In recent years, the recognition that carbon-free nuclear power is essential to an affordable clean energy transition has led to extraordinary demand. Significant actions at the federal and state levels have provided unprecedented support for existing and new nuclear power technologies in the United States. Countries around the world have prioritized using nuclear energy to meet their climate and energy security goals. Private sector commitments have been made across the United States to build advanced reactors. Investor interest in nuclear power is growing and exciting strategic partnerships are being announced.
NEI initially reported on this level of demand for new nuclear in 2022. A recent NEI poll, conducted a year later and built upon the initial survey, found that over the next twenty-five years utilities anticipate adding nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear to their generating systems. That is the equivalent of more than 300 small modular reactors (SMRs), which would more than double U.S. nuclear output today. The Department of Energy confirmed in a recent report the robust need for new nuclear to meet our decarbonization goals. The department found that domestic nuclear power capacity has the potential to scale from about 100 GW today to approximately 300 GW by 2050, more than twice NEI’s estimate, driven by deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.
The road to meeting this opportunity runs directly through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an agency that has spent the last 40 years predominantly focused on the safety of the current operating fleet of large light water reactors. Unsurprisingly, as demand grows and new technologies move from design to deployment, the NRC is ill-equipped to efficiently and effectively meet this moment.
Although the NRC has taken some steps to prepare, progress has been incremental and insufficient in positioning the U.S. to support this scale of advanced reactor deployment.
DOE’s recent analysis shows that we should be preparing for the deployment of an average of 13 GW of new nuclear per year. Using a representative SMR size of 300 MW, this would result in more than 40 reactors starting operations every year. Even if larger reactors are included in this picture, it is likely that the annual rate of deployment will be dozens of reactors. This emerging demand for new reactors is coming at a time when the operating fleet is pursuing numerous license renewals, power uprates, and advanced fuels, further straining NRC resources under the current unwieldy processes.
The NRC must focus on efficient regulatory processes that are timely and right-sized for the next generation of simpler and inherently safer designs. Success can only be achieved through enhanced efficiency followed by increased staffing at the commission. Regulatory efficiency must come first—adding staff to an inefficient process simply slows down the system even more. In short, the NRC cannot simply hire themselves to success.
The processing of previously approved designs should be accomplished in less than a year. This approach would provide predictability and efficiency for customers to have a clear line of sight from order to construction to deployment within three to five years.
The key to achieving this rate of deployment will rely on standard designs with previously approved NRC safety cases. Regulatory review and approval processes should be modified to enable the efficient approval of reactor applications for standard plants. Additional review should be required in cases of safety-significant, site-specific deviations. New advanced nuclear is recognized as essential to the health and safety of humankind, both in the U.S. and globally. Policymakers at the state, federal and international levels are urgently investing in new nuclear to meet climate and energy security goals. This demand and urgency for new nuclear has not, however, penetrated the NRC mindset.
One of the key challenges is the NRC’s historical approach of ponderous reviews and decision-making. The existential threat posed by carbon requires fundamental change. The urgency of this moment and the magnitude of the challenge requires a rethinking of processes and approaches. The United States is home to the highest performing and safest nuclear fleet in the world and safety must always be assured, but efficiency must be the order of the day. The current approach is sometimes justified by saying that the NRC has no responsibility for efficiency because it is not the NRC’s responsibility to be promotional under the Atomic Energy Act. This is a false premise. The Atomic Energy Act makes it very clear in the opening clause of its declaration that it is the policy of the United States that nuclear power “make the maximum contribution to the general welfare.”
To be clear, nuclear power must be safe, but this moment requires efficiently enabling the deployment of safe nuclear power. The NRC’s focus must turn to how they can enable the maximum benefit to the general welfare. We don’t have time to wait and contemplate these changes. It is time to hold the NRC to its dual-factored mission—safety and efficiency. The commission’s own Principles of Good Regulation include efficiency as a key factor, but those words must be turned into tangible results.
All signs point to nuclear energy as key to climate and energy security, and it will be necessary for a just and affordable energy transition. The NRC must not be the impediment that prevents the United States from being the global leader in safe, reliable, carbon-free advanced nuclear that is essential to meeting the huge demand seen in the United States and around the world. Now is the time to modernize the NRC’s mission and recognize their significant role in enabling advanced nuclear as the backbone of a secure, carbon-free future. The world can’t afford to wait any longer.
