US NRC Finalizes New Rule to Speed Up Nuclear Licensing Through Contested Hearing Reform

Recently, according to relevant foreign media reports, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has formally completed the formulation of a new rule restructuring the contested hearing process in licensing applications for reactors and other nuclear facilities, aiming to significantly compress administrative adjudication timelines and support the rapid deployment and expansion of advanced nuclear technologies.

It is reported that in the past, NRC adjudication of contested matters typically lasted for years, causing delays in nuclear power project approvals. The new rule introduces three hearing tracks—Standard, Focused, and Expedited—based on the complexity of applications, compressing the adjudication period for the simplest cases to approximately 6 months, with the vast majority of cases kept to around 1 year. In addition, the new rule requires NRC to clearly specify a “standard hearing completion date” in hearing notices, providing applicants and the public with clear time expectations.

With the deepening implementation of laws and policies such as the ADVANCE Act (Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act), NRC is comprehensively restructuring its regulatory and licensing system. By eliminating lengthy delays in the administrative adjudication process and guarding against legal risks, the rule will significantly reduce compliance costs and construction timeline uncertainty for nuclear energy companies.

This institutional innovation in the contested hearing process marks a substantive step forward in modernizing and improving the efficiency of the U.S. nuclear regulatory system. It not only provides institutional safeguards for the batch commercial licensing of subsequent microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs), but will also offer positive reference for global advanced nuclear regulatory reform.