Report a Safety Concern
Search

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of rescinding or revising guidance and policies posted on this webpage in accordance with Executive Order 14151 Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, and Executive Order 14168 Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. In the interim, any previously issued diversity, equity, inclusion, or gender-related guidance on this webpage should be considered rescinded that is inconsistent with these Executive Orders.

Home Nuclear Reactors New Reactors Advanced Reactors Modernizing How We Regulate Microreactors

Regulatory Activities

The NRC staff has identified a series of planned enhancements to support microreactor licensing and provide additional regulatory clarity. Interactions with various stakeholders informed these enhancements. The NRC staff is prioritizing the various enhancements from near term to longer term and ensuring that potential policy issues are identified for resolution.

The staff generated the Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan, below, to provide a comprehensive view of microreactor licensing and regulatory topics. The plan includes actions the staff identified to enhance the flexibility of the regulatory framework to support the diverse technologies and deployment models being considered by microreactor developers and potential applicants. The plan also includes the staff’s proposed prioritization of and planned completion time for each action.

The staff’s plan aligns with Section 208 of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (the ADVANCE Act), which directs the NRC to develop and implement risk-informed and performance-based strategies and guidance to license and regulate microreactors in eight topical areas: (1) staffing and operations, (2) oversight and inspections, (3) security and safeguards, (4) emergency preparedness, (5) risk analysis methods, (6) decommissioning funding assurance, (7) transportation of fueled microreactors, and (8) siting. The staff’s plan also includes the topics, (9) regulatory processes, (10) licensing, and (11) fees. More information can be found on the ADVANCE Act page.

The NRC staff will continue to assess further potential enhancements to the regulatory framework for microreactors as technologies and deployment models evolve. The staff continues to be receptive to feedback from stakeholders and other interested parties regarding the licensing and deployment topics listed in the integrated microreactor activities plan.
 

Integrated Microreactor Activities Plan Dashboard

The NRC staff created a dashboard to show the status of microreactor activities. You can take a closer look, using the dashboard, at the status and key milestones for each of the actions related to topics in the integrated plan. As you scroll to the right, additional details on lead organizations and information resources are available via links.

Some key features of the dashboard include:

 

  • The topic and subtopic of the integrated microreactor activities plan;
  • Actions and planned timeframes for each subtopic;
  • Dependencies on other topics related to the action;
  • The lead and secondary lead organization for each action;
  • References related to each action;
  • And descriptions of each topic area on the second tab.
As our implementation efforts continue, the dashboard will be updated to reflect new information. **Note: The data within the Excel sheet may be outdated as it is not updated as frequently as the dashboard.

The dashboard is best viewed in full-screen mode by clicking the ⤢ on the menu bar at the bottom of the dashboard

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, April 8, 2025