A pair of Republican legislators last week asked Congress’s investigative arm to look into whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prepared to handle applications for future advanced nuclear reactors, according to a recent letter.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) should investigate NRC’s “preparedness to review and approve applications for advanced nuclear reactor designs,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said in a letter to the agency dated Feb. 4. In particular, the lawmakers requested that GAO look into the commission’s progress on its Part 53 rulemaking, a framework designed to regulate the licensing of new advanced reactors.
The congressional auditor should also determine whether NRC is “assessing various organizational approaches” to efficiently process license applications for such projects, the lawmakers said.
Capito and Rodgers raised concerns about how some of the first advanced reactor applications have been handled under NRC’s existing licensing framework.
“Recent NRC actions concerning certain licensing activities raise questions about the agency’s capability to manage effectively first-mover applications for new, advanced technologies,” the letter said. The commission in January denied advanced nuclear company Oklo’s application for its Aurora fast reactor, citing “significant information gaps” in the company’s description of potential safety issues.
“In light of NRCs recent actions, we seek to understand if and how those improvements are being pursued and how NRC staff, in communication with the license applicant, will leverage existing flexibilities,” Capito and Rodgers said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, GAO had not announced any new audit of NRC’s licensing practices.
Meanwhile, NRC is still working on its Part 53 framework, which it was directed to create as part of the 2018 Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act. Per that law, the commission has until the end of 2027 to finish the Part 53 rulemaking.
