The Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC

For its first quarter century the Atomic Energy Commission both promoted nuclear power and regulated its safety, a conflict critics said made it a cheerleader rather than a watchdog. The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, signed October 11, split the commission in two. Its research and weapons work went to what became the Department of Energy, and its regulatory staff became the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which opened on January 19, 1975, with a single mission: protecting public health and safety from the civilian use of nuclear materials.

The NRC licenses and inspects the country's commercial nuclear reactors, about 94 of them at more than 50 sites, which generate roughly a fifth of American electricity and about half of its carbon-free power. Resident inspectors work at every plant. The commission reviews designs for new reactors, including the small modular and advanced designs that companies now propose, approves license renewals that have extended many plants to 60 and some to 80 years of operation, and regulates research reactors, uranium processing, the medical and industrial uses of radioactive materials, and the storage and disposal of spent fuel.

Five commissioners, appointed by the President for staggered five-year terms with no more than three from one party, lead the agency, and the President designates the Chair. About 2,800 people work there, and fees paid by licensees cover most of its budget of roughly 950 million dollars. The partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in March 1979, the worst accident in American commercial nuclear history, transformed the agency, leading to resident inspectors, stricter operator training, and emergency planning requirements. After the 2011 Fukushima disaster it ordered further upgrades.

The industry and many in Congress have long argued that the NRC is too slow and costly, and that its licensing process helped stall new reactor construction for decades. The ADVANCE Act of 2024 directed it to speed reviews. In May 2025 an executive order told the commission to decide new reactor applications within eighteen months, to reconsider its radiation exposure standards, and to submit its rules to White House review, and the President removed a sitting commissioner in June. Supporters said the changes would unlock a nuclear revival. Critics, including former commissioners, warned that an agency independent by design was being brought under political control in ways that could compromise safety.