Policy

This summer, two American Nuclear Society student members were supported by the Society in the Washington Internship for Students of Engineering (WISE) Program.

Those student members were Bradford Arnold and Blake Bird, each of whom had the opportunity to spend nine weeks in Washington, D.C., learning about the complex intersection between technology and policy.

In recent weeks, states around the nation have taken various steps forward in the development of their nuclear sectors, including in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, and Utah. Read on for a roundup of events.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a change to how it will approach standards for radiation protections, notably including the elimination of the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle. The proposed change was published in the Federal Register on July 15, and yesterday the agency held a public meeting on the topic.

In the meeting, Mike Franovich, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, gave a presentation summarizing the changes, and NRC staff answered questions from participants. The meeting facilitator, Lance Rakovan, described it as a “very popular meeting,” drawing more than 550 participants, and the NRC staff was unable to address all questions in the scheduled time.

A pair of bills were introduced earlier this month in Congress that could modernize the licensing process for uranium enrichment facilities and repeal the law that designated Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the country’s nuclear waste repository.

In March, seven tech companies and hyperscalers signed on to President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a voluntary agreement stating that, in the pursuit of data center growth, signatories would not shift costs to electricity customers in the form of higher electricity bills.

The American Nuclear Society submitted comments earlier this month to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Financial Management, urging the OMB to reconsider a proposed rewrite of federal grant regulations that ANS said could restrict scientific publishing, conference participation, and long-term nuclear research.

Changes that Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have labeled as significant could be coming to the agency’s environmental review regulations if its proposed rule on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures moves forward.

With notable changes potentially incoming—such as no longer requiring draft environmental impact statements and the addition of new categorical exclusions—NRC staff shared additional details on these and other proposals during a July 23 meeting on the NEPA proposed rule.

This story has been updated to include a July 23 quote from President Trump.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have reached a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that could allow the Middle Eastern country to develop civilian nuclear infrastructure and provide a new commercial market to the U.S. nuclear industry.

On Tuesday evening, the Wall Street Journal first reported that the two sides had reached an agreement with a term of 30 years. Then, Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that he and Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had signed the agreement alongside an accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement.

As states around the country continue to develop new methods of collaboration with local governments to facilitate and expedite new nuclear deployment, Indiana recently unveiled a plan of its own: the new Indiana Advanced Nuclear Ready Communities Program.

The Indiana Office of Energy Development (OED), which leads the program, describes it as a “first-of-its-kind state designation system” that formally recognizes communities that have taken measurable steps to prepare for new nuclear deployment.

On July 13, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the Power NJ Act, a bill that directs the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU), in collaboration with the state’s Economic Development Authority, to establish an “advanced nuclear energy procurement program.”

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy introduced six nuclear permitting reform bills back in June. The mostly bipartisan bills returned to the subcommittee on Tuesday for markups—and with strong backing from both sides of the aisle.

Despite some lingering concerns in areas like federal transparency, the role of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and staff attrition in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the subcommittee advanced all six pieces of legislation to the full committee with bipartisan support.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Bank Group (WBG) recently provided an update on their partnership’s progress at the one-year mark. That partnership, entered into only weeks after the World Bank reversed its long-standing ban on nuclear power investment, aims to facilitate new financing and construction of advanced nuclear projects in developing countries.

A proposed rule from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would update radiation protection regulations and remove “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) language without changing specific radiation exposure limits that are based on the linear no-threshold (LNT) model of low-dose radiation health effects. A second proposed rule would reform reactor licensing, safety oversight, and siting practices with changes the agency said are the most significant in years.

The NRC unveiled the two proposed rules on July 1 and published them in the ADAMS public document library the same day. The rules have not, at this writing, been published in the Federal Register, but once they are, each rule will be open for public comment for 45 days.

Josh Freed

On top of the many celebrations planned for America’s 250th birthday, the Trump administration wants to mark a nuclear milestone as well: achieving criticality for at least three advanced reactor concepts by July 4, 2026.

But this wouldn’t really be a milestone. On a day of fireworks nationwide, it would just be more noise.

Third Way has celebrated the nuclear sector’s progress during the Trump administration and supported the goal of 400 GW of nuclear energy by 2050. Additionally, we think all five commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have prioritized safety in new designs and defended an understaffed agency under pressure to bypass important processes.

Updates from utility companies in Colorado and Arizona, nuclear legislation and discussions, and the potential Duane Arnold restart were among the news items in the month of June at the local and state levels.

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.

New York’s ambitious efforts to add at least 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power raise several questions: How much will it cost the state, the federal government, and ratepayers? Where does private investment fit into the picture? What nuclear reactor designs should developers pursue?

To provide clarity and direction to these and other concerns, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and Department of Public Service issued the preliminary draft of its advanced nuclear policy options paper on June 12.

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.

The American Nuclear Society Student Section at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (ANS-UPRM) recently testified in the Puerto Rican House of Representatives on the opportunities nuclear power could provide for the island. Specifically, section president Francisco Paravisini Domenech advocated for the passage of Proyecto de la Cámara 1092, which would direct the Puerto Rican government to evaluate the deployment of small modular reactors, among other low-carbon technologies. (A Proyecto de la Cámara, or Chamber Project, is akin to a House bill.)

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