Alert

Due to a lapse in appropriations, the NRC has ceased normal operations. However, excepted and exempted activities necessary to maintain critical health and safety functions—as well as essential progress on designated critical activities, including those specified in Executive Order 14300—will continue, consistent with the OMB-Approved NRC Lapse Plan.

Light-water reactor

A term used to describe reactors using ordinary water as a moderated coolant, including boiling-water reactors (BWRs) and pressurized-water reactors (PWRs), the most common types used in the United States.

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Wednesday, February 15, 2023