DATE INTRODUCED:

House: 9/23/25 / Senate: 5/14/2025

WHAT:

The Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in reviewing new license applications by removing duplicative processes and procedures.

Under the Atomic Energy Act, the NRC is required to hold a hearing on every license application with the NRC Commissioners, NRC staff members and license applicants. During the review, members of the public have an opportunity to petition the Commission to intervene. However, in many cases, these hearings are uncontroversial and uncontested, yet still required by law to happen. This legislation would remove the requirement to hold uncontested hearings.

WHY IT MATTERS:

These “uncontested mandatory hearings” are estimated to require upwards of 1,500 hours of preparation by NRC staff, have cost the applicant thousands to millions of dollars, and have delayed some application approvals by at least six months.

The original justification for a mandatory hearing was based on the limited public engagement on proposed reactor siting decisions by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in the early 1960s. Today, a reactor application presents significant opportunities for public engagement: the NRC holds public meetings on every aspect of both the safety and environmental reviews and publishes documents related to these reviews publicly. Even with this change, the public still can petition to intervene (i.e., contest a hearing). Thus, “uncontested mandatory hearings” have become redundant and unnecessary. Removing this duplicative step in the process will reduce the bureaucratic burden on all parties involved, including industry, the NRC staff and the NRC Commissioners.

WHAT'S NEXT:

The Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act improves the efficiency of the NRC’s licensing process for new reactors and enrichment facilities without limiting opportunities for public engagement by removing the requirement for a Commission hearing on every license application if the hearing is uncontested.

ORIGINAL SPONSORS:

S. 1757
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)

H.R. 5549
Rep. Morgan H. Griffith (R-VA), Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) and Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX)

CO-SPONSORS:

S. 1757
Sen. John Curtis (R-UT)

H.R. 5549
Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN)

SUPPORT:

ClearPath Action

CONGRESS.GOV LINK:

S. 1757

H.R. 5549

PRINTABLE SUMMARY:

Printable summary of S. 1757 & H.R. 5549