12. Department of Energy and Related Commissions · Notable

Complete light-water reactor licensing reviews within two years

Partially done

Printed page 409 12. Department of Energy and Related Commissions

“Applications for Combined Operating Licenses (COLs) and design certifications that rely on light-water technology should generally be completed within two years. Early Site Permits should generally be issued within one year for construction on or adjacent to an existing reactor site.”

What has happened

Jun 16, 2026 Partially done
The fee half is in force: the NRC's final FY 2026 fee rule establishes fixed caps on service fees to implement section 5(a), giving applicants cost predictability. The deadline half is not: the rule that would put the 18-month and one-year periods into the regulations, Modernizing Reactor Licensing, Safety Oversight, and Siting Practices, was still a proposed rule on 16 July 2026, and no early site permit deadline was adopted.
- NRC final rule: Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2026, establishing fixed caps on service fees
  Primary Executive branch Jun 16, 2026
- NRC proposed rule: Modernizing Reactor Licensing, Safety Oversight, and Siting Practices
  Primary Executive branch Jul 16, 2026
May 23, 2025 Attempted
EO 14300 section 5(a) directs the NRC to replace its non-binding generic milestone schedules with fixed deadlines enforced by caps on hourly fee recovery, including a deadline of no more than 18 months for a final decision on an application to construct and operate a new reactor of any type. That covers the combined operating licenses and design certifications the Quote names, at a shorter period than the two years asked for.
- Executive Order 14300, Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  Primary Executive branch May 23, 2025

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Instrument: NRC rulemakings under EO 14300, found by agency and docket rather than by the Mandate’s phrase.

Related final rules that shorten the path without setting the deadlines: the risk-informed technology-inclusive framework for advanced reactors (30 March 2026), categorical exclusions from environmental review (30 March 2026), increased flexibility in the mandatory hearing process (15 April 2026) and the generic environmental impact statement for new reactors (24 April 2026).

Action: other
Object: NRC Combined Operating Licenses, design certifications, and Early Site Permits
ID: 1038