US Nuclear Regulator Pursues ‘More Efficient’ Reactor Approvals

The top US nuclear regulator is on a mission to streamline approvals for new reactors and accelerate power-plant construction.

“We can be more efficient,” Christopher Hanson, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an interview. That’s a notable shift for the agency tasked with overseeing the country’s fleet of 94 reactors as well as licensing new ones.

Electricity consumption is poised to surge in the US, and there’s growing interest in meeting that demand with carbon-free nuclear power. However, the NRC’s years-long approval process is seen as a critical bottleneck in the effort to expand domestic nuclear capacity. ...