By Ho Nieh
We stand at a defining moment for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and for the future of nuclear energy in the U.S. American’s electricity demand is rising sharply due to artificial intelligence, data centers, and industrial growth, and our nation increasingly sees nuclear energy as essential to our energy security.
Thanks to the bipartisan support from Congress for the ADVANCE Act, followed by President Trump’s Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” we have been given a clear direction for modernization. In response, the NRC is making major structural changes in how we license and oversee nuclear facilities in the U.S. As America’s independent nuclear safety regulator, the NRC plays a vitally important role during this pivotal moment to enable and accelerate the safe and secure deployment of nuclear technologies.
For this new chapter, three things will not change.
Safety remains our top priority. Full stop. We exist to protect public health and safety, and the common defense and security. The NRC is not compromising safety for speed. The NRC is not a rubber stamp.
Second, our independence remains firm and enduring. We make and own our regulatory decisions.
Third, our people remain our greatest strength. Every day, the competent and dedicated NRC team delivers on a safety mission that is essential to America’s energy security and public trust in nuclear technologies.
Upon my return to the NRC after five years away, I see three differences that are paramount for the evolution of this agency. To begin, the NRC now operates under a new mission that emphasizes enabling along with safety.
A regulator that enables aligns our regulatory approaches with actual risks; it does not arbitrarily lower standards for safety. Enabling is anticipating future needs and adjusting our frameworks; it is not force-fitting new technologies into the status quo. Enabling is adding regulatory flexibilities that maintain safety; it is not preserving longstanding constraints that no longer provide a safety benefit. Enabling is a mindset; it is not a shortcut, but rather how we fulfill our safety commitment to the public in a changing world.
Secondly, the NRC senior leadership is more aligned than when I was last at the agency, that alignment has already produced meaningful results.
Lastly, the NRC’s interagency coordination is more visible. NRC’s independence does not mean isolation. We must coordinate with our federal partners. When it comes to achieving our national energy goals, the NRC is an integral part of Team USA. Greater coordination has given the NRC new perspectives and innovative ideas that enhance how we carry out our safety mission.
Taken together, these continuities and differences are producing impressive results. In the last year, we have prepared 18 Executive order14300 draft rulemakings; finalized Part 53 that creates a regulatory pathway for advanced nuclear reactors; issued the first commercial advanced reactor construction permit in decades; and approved, for the first time in history, a restart pathway for a reactor that was in the process of decommissioning. In addition, we have renewed 13 reactor licenses, approved innovative technologies, and accelerated fuel cycle licensing, while simultaneously launching a fusion regulatory framework.
We are making major reforms across our core business functions—rulemaking, licensing and oversight. The new frameworks we are building will set the standards for nuclear safety in America for decades to come. And what we do here in America will influence regulatory approaches around the world.
This is the kind of work that defines institutions. Few public servants get the opportunity to redesign an entire regulatory system. This is a once-in-a-career moment for the entire agency. Our success will enable safe nuclear energy for generations.
To meet this moment, I am focusing the agency on three priorities as Chairman.
The first priority: core mission delivery with safety, efficiency and speed. Our safety mission is our top priority, and we are focusing on what matters most for safety and security. We will achieve efficiency and speed not by rushing, but by removing the unnecessary things that slow us down and by focusing on what is most important to safety.
Next, leadership and operational excellence. Our regulatory performance will improve when leadership is aligned on expectations for excellence and accountability.
And third, sustainable performance through continuous improvement. Strong organizations do not stand still. They learn. They adjust. They invest in their people. They question themselves.
As an enabling regulator, we are not lowering our expectations for high performance—from ourselves and from those we regulate. Sustained safety and security performance across the industry is essential to public trust and to America’s nuclear energy future.
It is an exciting time for nuclear safety regulation. The American people can expect safety first, independence always, and discipline, efficiency, and timeliness in all we do.
The Honorable Ho Nieh was designated as the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 8, 2026. Chairman Nieh had previously been sworn in as an NRC Commissioner on December 4, 2025 for a term ending June 30, 2029. He is the first former NRC resident inspector to serve as a Commissioner.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
