The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to issue its long-awaited new licensing process to speed reviews of advanced nuclear reactors.
The rule, known as 10 CFR Part 53 or Part 53, is the first new set of regulations for approving reactors since 1989 and the first major update to reactor licensing standards since 1956 when the Atomic Energy Commission issued Part 50, NRC said in a Wednesday press release.
Part 53 is designed to take a risk-informed, technology-inclusive approach to provide an accelerated and hopefully more cost-effective licensing method for advanced reactors, NRC said. The final rule should be released on April 3, according to NRC’s website.
This rule is expected to “reduce unnecessary duplication in reviews, allow developers to complete licensing in stages, establish clearer, more predictable pathways to approval, and could significantly reduce the time and cost required to bring new reactors online,” according to NRC’s release.
NRC said the Part 53 rule fills a longstanding gap of existing regulations in Part 50 being centered around light water reactor technology, while many new reactors use other technology. Under the new rule, applicants will no longer have to seek exemptions from light water reactor-based requirements.
Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides, a cybersecurity specialist at Infrashield, told the Exchange Monitor in a Thursday email that the rule is “the most significant philosophical shift in US nuclear regulation that we’ve seen in decades.” She said the rule provides flexibility to advanced reactor developers to design novel operation models.
But the flexibility cuts both ways for the industry and NRC, McAndrew-Benavides said.
“As developers propose a new design, they will have to prove it is secure and can be operated safely without pre-approved NRC guidance,” McAndrew-Benavides said. “That means the regulatory burden doesn’t shrink, it shifts. Instead of following a roadmap, developers have to draw one, and the NRC will decide whether to approve it.”
McAndrew-Benavides held positions with both NRC and the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Three Mile Island Alert Chair Eric Epstein told the Monitor Friday morning that NRC’s Part 53 pathway is a “reckless, regulation wrecking makeover cooked up in the industry kitchen,” and a “pathway for disaster.”
Epstein said the rule prioritizes speed over safety, eliminates specific design requirements and tinkers with radiation standards, which he said leads to compromises of safety and security.
“The NRC has cut staffing, reduced health and safety standards, and promoted rather than regulates nuclear safety,” Epstein said. “The NRC now stands for: Not Really Concerned.”
NRC has been working on the rule since 2019 after the Nuclear Energy Innovation Modernization Act of 2019 (NEIMA) directed NRC to come up with a replacement by the end of 2027. NRC published the draft rulemaking for Part 53 in October 2024.
While NEIMA jumpstarted Part 53, Executive Order 14300 called for NRC to complete certain licensing actions within 18 months. NRC Chair Ho Nieh told the Monitor in a Wednesday media availability session that the commission could possibly complete licensing actions in less than that 18-month timeframe.
“The flexibilities in this rule can enable NRC to deliver its safety decisions in timeframes hopefully better than the absolute 18-month backstop,” Nieh said.
Jeremy Bowen, acting deputy director for new reactors, told reporters during the session that NRC has application reviews in-house that are already within an 18-month timeline.
“This rule provides us with another tool and the vehicle for applicants to be more flexible in their approach and for the NRC to take a more efficient and innovative approach to approving,” Bowen said. “18 months will be the backstop, but we anticipate that several designs will be approved in less time than that.”
Various companies are already in communication with NRC about pursuing this pathway once available, Bowen added.
Speed and acceleration of licensing was emphasized in Part 53 and questions arose about NRC “going too fast” in its approach. Through the wholesale revision, Nieh said the agency is removing unnecessary conservatisms and adding flexibility to its rules while maintaining safety.
“To me, I see this as removing the friction in legacy frameworks that are no longer needed today,” Nieh said. “Being an enabling regulator is not a shortcut, it’s not a compromise, it’s really how we fulfill our safety mission in today’s environment. We cannot remain in the environment that we were in 60 years ago when the first generation of reactors that are operating today were licensed.”
According to NRC, Part 53 will take effect 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register in the coming weeks.