In 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14300, “‘Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” which directs the NRC to conduct a sweeping, multifaceted overhaul of its structure, culture, and regulations with the aim of facilitating increased deployment of new nuclear technologies and capacity.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's launching of its environmental review of Holtec International's two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site in Michigan and its proposed changes to fuel cycle and materials licensing regulations may have grabbed the most attention recently, but the agency has also announced multiple other updates in recent weeks.

Responding to several executive orders and the ADVANCE Act of 2024, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to modernize its fuel cycle and materials licensing requirements by amending its regulations for byproduct, source, and special nuclear material.

According to the agency, the sweeping regulatory changes are deregulatory in nature and aimed at accelerating the deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies with a streamlined licensing pathway for nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities and updated requirements for advanced reactor fuels.

EnCore Energy announced on June 18 that the Bureau of Land Management issued a final decision and approved the Dewey Burdock uranium project, authorizing the company to begin construction for the uranium in situ recovery project in southwestern South Dakota.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to prepare an environmental impact statement for its review of Holtec International’s application to site two Holtec SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site in Covert, Mich. The two planned reactors would be known as Pioneer-1 and -2.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses of Hatch-1 and -2 in under 12 months, the agency announced Friday.

Southern Nuclear’s application was accepted by the NRC in June 2025. The Baxley, Ga., facility’s two boiling water reactors are the second and third units to receive subsequent license renewals under the NRC’s new, streamlined process for renewing operating licenses in 12 months or less. Previously completed SLR proceedings took, on average, about two-and-a-half years.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is to prepare an environmental impact statement in its review of Orano Enrichment’s license application to build and operate a new uranium enrichment facility near Oak Ridge, Tenn., and is asking the public for comments on the scope of its environmental review.

The digital publication Politico held its Energy Summit on Wednesday, gathering several prominent speakers to discuss the U.S. energy agenda, including nuclear power’s role. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Ho Nieh was among those who took the stage.

While he had only about 20 minutes to speak at the gathering, which was also broadcast virtually, Nieh broached several topics with Politico reporter Kelsey Tamborrino, including small modular reactors, licensing, the agency’s recruitment and retention efforts, and the NRC’s status and operations as an independent regulator.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy turned its attention to nuclear permitting reform at a June 9 hearing—looking at a total of six proposals.

Mandatory hearings conducted as part of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission reactor licensing review will be held much sooner in the process, the agency announced Tuesday.

A provision states that uncontested hearings must be held at some point after 30 days of an application being docketed. Historically, the NRC has conducted these toward the end of its review of applications for construction permits, early site permits, and combined licenses. The change announced this week would have hearings be held sooner, about 30 days after an application is docketed.

The final executive session of the American Nuclear Society’s 2026 Annual Conference was titled “With Great Processing Power Comes Great Responsibility: Ethics and Opportunities for AI and Tomorrow’s Workforce.”

On June 1, the planned restart of Crane nuclear power plant (formerly Three Mile Island-1) received a boost when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Constellation’s waiver request to transfer certain rights to the Middletown, Pa., plant.

Washington, D.C.-based Curio announced yesterday that it has submitted a letter of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to establish a docket for preapplication engagement activities and ultimately the submittal and review of a license application to operate a spent nuclear fuel recycling production facility.

Once a docket is established, Curio will develop a license application to meet all applicable regulations for a nuclear fuel recycling facility under 10 CFR Part 70.

Studies, regulatory control, and legislation are among the items Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, and North Carolina tackled in the month of May regarding nuclear energy.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it intends to complete its review of Orano Enrichment’s license application to build and operate a new uranium enrichment facility near Oak Ridge, Tenn., in 12 months. Orano submitted its application for the multibillion-dollar facility, named Project Ike, in March.

This Saturday, May 23, will mark one year since President Trump issued four executive orders (EOs) that sought to implement sweeping changes across the U.S. nuclear industry. From regulatory reform at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to new authorization projects at the Departments of Energy and Defense, the orders sent ripples throughout the industry.

Proposed nuclear energy legislation with bipartisan support earned the attention of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday morning.

Subject-matter experts and the chief sponsors of the legislation shared details on three items at a hearing Wednesday before the EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety: the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act—introduced just last week—and discussion drafts of the Revitalizing Energy Communities by Hosting Advanced Reactors and Generating Energy (RECHARGE) Act and Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act.

At the end of April, TerraPower announced that it had officially begun construction on its Natrium power plant in Kemmerer, Wyo.—one of the two full-scale demonstration projects in the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

Now, the second ARDP-backed demonstration project, which aims to see the deployment of X-energy’s Xe-100 at a Dow chemical facility, has reached a new milestone of its own. On May 18, X-energy announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its environmental assessment of the proposed Long Mott Generating Facility and issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI).

In response to Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” the NRC is proposing sweeping changes to its rules governing the use of nuclear materials that are widely used in industry, medicine, and research. The changes would amend NRC regulations for the licensing of nuclear byproduct material, some source material, and some special nuclear material.

As published in the May 18 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking public comment on this proposed rule and draft interim guidance until July 2.

Lawmakers in Congress have introduced a pair of bills this month targeting different aspects of nuclear construction, with one proposal focusing on construction material and the other on tax credits.