NRC proposes rule to sharply shorten contested hearing timelines for reactor licensing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a formal proposed rule on March 3, 2026 that would restructure and shorten Atomic Safety and Licensing Board contested adjudication timelines for most license applications, including new reactors and license renewals. The Federal Register notice lists the action under Docket NRC-2025-1501, RIN 3150-AL58, and proposes amendments to 10 CFR Parts 2, 51, 52, and 54 to meet statutory and executive deadlines tied to the ADVANCE Act of 2024 and Executive Order 14300.

“In response to Congressional and Executive action, the NRC has developed this proposed rule focused on streamlining the agency’s rules of practice and procedure. The proposed changes to the contested hearing process would reduce burden, increase clarity, and promote efficiencies in line with the deadlines established in accordance with the ADVANCE Act and EO 14300,” said the Federal Register notice, which was posted on March 3. The notice also signals that NRC is considering related changes to mandatory hearing procedures and a separate NEPA implementation rule that could alter the scope of issues admissible in hearings.

Major provisions called out in the Federal Register excerpt and stakeholder summaries would refine intervention standards to focus hearings on material issues, require supporting evidence with proposed contentions, provide expedited Commission review of ASLB admissibility decisions, and assign NRC staff with relevant technical expertise to decide the merits of admitted contentions in parallel with staff application reviews. Stakeholder materials—summarized in the Federal Register support package—frame the objective as reducing the scope and burden of adjudicatory hearings while preserving a robust record for judicial defense.

The agency provided a quantified estimate of impact: the proposed rule would generate cumulative undiscounted savings of $51.7 million to the agency and hearing participants over a five-year window from 2026 through 2030. The Federal Register entry appears on printed page 10450; the public comment period is scheduled to close April 2, 2026 and the rulemaking is open for public submission under the NRC-2025-1501 docket.

Legal and policy context drives the urgency. The ADVANCE Act requires, for certain combined license applications, completion of public licensing hearings and related processes within two years of docketing; Executive Order 14300 calls for NRC licensing actions to be completed within 12 months or sooner. The rulemaking materials also cite the Supreme Court decision in NRC v. Texas (2025), which confirmed that only parties admitted under NRC intervention rules qualify as parties aggrieved for Hobbs Act judicial review.

Stakeholders have weighed in with parallel agendas. The Nuclear Energy Institute urged streamlined hearings while preserving appellate pathways: “Revised hearing procedures should not alter this pathway but should reduce administrative burden and avoid an increase in litigation over matters unrelated to nuclear safety or other material issues.” The Nuclear Innovation Alliance, in its Part 53 commentary, called the staff’s earlier Part 53 draft “flawed but fixable with leadership by the Commission,” citing the Commission’s March 2024 direction and an updated staff draft in October 2024.

If finalized, the package of contested-hearing reforms, combined with separate Part 53 and NEPA rulemakings, is intended to align NRC procedure with statutory timetables and accelerate licensing for advanced and small reactors. The docket number to track submissions and the agency’s full regulatory analysis is NRC-2025-1501.