US nuclear regulators might update safety rules for new reactor designs

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a request to update its rules for how new nuclear reactors are approved. This could make it easier for advanced reactor designs to get licensed, as current rules are based on older technology.

For decades, every new reactor design had to prove its safety using methods written for the type of reactors the US has used since the 1960s (light-water reactors). This was an expensive, slow process that effectively blocked anything genuinely different. If these rules change, a company with a truly new design could be assessed on its own terms, potentially speeding up deployment.