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NRC Chair David Wright: agency streamlining licensing for advanced reactors, eyes predictability for SMRs and VC Summer
Summary
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair David Wright told the Governor's Nuclear Advisory Council that the NRC is modernizing under recent statutes and executive directions, extending some design‑certification timeframes and preparing to review an expanding queue of advanced reactor and fuel applications while emphasizing safety.
Commissioner (Chair) David Wright of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the Governor's Nuclear Advisory Council that the agency has been moving rapidly to modernize its regulatory approach for advanced reactors and fuels while keeping safety central.
"The NRC protects public health and safety and advances our nation's common defense and security by enabling the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies and radioactive materials," Wright said, adding that recent directives — referenced in the record as the Advance Act (July 2024) and an executive order identified as "14 300" — have accelerated rulemakings and timelines. He highlighted the agency's issuance of Part 53 rulemakings and said the NRC is revising internal processes to improve predictability and licensing efficiency for advanced fuels, including high‑assay, low‑enriched uranium (HALU).
Wright said the NRC has already approved or advanced multiple pathways for small modular reactors and advanced fuels: NuScale holds design certifications, TerraPower has a construction license, and other applicants are in early engagement. He provided counts from the agency's engagement pipeline — three active license applications, roughly 24 entities in early engagement, and about 36 additional developers known to the agency — and said the regulator itself "is not gonna be the issue" for deployment timelines; he named financing, workforce and supply chain as the primary constraints.
On design certification, Wright said the NRC extended standard design certification durations from 15 to 40 years to support investment and international markets. "If somebody's going to build a Westinghouse AP1000, for example ... nobody's gonna invest in something that only has an 8 year design cert," he said, arguing longer certifications reduce the cost of replication.
Members asked about licensing the partially completed VC Summer plant in Jenkinsville, S.C. Wright said the Part 52 combined‑license process will apply but that ownership changes and a design‑certification amendment (rev 20) complicate the filing. He said the NRC's approach will rely on focused teams to avoid staff burnout and to direct reviewers to the work where it exists. Wright deferred technical implementation details to Billy Gleaves, who told the council the agency encourages reuse and referencing of prior material to avoid a 5,000‑page reinvention and described the need for an "impeccable design basis reconstitution" at the site.
Wright also addressed workforce concerns, acknowledging hiring turnover at the NRC but saying the agency is rebuilding capacity and prioritizing staffing where the work sits.
What happens next: Wright said the NRC will continue rolling out rulemakings and that staff and council members should expect continued engagement as applicants submit licensing materials and design certification amendments proceed through review.
Quotes in this article are drawn from Commissioner Wright and NRC staff remarks before the council.
