A federal district judge in Texas has agreed to suspend proceedings until Sept. 29 in a lawsuit by Texas, Utah and Last Energy that challenges Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing for small reactors.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle issued the latest extension in the case June 30 at the request of the parties.
“Since the May 30, 2025 joint status report, the parties have conferred and identified potential options for a mutually agreeable resolution that could avoid or limit further litigation in this case,” according to a joint motion by the litigants.
“The parties jointly request additional time to continue to make progress toward that resolution, and to continue to assess the impact of actions being taken by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and other federal agencies in furtherance of the executive orders” issued by President Donald Trump in May, according to the parties’ joint filing. The Trump executive orders seek to speed approval and expansion of nuclear energy in the United States.
The litigation initially filed in December has garnered some media attention as the plaintiffs argue that NRC regulation under the Atomic Energy Act of is ill-suit for advanced and small modular reactors that are very small-scale and have passive safety systems.
In April the government responded with a motion to dismiss the states amended complaint.
“Plaintiffs’ claims are without merit and inconsistent with, among other things, comprehensive legislation that Congress enacted only last year to facilitate NRC’s licensing of newer and smaller designs for reactors of the type described in the Amended Complaint within the strictures of the Atomic Energy Act,” the government said. The U.S. Justice Department was alluding to the ADVANCE Act.
The federal government also argued a case of this nature should not have be filed in the Eastern District of Texas but rather should have been brought in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.
