The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a proposed rule to create an additional licensing path for the Department of Energy and Pentagon demonstration reactors seeking commercial use.
NRC said in a Monday press release that within its new rule it will look to leverage design information from the DOE and Department of Defense reactor demonstrations in its reviews of commercial nuclear licensing applications. NRC is seeking public comment by May 4.
NRC posted the proposed rule April 2 in the Federal Register. The proposal would revise 10 CFR Parts 50 and 53 and create a third pathway for reactors that were previously authorized by DOE/DoD. NRC said this would offer an expedited path for these reactors, building off prior work rather than repeating it.
The Pentagon has shown increased interest in exploring the use of small modular reactors or microreactors at military bases.
“This rulemaking would improve NRC licensing review efficiency, where applicable, by explicitly establishing by regulation an additional means for reactor applicants to demonstrate the safety functions of their reactor designs, and thus, would contribute to the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies,” NRC said in the Federal Register.
The proposed rule comes as a part of NRC’s series of rulemakings demanded by Executive Order 14300. The action called for an overhaul at NRC, including a wholesale revision of its regulations.
The applicants would have to address any changes made from their respective DOE- or DOD-authorized reactor design to a commercial version. NRC said its use of information from DOE or DOD’s technical reviews will be based on how well the applicant shows that the information meets NRC license application requirements.
NRC has not yet done a regulatory analysis on the proposed changes yet, but performed a qualitative economic analysis of the rule impacts, according to the notice.
“As a result of this proposed rule, the NRC expects that the NRC would not need to repeat technical reviews previously performed by DOE or DOW [Department of War], to the extent that those reviews cover the same scope as the related content in the NRC license application,” NRC said in the Federal Register notice.
Though the rule was recently proposed, a few public comments regarding it have taken issue with the rule.
In a Monday comment submitted by Fred Schofer, he said that DOE and DOD authorization processes are not equivalent to NRC’s licensing review and should not be treated at the same standard. DOE’s process relies on a contractor-prepared documented safety analysis, while NRC’s licensing process is handled by an independent regulator applying public-health-protective standards, Schofer added.
The rule should make it clear that the authorization under DOE or DOD frameworks is not “presumptively transferable to commercial licensing,” Schofer said.
“The proposed rule creates a pathway for commercial reactor licensing that rests on DOE and DOW authorization frameworks that were not designed to meet NRC commercial safety standards, that are structurally incompatible with the NRC’s independent-review mandate, and whose limitations in quality assurance pedigree, probabilistic risk analysis, siting, aging management, cybersecurity, and classified information handling have not been addressed,” Schofer said.
“The NRC should revise the rule — and publish implementing guidance — before finalization,” Schofer added.