Identify a Preliminary Timeline for your Application

The NRC staff asks prospective applicants to identify the project timeline.

The NRC uses proposed submittal dates (both pre-application and application) for budget and resource planning over the multi-year process of licensing a new nuclear reactor. Applicants should develop the approximate proposed dates, meaning to the calendar quarter and year, of the following milestones to discuss:

• Start of pre-application activities
• Application date
• Reactor operation date

The NRC’s Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2026-02 requests information on scheduling application submittals to cover fiscal years 2026 through 2028. Applicants should be prepared to answer the questions contained within RIS 2026-02 for their own project.

Generic Timelines for NRC Reviews

The NRC’ standard application review timelines are on the NRC's generic schedules webpage. When the NRC staff develops a specific schedule for an application, it could differ from the generic milestones based on the specific needs of the licensee or applicant and the staff's resources. Completing pre-application activities described in Appendix A of the ARCAP Roadmap prior to application submittal can help the NRC staff establish a review several months shorter than the generic schedules, depending on the design’s complexity and other conditions (for example, avoiding significant design changes during the review).