Licensing Efficiencies
The NRC is committed to providing great service to the American people. This means an NRC that is effective, efficient, and timely in its regulatory operations as it meets its mission. The NRC continues to evolve with the changing landscape of the Nation’s energy needs and through its authorities in implementing the President’s priorities, including Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” and Congressional mandates, including in the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (ADVANCE Act). This webpage highlights recent and ongoing improvements that demonstrate the NRC’s focus on protecting public health and safety while efficiently regulating the civilian use of nuclear materials and enabling the deployment of nuclear power for the benefit of society.
On this page:
What have we accomplished so far?
- Established new Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) milestone schedules to align with the 12- and 18- month periods cited in EO 14300. These revised milestones took effect on May 23, 2025.
- Adopted innovative approaches to complete recent new reactor reviews ahead of schedule and under budget, updating schedules for ongoing new reactor and license renewal reviews to reflect the 18- and 12-month deadlines detailed in EO 14300. For example, the NRC (1) set the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant subsequent license renewal review schedule to meet the 12-month milestone, (2) set an 18-month review for Dow’s Project Long Mott advanced reactor design, (3) established a 17-month review for a construction permit for Tennessee Valley Authority’s Clinch River small modular reactor, (4) accelerated the construction permit review of TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station by 6 months, and (5) instituted a 9-month review schedule for a Framatome fuel facility amendment to increase enrichment levels.
- Completed license reviews for new reactors ahead of schedule and with resources below the resource estimates. This includes the use of creative approaches like proactive exemptions to leverage environmental information from the Kairos Hermes 1 review to improve the efficiency of the Hermes 2 review.
- Issued service life extensions for VC Summer and Perry Nuclear plants, ahead of schedule and under budget. The NRC has renewed operating licenses for 97 reactors and approved second extended licenses for 13 more – preserving 2,200 years of reactor operating capacity to meet the country’s energy needs.
- Published the fiscal year 2025 final fee rule in the Federal Register, establishing a reduced hourly rate for advanced nuclear reactor applicants and pre-applicants for certain activities, as required by Section 201 of the ADVANCE Act. The reduced hourly rate, which will take effect on October 1, is $148 per hour and represents an over 50% reduction from the full-cost professional hourly rate of $318 per hour.
- Issued a new staff procedure to empower staff to be proactive and helpful by explaining regulatory pathways, options, and insights, and sharing operating experience to enable quicker resolution of regulatory gaps.
- Resolved three key policy issues to enable micro-reactor deployment.
- Published a direct final rule in the Federal Register to extend Design Certification durations from 15 to 40 years.
- Refocused Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards reviews to concentrate on only novel and noteworthy issues.
- Approved a series of licensing and regulatory actions that will pave the way for the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant – a first of its kind action to restore a nuclear power plant to operation from a decommission status – and opening a door for other decommissioned plants to follow suit.
What are we currently working on?
- Developing a comprehensive program and project management framework to establish consistent practices and clear expectations for project execution across the agency. This framework will define standardized processes, roles, and performance metrics to align efforts and promote accountability at all levels, driving progress and enabling the staff to spend their worktime on the highest-value activities. This includes developing data-driven leading and lagging indicators to increase accountability and result in front-loading reviews by developing draft safety evaluations (SEs) early in the review process and applying at least a 15% reduction in review duration and resource estimates, which the NRC is publishing in its acceptance reviews.
- Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools to enhance productivity and workflow efficiency. For example, the NRC is piloting the use of the agency’s internal-use generative AI tool to gain efficiencies in reviewing a new enrichment facility application, and the staff is leveraging the agency’s Microsoft Copilot Chat tool to assist with licensing reviews, such as researching precedents and comparing documents.
- Using a new resource model to reduce resource estimates for operating reactor license renewal environmental reviews by roughly 30%.
- Streamlining license renewal reviews – Implemented the License Renewal Roadmap to reliably complete reviews in under 14,000 hours per application when a high-quality application is received and any requests for additional information are addressed in a timely manner. The License Renewal Review Progress Snapshot and the Subsequent License Renewal Review Progress Snapshot are available to show the recent status of ongoing reviews.
- Driving efficiencies in the fuel facility licensing program – Implemented 36 process improvements in the fuel facility licensing program that led to an increase in on-time completion of licensing actions from 85% to 95% over the past five years. Enhancements included revised processes for pre-application engagement, acceptance reviews, site audits, and the use of precedents.
- Improving pre-application engagement – Reviewing and revising Interim Staff Guidance on the benefits and options for voluntary pre-application engagement for advanced reactor developers. Conducted a broad review of pre-application guidance and practices to identify and address common challenges in pre-application engagements across offices, making the overall review more efficient and predictable. This effort enhances the delivery of service to potential applicants and other external interested parties and supports the nation’s growing energy needs in a safe and reliable manner.
- Boosting coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE) on advanced nuclear fuels – Established a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DOE to enhance technical readiness and coordination, as required by Section 404 of the ADVANCE Act. This MOU provides the NRC with access to DOE’s experimental data and codes, yielding efficiency gains in the licensing process for advanced nuclear fuels.
- Reinforcing reactor licensing efficiencies expectations – Issued a memorandum to reactor licensing staff reinforcing expectations for licensing efficiencies and focusing on disciplined, safety-focused, risk-informed reviews (e.g., implementing a core team review approach and consolidated review phases for advanced reactor licensing) and initiated action to develop metrics to monitor effective implementation of the expectations.
- Reinforcing materials licensing efficiencies expectations – Issued a memorandum to materials licensing staff to establish and emphasize expectations, effective immediately, to improve the efficiency, predictability, and timeliness of the materials licensing programs. The memo addresses safety focus, cost and schedule of reviews, and directs the immediate implementation of near-term licensing efficiencies developed in response to the ADVANCE Act.
- Working on the New Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement rulemaking, which, if finalized, would save up to 40% of staff efforts per application, or roughly 6,000 hours.