DC Energy Partner: New Advanced Reactor Licensing Process Needed for NRC

Energy partner Jeffrey Merrifield is chairman of the Nuclear Infrastructure Council’s Advanced Reactors Task Force and former commissioner of the NRC. He believes a step-by-step approach would benefit advanced reactor developers by speeding up the design approval process.

“I think right now, one of the disadvantages of the current system is it’s sort of all or nothing,” Merrifield said. “You have to put in your license application and wait a very long period of time to determine whether the NRC is going to find that to be acceptable. For the advanced reactor community, having a step-wise process that is envisioned by your bill, would allow early interaction with the NRC and an early indication of whether that design may be licensable.”

Read Merrifield’s written testimony on the NRC’s current licensing process.