The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures.
NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.
Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions will be integrated within each business line to create a single point of accountability and improve coordination between licensing and inspection teams from the onset of projects,” NRC said.
NRC said it will prioritize appointing leaders for its reactor safety program and the staff’s development of a new organizational chart. The agency plans to have these tasks completed within 60 days, according to the release.
The reorganization should be in place by the end of September, NRC said.
Recently appointed NRC Chair Ho Nieh said the reorganization comes at “one of the most consequential periods in NRC history.” He said the decision will help the agency focus on fast but safe deployment of new nuclear projects.
“This reorganization focuses the NRC’s structure around national priorities aimed at accelerating the safe deployment of nuclear technologies,” Nieh said. “This reorganization is also aimed at achieving greater consistency in the implementation of agency safety programs across the NRC regional offices.”
While few details were immediately available, an NRC spokesperson told Exchange Monitor the effort is in the early stages and more details will come over time.
Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) President and CEO Judi Greenwald told the Monitor Friday morning that the general description of NRC’s reorganization appears to align with recommendations the organization made in its “Improving NRC Organizational Culture” report from October.
In the report, NIA recommended that the agency create clear lines of accountability and optimize centralized decision-making.
Greenwald said she was eager to see more details come out about the change, but reiterated that “any reorganization must ensure that NRC maintains public trust through transparency, independence, and excellent staff,” she told the Monitor.
The reorganization of NRC comes as a part of President Donald Trump’s executive orders 14300, Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and 14210, Implementing the Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative.
In EO 14300, Trump said NRC’s current structure and staffing was misaligned and that a reorganization, in consultation with NRC’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, was to promote streamlined licensing and adoption of innovative technology.
“The NRC shall undertake reductions in force in conjunction with this reorganization, though certain functions may increase in size consistent with the policies in this order, including those devoted to new reactor licensing,” according to the order.