The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency responsible for licensing and oversight of civilian nuclear facilities, on Feb. 4 said it would launch a sweeping organizational restructure intended to consolidate decision-making authority, integrate licensing and inspection teams, and align the agency with presidential directives for accelerated nuclear technology deployment.
The reorganization will create three core “business lines”—new reactors, operating reactors, and nuclear materials and waste—each of which will integrate licensing and inspection functions “to create a single point of accountability and improve coordination between licensing and inspection teams from the onset of projects,” it said.
The NRC also said that corporate support functions will be “consolidated to improve efficiency,” though details on staffing levels, budget impacts, and specific operational changes were not disclosed in the Wednesday announcement.
‘Most Consequential Period in NRC History’
“We are in one of the most consequential periods in the NRC’s history, and this reorganization enables us to meet the moment with more efficient and timely decision making,” said NRC Chairman Ho Nieh, who was designated as the 20th chairman of the NRC on Jan. 8, 8, 2026, to replace David Wright. Nieh said the reorganization “focuses the NRC’s structure around national priorities aimed at accelerating the safe deployment of nuclear technologies.” It is aimed “at achieving greater consistency in the implementation of agency safety programs across the NRC regional offices,” he added.
The reorganization is explicitly tied to Executive Order (EO) 14300, issued by President Donald Trump in May 2025, which mandates comprehensive NRC reform, including structural realignment, regulatory revisions, and fixed licensing deadlines. EO 14300, notably, directs the NRC to establish 18-month caps on licensing decisions for new reactors and 12-month caps on license renewals, with deadlines enforced through limits on fee recovery. The restructure is also responsive to EO 14210, published in February 2025, which requires federal agencies to undertake workforce optimization, including reductions in force and agency reorganization plans.
“Moving carefully but expeditiously to carry out this reorganization is imperative to provide much-needed stability and certainty for our staff,” said NRC Executive Director for Operations Mike King in a statement on Wednesday. “We will maintain a continued focus on the safety and security of operating facilities while creating a structure and regulatory culture that ensures accountability and service for Americans.”
The agency said it will “strive to implement the reorganization plan by the end of September.” Though the release did not specify interim milestones, contingency plans, or metrics for assessing implementation progress, the NRC said that among its near-term priorities are appointing key leaders at the commission for the reactor safety program and developing a new organizational chart and change management plan within 60 days of the announcement.
A Massive Overhaul Amid Unprecedented Rulemaking Workload
The reorganization will occur as the NRC manages an unprecedented workload of regulatory reform initiatives alongside ongoing licensing reviews for advanced reactor projects. Advocates and developers have long argued that the agency’s existing structure—separating licensing, inspection, and oversight across organizational lines—has made early engagement and schedule discipline harder as application volume and technology diversity increase.
According to a notable January 2026 rulemaking timeline compiled by the Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA), a nonprofit “think-and-do” tank focused on advanced nuclear commercialization, the NRC is executing more than two dozen rulemakings mandated by EO 14300, with a front-loaded wave of proposed rules scheduled between March and May 2026 and a compressed cluster of final rules targeted for publication between September and November 2026.
The timeline, populated from the NRC’s Planned Rulemaking Activities site and last updated Jan. 31, 2026, shows that several procedural reforms have already been completed, including the “Streamlining Select Rules of Practice and Procedure” final rule issued November 26, 2025, and the “Sunset Rule,” finalized January 8, 2026, as a direct final rule with partial withdrawal.
Critical rulemakings include “Licensing Requirements for Microreactors and Other Low Consequence Reactors.” A proposed rule is scheduled for March 30, 2026, and a final rule is targeted for Sept, 16, 2026. The NRC’s Part 53 risk-informed, performance-based licensing framework under 10 CFR Part 53, mandated by the 2019 Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), is scheduled for final rule publication on March 27, 2026. Additional rulemakings address streamlined reviews of proven reactor designs, modernized reactor licensing and safety oversight practices, and reforms to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), with proposed rules scheduled for April 2026.
In a Jan. 14, 2026, white paper, NIA President and CEO Judi Greenwald described the reorganization as part of a broader imperative for NRC reform driven by energy security and climate goals. “There is growing recognition that new nuclear energy is essential to achieving our energy security and climate goals, and that Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reform is needed to enable new nuclear energy,” Greenwald wrote.
Greenwald has stressed that effective implementation of EO 14300 depends on leveraging the NRC’s ongoing rulemaking efforts and ADVANCE Act initiatives while maintaining adequate staffing and organizational culture. “Restructuring while maintaining adequate staffing and improving NRC organizational culture is essential to continue enabling the path forward,” she said.
The NIA paper points to several recent licensing outcomes as evidence that NRC staff and applicants can achieve materially shorter review timelines under existing rules, particularly when early engagement and project discipline are emphasized. In the near term, more than a dozen advanced reactor developers are working directly with the NRC, and recent approvals suggest progress despite pathways historically tailored to large, light-water reactors (LWRs), Greenwald wrote.
“For example, Kairos Power and Abilene Christian University were awarded construction permits (CP) for their test and research reactors in 2024,” she wrote. “Also, NuScale was awarded Standard Design Approval in May 2025, which indicates that NRC staff have completed their technical review of the design. This will enable the NuScale design to be formally referenced in an application for a CP, operating license, combined license, or manufacturing license.” Greenwald added that TerraPower’s construction permit review was “originally scheduled to take 27 months and was actually completed in 18 months,” while the Long Mott and Clinch River projects are “expected to meet CP schedules of 18.5 and 17 months, respectively,” citing what she described as lessons learned through “disciplined project management and clear communication” between NRC staff and applicants.
However, Greenwald has stressed the importance of preserving the NRC’s independence, credibility, and technical capacity during reform. “It is not only possible but essential to maintain the NRC’s independence, credibility, and technical capacity while also making it more efficient,” she wrote. “A trusted and competent safety regulator is required to achieve the ambitious nuclear power expansion goals set forth by presidents from both parties and supported by bipartisan majorities in Congress.”
Greenwald added: “Preserving the NRC’s independence means ensuring that leadership and staffing decisions are based on competence and performance, and that regulations are written and reviewed solely by technical experts. This is essential to sustain the global reputation of U.S. nuclear technology exports and make efficient use of precious time and resources at this critical moment for nuclear power.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
