NRC Reviews of Reactor Designs Previously Authorized by U.S. Department of Energy or Department of War

What it does

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to facilitate direct leveraging of prior U.S. Department of Energy or Department of War authorizations of demonstration reactors into the NRC's licensing reviews of commercial reactor facility applications that reference those designs. This rulemaking improves NRC licensing review efficiency, where applicable, by explicitly establishing by regulation an additional means for reactor applicants to demonstrate the safety functions of their reactor designs, thereby contributing to the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

2 parts of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

10 CFR 50, 10 CFR 53

Compared with

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published 34 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 28 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 3150-AL60 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• April 2, 2026 Proposed rule; public meeting; and request for comment. NRC Reviews of Reactor Designs Previously Authorized by U.S. Department of Energy or Department of War

What happens next and when

This final rule is effective on November 25, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NRC-2025-1503 on Regulations.gov
• Title 10 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register