March 26, 2026, 7:01AMNuclear NewsThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized its new regulatory framework for advanced reactors that officials believe will accelerate, simplify, and reduce burdens in the new reactor licensing process.The final rule arrives more than a year ahead of an end-of-2027 deadline set in the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), the 2019 law that formally directed the NRC to develop a new, technology-inclusive regulatory approach. The resulting rule—10 CFR Part 53, “Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Advanced Reactors”—is commonly referred to as Part 53.Read more...
March 25, 2026, 3:27PMNuclear NewsDiscussions and actions on nuclear energy have penetrated several state capitol buildings, congressional hearings, and industry gatherings across the United States this month, including in Alaska, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York.Read more...
March 24, 2026, 4:36PMNuclear NewsDuring this time of resurging interest in nuclear power, many conversations have centered on one fundamental problem: Electricity is needed now, but nuclear projects (in recent decades) have taken many years to get permitted and built.In the past few years, a bevy of new strategies have been pursued to fix this problem. Workforce programs that seek to laterally transition skilled people from other industries, plans to reuse the transmission infrastructure at shuttered coal sites, efforts to restart plants like Palisades or Duane Arnold, new reactor designs that build on the legacy of research done in the early days of atomic power—all of these plans share a common throughline: leveraging work already done instead of starting over from square one to get new plants designed and built. Read more...
March 23, 2026, 10:30AMNuclear NewsThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s adjudicatory hearings have not received any significant reforms since 2004. In fact, according to NRC staff, these Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) hearings have only undergone major reform three times in the board’s history.That would change under a proposed rule that was issued earlier this month. At a March 19 virtual meeting, NRC staff provided more details on the proposed changes.Read more...
March 20, 2026, 1:37PMNuclear NewsIt has been 10 months since President Trump signed several executive orders that have reshaped the nuclear energy industry and set lofty goals for initiatives like the development and deployment of new nuclear technology.One such initiative, the DOE’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, calls for at least 3 of the 11 reactors in the program to achieve criticality by July 4, 2026. Some have questioned whether this target is feasible.Read more...
