Environmental Center of Expertise

The ECOE performs environmental reviews of agency licensing actions required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other statutes to support NRC’s new, advanced, and operating reactors; non-power utilization facilities; and nuclear materials, including production of nuclear fuel used in commercial nuclear reactors.

NRC staff have implemented a broad range of efficiency tools to reduce resources and schedule, while ensuring compliance with all environmental requirements. For example: 

• Initiating a pilot project for applicant-prepared/NRC-supervised draft NEPA documents (e.g., Fermi America) 
• Preparing Environmental Assessments instead of Environmental Impact Statements when significant impacts are unlikely (e.g., Long Mott, Hatch Subsequent License Renewal) 
• Tailoring analyses to be proportional the significance of potential impacts 
• Achieving up to 40% resource savings on several recent Environmental Impact Statements (e.g., Robinson Subsequent License Renewal, Triso-X Fuel Fabrication Facility)  

Click on “Success Stories” to read more about these efficiency gains.

In accordance with Executive Order (EO)14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,”staff are currently working on a wholesale review of its regulations implementing NEPA (10 CFR Part 51). Check back here for more information once the proposed rule has been issued (see schedule here).