version, and can still be workable, it is very different from Parts 50 and 52 because it uses probabilistic risk assessments instead of pre-defined and conservative safety rules. Some of its criteria could be merged with Parts 50 and 52, but that process could inadvertently make things worse.
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From page 64... ...
King added that advanced reactor construction oversight is a longterm policy issue that deserves more consideration. The NRC has been critically examining whether its processes reflect the broad range of technologies and potential risks to the public to identify a scalable approach to regulation that encompasses design considerations and lessons learned from past construction projects.
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From page 65... ...
Another participant asked if it would be more efficient for states to license nuclear projects instead of the NRC. Hastings said that the NRC has a consistent, if imperfect, regulatory framework and a vast expertise that is unlikely to be easily replicable in all 50 states.
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