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News
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LCG, December 29, 2025--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today issued a summary of its 2025 accomplishments to highlight its commitment to "enabling the safe and secure use of civilian nuclear energy and radioactive materials through efficient and reliable licensing, oversight, and regulation to benefit society and the environment."
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LCG, December 24, 2025--The U.S. Secretary of Energy today issued emergency orders to keep two Indiana coal plants operational, with the stated goal to ensure Americans in the Midwest region of the United States have access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity heading into the winter months. The orders direct CenterPoint Energy, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) to take all measures necessary to ensure specified generation units at both the F.B. Culley and R.M. Schahfer generating stations in Indiana are available to operate.
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Industry News
The NRC Issues Summary of 2025 Successes
LCG, December 29, 2025--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today issued a summary of its 2025 accomplishments to highlight its commitment to "enabling the safe and secure use of civilian nuclear energy and radioactive materials through efficient and reliable licensing, oversight, and regulation to benefit society and the environment."
The NRC Chairman stated, "This past year has been one of fast-moving change and accomplishment at the NRC. Our priorities in 2025 included implementing requirements in Executive Orders and the ADVANCE Act while contributing to interagency efforts to meet broader national energy objectives. We’ll build on these achievements in 2026 as we modernize our regulatory approach to safely reach licensing decisions faster, using fewer resources."
The NRC summary emphasized new and advanced reactor licensing progress in 2025. First, the NRC completed review of the construction permit application for TerraPower’s Kemmerer Unit 1 facility, the agency’s first approval of a non-light water reactor in the last 50 years and the first next-generation advanced power reactor. The review was completed in 18 months (nine months ahead of schedule and 11 percent under budget), facilitated in part by changes directed by EO 14300 – specifically, streamlining the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards review and environmental review efficiencies. Second, the NRC issued a FY25 construction permit for the Kairos Hermes 2 test reactor facility, a fluoride salt cooled high temperature reactor. This built off work done in FY24 to issue the construction permit for Hermes 1, a very similar design, resulting in a 60 percent reduction in resources between the two reviews and completion in only 10 months. Third, the NRC completed its review of NuScale’s US460 Standard Design Approval, a light water small modular reactor (SMR), in 22 months (two months ahead of schedule and 13 percent under budget).
The NRC highlighted its work in 2025 to create the opportunity for a first-ever return to operational status (restart) of a retired reactor at the Palisades Nuclear Plant. The NRC states that the experience with Palisades will be applied to two additional reactor restart projects at the Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. The NRC also renewed 13 reactor licenses (each for an additional 20 years), thereby preserving 12,000 MW of carbon-free capacity on the U.S. power grid. The return to operational status and license extensions are an opportunity for the nation to extract maximum value from the existing fleet of clean, nuclear reactors.
Regarding the AP1000 nuclear design, the NRC issued in 2025 a direct final rule extending the expiration of design certifications from 15 (or 20) to 40 years (e.g., extended the AP1000 design certification), and the Commission is considering the Part 53 "Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Commercial Nuclear Plants," proposed rule. Furthermore, the NRC is actively working with (i) Fermi America on their combined license (COL) application and an applicant-led environmental impact statement pilot for a four-unit Westinghouse AP1000 plant in Texas, and (ii) Westinghouse to prepare for an expedited review of an updated Design Certification for the AP1000.
The NRC highlighted progress with nuclear fuel facilities, materials and decommissioning programs in 2025. The NRC approved six fuel facility requests, including continued high-assay, low-enriched uranium operations at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio (part of the Department of Energy’s HALEU demonstration project), as well as approving Urenco USA’s enrichment facility in New Mexico to produce higher-enriched U-235 for advanced reactor and accident-tolerant fuel.
The NRC stated that in 2025 it completed over 700 licensing actions for the 94 nuclear reactors in operation across the nation, 90 percent of which were completed ahead of schedule, reflecting efficiencies driven by the ADVANCE Act and Executive Order 14300. Since implementing these efficiencies, the NRC has lowered project estimates by roughly 40 percent for schedules and 35 percent for staff hours, while continuing to meet safety standards.
The NRC's 2025 highlights include its engagement with dozens of companies and organizations, including X-Energy, NuScale, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and TerraPower, and the NRC's plan to continue working with companies and organizations and supporting future applications.
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