ROCKVILLE, MD – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will stay committed to independence and safety through the various changes to the agency, NRC Chair Ho Nieh said during the opening panel here Tuesday morning.
Recently appointed chair Nieh opened up NRC’s 38th annual Regulatory Information Conference.
Nieh said there have been a lot of narratives over the past year about the Department of Energy (DOE) and other departments “taking over” the NRC office and its operations, but denied that being the case. The office currently has one DOE employee at the office who occasionally checks in about interagency coordination.
“I really want to put this to rest,” Nieh said. “NRC is doing its own work. Our coordination with the rest of the government is aimed at accelerating the safety and deployment of nuclear technology. This is what our country needs and NRC is a part of Team USA, and we’re trying to make that happen through interagency partners.”
Since Nieh’s confirmation hearing held by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in October 2025, he has publicly said that NRC will uphold safety standards and make independent regulatory decisions. Many Democratic lawmakers have questioned DOE’s involvement with NRC under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has said he feared a DOE takeover at the NRC last year after inquiring that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer, detailed from DOE, worked at the NRC office with no NRC supervisor.
Nieh clarified that NRC’s independence does not mean isolation and will be open to working with DOE and other agencies where it sees fit.
During a Wednesday special plenary session, Nieh said the interagency cooperation with DOE to bring new U.S. nuclear reactors online to reach administration goals is not pressure but purpose for NRC. With geopolitical urgency, such as being in a race with China for artificial intelligence (AI) growth, he said NRC has to rise to the challenge of meeting national energy goals for nuclear and AI.
“We need more energy and if nuclear energy is in the solution set, [then] it goes through the NRC,” Nieh said. “So to me when I think of how independence guides us it’s through those things: our authorities are established, we are not the promotional agency and we aren’t free from those undue pressures because it’s a purpose we have to serve America.”
NRC has taken on previous initiatives, such as Project AIM and EMBARK, but did not equate with what the agency expected it to. Nieh said these new reforms, coming through the ADVANCE Act and executive order 14300, will be implemented through alignment and the expectation that the agency will reinforce these changes while keeping nuclear safety at the forefront.
Through Nieh’s five years in the private sector, he said he will bring in those expectations of running the NRC. The new mission statement emphasizes advancing nuclear technology by enabling safe and secure use of civilian nuclear power through efficient licensing and oversight.
“It’s not the chairman, it’s not the commission, it’s not the EDO [executive director of operations], it’s got to be really from the staff to own it,” Nieh said. “But it starts with the expectation that these things that we’re doing are going to be ingrained in our day-to-day work.”