NRC

  • Accelerating Nuclear Using The Bully Pulpit

    ByRod Adams

    Part 2 – Changing Culture and Reducing Uncertainty President Trump signed five Executive Orders on May 23 that are designed to accelerate the process of unleashing nuclear energy’s incredible potential. Those orders build on strong and growing public support as well as recently enacted, strongly bipartisan laws that have made it abundantly clear that America…

  • Unnecessary rules should be eliminated

    ByRod Adams

    Commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are worried. They see a pending avalanche of license applications for new reactors, fuel production facilities, uranium mines, transportation containers, and waste repositories with an insufficiently sized and trained licensing workforce. They seem to be increasingly aware of their role in enabling a clean energy transition and they want…

  • Is nuclear reactor licensing process being improved as Congress mandated with NEIMA?

    ByRod Adams

    A panel of five experts and an experienced moderator addressed the progress being made in creating effective processes to license advanced and non-LWR (light water reactors) at an ANS Winter 2022 panel session titled “Licensing the Future: How the NRC is Approaching Advanced Reactors.” Four out of five of the panelists were cautiously positive and…

  • What Does Westinghouse Bankruptcy Mean To Nuclear Energy Innovators?

    ByRod Adams

    Attendees at the 7th Annual International SMR and Advanced Reactor Summit in Atlanta, GA were intensely curious about the effect of Westinghouse’s decision to enter into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization effort. They are also working hard to learn whatever lessons might be available to help them avoid similar situations. What About That Westinghouse News?…

  • New Nuclear: North Anna Unit 3 Should Be Approved Before The End Of May

    ByRod Adams

    Dominion Resources’s North Anna nuclear power station unit number 3 should be approved for construction by the end of May 2017. It’s possible that the approval – in the form of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 10 CFR Part 52 combined license (COL) – could be issued within the next three weeks. This would be…

  • NRC Vision And Strategy For Licensing Advanced Reactors Needs Improvement

    ByRod Adams

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its vision and strategy for preparing to review applications for permission to begin building reactors that do not use light water as the coolant. Policy makers who are interested in ensuring that American reactor developers have the opportunity to lead in the nascent – but potentially very lucrative field – of…

  • Enabling atomic innovation

    ByRod Adams

    During the past several weeks there have been a number of developments supporting a growing movement to enable nuclear energy innovators to succeed in the US. Leaders are realizing that nuclear energy, which has deep roots in the US and has proven its capability to produce reliable power without producing any air pollution, should be…

  • What does the “open phase condition” petition mean for US nuclear plants?

    ByRod Adams

    On March 1, 2016, Reuters published an article titled U.S. NRC engineers urge fix for nuclear power stations. Here is how the article seized my attention. A group of engineers within the U.S. nuclear power regulator is concerned that a design flaw in nearly all U.S. nuclear plants could endanger emergency core cooling systems. The…