Advancing Regulatory Efficiency: Lessons and Opportunities in NRC Licensing Practice

The NRC is already experimenting and making improvements in reducing licensing review times without changing the diligence or substance of its evaluations, and the results are promising. If the projected volume of applications materializes, the NRC will need to continue to apply the new approaches it has begun using, as well as seek out additional efficiencies. This paper lays out actionable recommendations on what NRC can do now—under existing statutory authority—to further compress schedules while preserving safety, due process, and analytical quality.