ROCKVILLE, MD – Just 11 weeks in, new Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Doug Weaver said Wednesday he is focused on cutting down on the “conservatism” in NRC measures, without compromising safety, to allow for new nuclear innovation.
Weaver, confirmed as commissioner by the Senate in December 2025, said he wants NRC to become a risk-informed and performance-based regulator. He said his philosophy coming into the new role is that regulation should be designed to protect workers and the public without being counterproductive.
However, Weaver said that certain safety regulations can be lowered since new information, through research and experience, have shown measures can be altered without hurting safety.
“Our knowledge-based tools have expanded tremendously over the past 50 years. These advances mean that we consequentially remove some of these conservativisms, while maintaining safety, i.e. keeping a reasonable assurance of protection,” Weaver said during his statement.
Weaver said this philosophy is being used in upcoming NRC licensing actions and many of the proposed rules called for within Executive Order 14300.
NRC used its fully risk-informed performance-based licensing basis for the TerraPower Kemmerer Unit 1 construction permit application. The agency issued the construction permit to the Bellevue, Wash. nuclear company on March 4. It was the first application NRC has ever used this licensing methodology, according to NRC’s March 4 memorandum and order.
Weaver said he was impressed by the approaches being taken in the ongoing rulemaking, the results of which are not public yet.
The regulatory framework for microreactors, Part 57, which also is not public yet, is expected to spark rapid growth of small modular reactors.
“I can’t share the details of the proposed rules because they’re yet to be published, but I believe the work demonstrates the NRC’s strong initiative to be open-minded and evaluating ideas under a demanding schedule,” Weaver said.