Now over six months into Ho Nieh’s tenure, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair said Wednesday the agency is becoming a regulator that enables and accelerates nuclear technology deployment through its new rulemakings and approaches.
“One of the big changes that was driven by the executive orders was again that call for immediate action to focus on a wholesale review of the NRC’s regulations, so we mobilized a workforce to deliver on revising a whole suite of regulations for our licensing work,” Nieh said during an United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear (UCAN) Power webinar.
Nieh continued,“[President Donald] Trump’s executive orders said ‘you know what we need now to get the red tape out of the system.’ That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
During the webinar, Nieh said NRC has already developed 21 draft rules, with several of them already being published for public comment. The agency this week proposed an overhaul of changes to its nuclear security requirements.
Announced Tuesday, NRC’s 252-page proposed rulemaking aims to put in place a modernized, performance-based framework to address notable risks and reduce “unnecessary regulatory burden while maintaining strong security protections,” the agency said in a press release. Some particular changes would revise security requirements for independent spent fuel storage installations and streamline physical security requirements for nuclear reactors and materials.
The newest proposed changes come as the NRC is continuing its overhaul of its reactor oversight process and reactor security rules, which was ordered by Executive Order 14300. The executive action, which was issued in May 2025, called for an overhaul of the NRC, including a wholesale revision of its rules and regulations. NRC approved proposed changes to its reactor oversight process that would reduce inspection hours by 38% in March.
During the webinar, Nieh said changes to its reactor oversight and security regulations reflect the agency’s focus on efficiency while keeping safety at the forefront. He said reductions can occur because the agency previously had duplications in procedures in its regulations and procedures that looked at very low-risk activities that are “distracting the regulator’s attention and industry’s attention.”