With the influx of microreactors applications, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission navigates the possibility of a six-month licensing process for microreactor deployments.
Nuclear Energy Institute executive director Marc Nichol discussed the ways the NRC could consider trimming its regulatory processes in an effort to speed up advanced nuclear deployment at the NRC’s Thursday meeting.
With microreactors having a capacity of 50 megawatts or less, Nichol said the microreactors should have a different framework than compared to small modular reactors and large nuclear plants.
According to Nichol, from when a microreactor developer has found a site to its operation, the current NRC timeline is more than four years. The NEI sent in a 339-paged proposal to the NRC in July 2024 recommending a six-month process.
In the second panel of the meeting, NRC staff members said the agency has looked into ways to create flexibility in its current licensing framework.
Among the recommendations, NRC considered standard designs and operational programs, and four alternative approaches for environmental review for microreactors, which are driven by the NRC Integrated Microreactors Activities Plan.
NRC environmental branch chief Dan Barnhurst said the agency has already begun discussing with stakeholders to find which environmental review approach works best for its specific situations.
NRC senior project manager William “Duke” Kennedy expects the first deployments of microreactors to still take a while, but still be shorter than previous first-of-a-kind reviews. NRC has been working to streamline regulation for new technologies under the 2024 Advance Act.
NRC commissioner Annie Caputo asked the NRC staff members what would take to shrink the microreactor review to six months. Given the “unique” nature of microreactors and their low-risk profile, NRC executive director for operations Mirela Gavrilas said the agency is considering regulation specifically for microreactor deployment.
“We ask ourselves [NRC] ‘do they [microreactor developers] need this’ and could we move now from ‘do they need this’…to ‘what do they actually need’ in order for us to be comfortable with their license’,” Gavrilas said.
