Sen. Capito, Rep. Rodgers ask GAO to assess NRC’s review process for advanced nuclear reactors

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) are asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) preparedness to review advanced nuclear reactor applications.

Their letter to GAO Director Gene Dodaro builds several questions Capito, ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, asked during a committee hearing on December 2021, where she questioned NRC leadership on the subject.

“Advanced nuclear reactor designs are expected to be smaller, safer, and more economically competitive than the Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology currently used by today’s operating reactors. The designs are expected to generate electricity in a more flexible system, could generate heat to be used for non-electric purposes, and will utilize different fuel forms and coolants, which will allow reactors to run longer between refueling outages. Congress has consistently provided bipartisan support—both funding and authorizing specific advanced nuclear programs—to develop and deploy these advanced nuclear reactors,” Capito and McMorris Rodgers wrote to the GAO director.

The lawmakers said that to realize the environmental, economic, and national security benefits of advanced nuclear technologies, NRC must be prepared to license and oversee the development and deployment of the designs.

The lawmakers had several questions for the GAO, including:
-What steps NRC has completed in its preparations to review and approve applications to license advanced reactor technologies;
-How NRC is assessing various organizational approaches to establish the most effective structure to review those applications efficiently; and
-How NRC staff is working with license applicants during the pre-application and initial license review phases and communicating key issues to establish a predictable schedule with clear, achievable milestones.