The federal government shut down at 12:01 am on October 1, 2025 in the absence of legislation to appropriate funds for government operations. In the event of a temporary lapse of appropriations, agencies including the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission have suspended certain agency activities.
NRC Management Directive 4.5, Contingency Plan for Periods of Lapsed Appropriations (Sept. 2025) and the associated Directive Handbook provide the framework for how the lapse is being handled at the NRC and what the lapse means for the regulated community.
Under the Antideficiency Act (31 USC §§ 1341 et seq.), a federal agency may not incur obligations in the absence of appropriations. Stated simply, this means that the NRC may not obligate funds in excess of or in advance of appropriations, even while most of the NRC’s costs ultimately will be recovered through the imposition of user fees. Certain activities that involve the protection of life or property can legally continue during a period of exhaustion of funds.
The NRC has stated in its 2025 Lapse Plan Summary Overview that, to the maximum extent permissible by law, it will use carryover funding (i.e., unspent funds from prior appropriations) to maintain critical health and safety activities and continue work on other priorities, including the activities outlined in Executive Order 14300, Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Employees maintaining critical health and safety activities, including activities associated with EO 14300, will continue work using carryover funds. The NRC may revisit its plans if carryover funds are exhausted and make appropriate staffing adjustments to support “excepted activities.”
These “excepted activities”—critical health and safety activities that the NRC will continue to perform during the period of lapsed appropriations—are laid out in Section II.b of Directive Handbook 4.5 and NRC Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2025-04, Interactions Between the NRC and NRC Stakeholders During a Lapse of Agency Appropriations.
Key among them, the agency will:
- Receive and process pre-shipment notifications and receive and assess licensee event notifications through the NRC Operations Center
- Review and analyze potential security threats
- Respond to emergencies and assemble teams for incident response
- Maintain oversight of power plants and fuel cycle facilities by resident inspectors
- Process and approve enforcement orders
- Receive, assess, and respond to allegations and initiate investigations that may involve matters of immediate safety or security significance or reports of wrongdoing
- Process emergency licensing actions
- Maintain an international liaison to address export and import, international safeguards, and other matters
EO 14300 directs the NRC to undertake several activities, including a reorganization “to promote the expeditious processing of license applications and the adoption of innovative technology,” a “review and wholesale revision” of its regulatory scheme that is subject to an aggressive schedule, and revision of the Reactor Oversight Process.
EO 14300 also directs the NRC to establish fixed deadlines for certain major licensing actions, including for approvals of licenses and power uprates. The NRC staff states in RIS 2025-04 that, in addition to EO-related activity, it intends to operate at a reduced level for some period of time to perform high-priority activities such as operator licensing and time-sensitive licensing actions.
Most agency activities are delayed or discontinued except as necessary to support excepted functions to ensure public health and safety. Delayed or discontinued activities are listed in the lapse plan summery overview, and include:
- Routine licensing, certification, and permit activities, including prelicensing activities and environmental reviews
- Routine inspections
- Rulemaking and regulatory guidance development (aside from high-priority activities related to EO 14300 and other executive orders)
- Development of infrastructure for advanced nuclear technologies and new fuels (including accident tolerant fuel and HALEU)
- Routine enforcement actions
- Adjudicatory (e.g., hearing-related) activities
- Office of Investigations interviews, except as they may relate to issues of immediate concern as noted above
- Alternative Dispute Resolution mediations
Approximately 828 employees will be retained during the shutdown to support continuing activities. Approximately 1,837 employees have been furloughed; furloughed employees may not perform “voluntary services.” The Chairman, commissioners, and the Inspector General are not subject to furlough because they are appointed by the president.
Limited staff (including legal, corporate, and financial staff) are excepted to support the Commission, the Inspector General, and the Executive Director for Operations in the orderly shutdown of agency operations and the performance of excepted functions.
The ultimate impact of a shutdown will depend on its duration; a lengthy shutdown could affect licensing, rulemaking, and adjudicatory schedules. Once new funding is appropriated, the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations, in consultation with the NRC Chairman and following direction to the executive branch from the Office of Management and Budget, will authorize the reestablishment of suspended operations and functions, and furloughed employees will return to work.