[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 102 (Thursday, May 29, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22587-22590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09798]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 102 / Thursday, May 29, 2025 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 22587]]
Executive Order 14300 of May 23, 2025
Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. Abundant energy is a vital
national- and economic-security interest. In
conjunction with domestic fossil fuel production,
nuclear energy can liberate America from dependence on
geopolitical rivals. It can power not only traditional
manufacturing industries but also cutting-edge, energy-
intensive industries such as artificial intelligence
and quantum computing.
Between 1954 and 1978, the United States authorized the
construction of 133 since-completed civilian nuclear
reactors at 81 power plants. Since 1978, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) has authorized only a
fraction of that number; of these, only two reactors
have entered into commercial operation. The NRC charges
applicants by the hour to process license applications,
with prolonged timelines that maximize fees while
throttling nuclear power development. The NRC has
failed to license new reactors even as technological
advances promise to make nuclear power safer, cheaper,
more adaptable, and more abundant than ever.
This failure stems from a fundamental error: Instead of
efficiently promoting safe, abundant nuclear energy,
the NRC has instead tried to insulate Americans from
the most remote risks without appropriate regard for
the severe domestic and geopolitical costs of such risk
aversion. The NRC utilizes safety models that posit
there is no safe threshold of radiation exposure and
that harm is directly proportional to the amount of
exposure. Those models lack sound scientific basis and
produce irrational results, such as requiring that
nuclear plants protect against radiation below
naturally occurring levels. A myopic policy of
minimizing even trivial risks ignores the reality that
substitute forms of energy production also carry risk,
such as pollution with potentially deleterious health
effects.
Recent events in Europe, such as the nationwide
blackouts in Spain and Portugal, underscore the
importance of my Administration's focus on dispatchable
power generation--including nuclear power--over
intermittent power. Beginning today, my Administration
will reform the NRC, including its structure,
personnel, regulations, and basic operations. In so
doing, we will produce lasting American dominance in
the global nuclear energy market, create tens of
thousands of high-paying jobs, and generate American-
led prosperity and resilience.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States
to:
(a) Reestablish the United States as the global
leader in nuclear energy;
(b) Facilitate increased deployment of new nuclear
reactor technologies, such as Generation III+ and IV
reactors, modular reactors, and microreactors,
including by lowering regulatory and cost barriers to
entry;
(c) Facilitate the expansion of American nuclear
energy capacity from approximately 100 GW in 2024 to
400 GW by 2050;
(d) Employ emerging technologies to safely
accelerate the modeling, simulation, testing, and
approval of new reactor designs;
[[Page 22588]]
(e) Support the continued operation of, and
facilitate appropriate operational extensions for, the
current nuclear fleet, as well as the reactivation of
prematurely shuttered or partially completed nuclear
facilities; and
(f) Maintain the United States' leading reputation
for nuclear safety.
Sec. 3. Reforming the NRC's Culture. The Congress has
mandated that the NRC's ``licensing and regulation of
the civilian use of radioactive materials and nuclear
energy be conducted in a manner that is efficient and
does not unnecessarily limit--(1) the civilian use of
radioactive materials and deployment of nuclear energy;
or (2) the benefits of civilian use of radioactive
materials and nuclear energy technology to society.''
Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear
for Clean Energy Act of 2024, Public Law 118-67, sec.
501(a). Just as the Congress directed, the NRC's
mission shall include facilitating nuclear power while
ensuring reactor safety. When carrying out its
licensing and related regulatory functions, the NRC
shall consider the benefits of increased availability
of, and innovation in, nuclear power to our economic
and national security in addition to safety, health,
and environmental considerations.
Sec. 4. Reforming the NRC's Structure. (a) The current
structure and staffing of the NRC are misaligned with
the Congress's directive that the NRC shall not unduly
restrict the benefits of nuclear power. The NRC shall,
in consultation with the NRC's DOGE Team (as defined in
Executive Order 14158 of January 20, 2025 (Establishing
and Implementing the President's ``Department of
Government Efficiency'')), and consistent with its
governing statutes, reorganize the NRC to promote the
expeditious processing of license applications and the
adoption of innovative technology. The NRC shall
undertake reductions in force in conjunction with this
reorganization, though certain functions may increase
in size consistent with the policies in this order,
including those devoted to new reactor licensing. The
NRC shall also create a dedicated team of at least 20
officials to draft the new regulations directed by
section 5 of this order.
