Up & Atom

Throughout 2025, several US states have taken steps to facilitate development of new nuclear reactors. Complementing several recent executive orders of the US administration in support of nuclear energy, including plans to bring new test reactors online by summer 2026 as part of the Reactor Pilot Program, states such as Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia have also signaled support for nuclear energy through legislation, grants, and utility initiatives.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently issued its Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences for fiscal year 2020. The report documents key aspects of those events that the NRC considers “Abnormal Occurrences” (AOs) and allows the regulated community to review the operating experience of reactor, medical, and industrial users of radioactive materials. AOs are unscheduled events that the NRC determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety.

The NRC published a notice of a petition for rulemaking from the Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC) in the Federal Register on April 9 asking the NRC to revise 10 CFR Part 37 to require that licensees provide advanced notification to participating tribal governments of certain radioactive material shipments that will cross a tribe’s reservation.

Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders along with Representative Peter Welch recently introduced the Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act of 2020.