(b) The personnel and functions of the Advisory
Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) shall be reduced
to the minimum necessary to fulfill ACRS's statutory
obligations. Review by ACRS of permitting and licensing
issues shall focus on issues that are truly novel or
noteworthy.
Sec. 5. Reforming and Modernizing the NRC's
Regulations. The NRC, working with its DOGE Team, the
Office of Management and Budget, and other executive
departments and agencies as appropriate, shall
undertake a review and wholesale revision of its
regulations and guidance documents, and issue notice(s)
of proposed rulemaking effecting this revision within 9
months of the date of this order. The NRC shall issue
final rules and guidance to conclude this revision
process within 18 months of the date of this order. In
conducting this wholesale revision, the NRC shall be
guided by the policies set forth in section 2 of this
order and shall in particular:
(a) Establish fixed deadlines for its evaluation
and approval of licenses, license amendments, license
renewals, certificates of compliance, power uprates,
license transfers, and any other activity requested by
a licensee or potential licensee, as directed under the
Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, rather
than the nonbinding ``generic milestone schedules''
guidelines the NRC has already adopted. Those deadlines
shall be enforced by fixed caps on the NRC's recovery
of hourly fees. The deadlines shall include: (1) a
deadline of no more than 18 months for final decision
on an application to construct and operate a new
reactor of any type, commencing with the first required
step in the regulatory process, and (2) a deadline of
no more than 1 year for final decision on an
application to continue operating an existing reactor
of any type, commencing with the first required step in
the regulatory process. The regulations should not
provide for tolling those deadlines except in instances
of applicant failure, and must allow a reasonably
diligent applicant to navigate the licensing process
successfully in the time allotted. Moreover, these are
maximum time periods; the NRC shall adopt shorter
deadlines tailored to particular reactor types or
licensing pathways as appropriate.
[[Page 22589]]
(b) Adopt science-based radiation limits. In
particular, the NRC shall reconsider reliance on the
linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure
and the ``as low as reasonably achievable'' standard,
which is predicated on LNT. Those models are flawed, as
discussed in section 1 of this order. In reconsidering
those limits, the NRC shall specifically consider
adopting determinate radiation limits, and in doing so
shall consult with the Department of Defense (DOD), the
Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(c) Revise, in consultation with the Council on
Environmental Quality, NRC regulations governing NRC's
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act
to reflect the Congress's 2023 amendments to that
statute and the policies articulated in sections 2 and
5 of Executive Order 14154 of January 20, 2025
(Unleashing American Energy).
(d) Establish an expedited pathway to approve
reactor designs that the DOD or the DOE have tested and
that have demonstrated the ability to function safely.
NRC review of such designs shall focus solely on risks
that may arise from new applications permitted by NRC
licensure, rather than revisiting risks that have
already been addressed in the DOE or DOD processes.
(e) Establish a process for high-volume licensing
of microreactors and modular reactors, including by
allowing for standardized applications and approvals
and by considering to what extent such reactors or
components thereof should be regulated through general
licenses.
(f) Establish stringent thresholds for
circumstances in which the NRC may demand changes to
reactor design once construction is underway.
(g) Revise the Reactor Oversight Process and
reactor security rules and requirements to reduce
unnecessary burdens and be responsive to credible
risks.
(h) Adopt revised and, where feasible, determinate
and data-backed thresholds to ensure that reactor
safety assessments focus on credible, realistic risks.
(i) Reconsider the regulations governing the time
period for which a renewed license remains effective,
and extend that period as appropriate based on
available technological and safety data.
(j) Streamline the public hearings process.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
[[Page 22590]]
(d) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall provide
funding for publication of this order in the Federal
Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 23, 2025.
[FR Doc. 2025-09798
Filed 5-28-25; 8:45 am]
Billing code 7590-01-P