Washington D.C. On January 7, 2026, NIA’s President and CEO, Judi Greenwald, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee, on what is essential to enable nuclear energy to deliver an affordable, reliable, and clean energy future for the United States. One key priority is safeguarding public trust at the NRC, as elaborated in this blog.
The NRC is responsible for licensing nuclear reactors in the United States and conducting a comprehensive review of all stages of nuclear power operations, from initial site selection and nuclear materials handling to decommissioning. For decades, the NRC has maintained strong public trust through its highly technical staff; independent, bipartisan Commission; and its engagement with the public, industry, and other stakeholders. The NRC also advances U.S. nuclear energy leadership and competitiveness because an NRC license provides a credible seal of approval, not only for safe and reliable domestic nuclear energy operations, but also for U.S. technology exports and technology cooperation. NIA believes both that NRC reform is essential, and that U.S. nuclear energy leadership depends on safeguarding public trust in NRC. The key pillars of public trust are NRC’s independence, transparency, and expert staff.
Independence
The nature and function of independent executive agencies in general, and of NRC in particular, has lately become a hot topic. NRC independence is multifaceted. One aspect is the separation or independence of NRC as a safety regulator from the Department of Energy’s promotional responsibilities for nuclear energy, as required under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and reflected in the international Convention on Nuclear Safety to which the United States is a party.
Another aspect of independence is political appointments. Historically and statutorily, the President designates the NRC Chair. The President also nominates and the Senate confirms the five NRC commissioners, with two stipulations: that no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party, and that the President cannot fire any of the commissioners without cause.
A third aspect is regulatory independence. Over the past few decades, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the White House Office of Management Budget has reviewed rulemakings from most federal agencies. Independent agencies like NRC have been excluded from this oversight for a number of reasons, including the following: (1) their rulemakings require highly specialized expertise, and the consequences of errors are potentially high; (2) changes in rules due to changing political winds could seriously affect critical infrastructure; and (3) maintaining public trust in these rulemaking decisions is in the national interest.
Transparency
The May 2025 Executive Order (EO 14300), “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission” requires a major revision of current NRC regulations and significant new regulations by the end of 2026. Successful implementation of EO 14300 depends on NRC maintaining the transparency it has practiced for decades. However, another executive order, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” (EO 14215) risks reducing public transparency of NRC actions. Under EO 14215, NRC rulemakings are newly subject to OIRA review. Under this process, OIRA is restricting what the NRC can share with the public. The following is no longer public: draft proposed rules sent to the Commission for voting, Commission votes on draft proposed rules, draft final rules sent to the Commission for voting, and Commission votes on draft final rules. This change to long-standing precedent risks undermining NRC’s transparency.
EO 14300 is a major reform opportunity, but it introduces new priorities and very tight deadlines at the same time that EO 14215 introduces a new OIRA review process. OIRA has never reviewed NRC rules and has thus not built up the expertise to do so. In addition to the reduced transparency due to EO 14215, there is now reduced transparency in NRC’s internal rule rewriting process. In contrast to past NRC efforts, industry and key stakeholders have no insight into the work being done on these new rules. NIA recommends making the new rulemaking processes more transparent so NRC can receive the meaningful industry and expert input that historically has helped ensure rules are technically sound and maintain public trust.
NRC’s status as a gold standard regulator is based on having rules drafted by technical staff, having those draft rules transparently transmitted to the Commission, having the Commission transparently deliberate and decide on the rules to be proposed and finalized, and having the Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Commissioners be accountable to Congress for faithfully executing NRC’s regulatory responsibilities.
Staffing
Over the course of 2025, over 400 staff left NRC while only 63 new staff joined. The agency had roughly 2800 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees at the beginning of 2025. The NRC publicly lists departures in its Weekly Information Reports. (Transparency about NRC’s workforce numbers is important to ensure adequate congressional and Commission direction on funding and staffing.) Many of the recent departures were senior-level employees who had been with the agency for over a decade. Various leadership positions were vacated, including the NRC Executive Director of Operations, General Counsel, and other high-ranking agency positions. This exodus is highly concerning.
The agency has always relied on its staff’s expertise to license and inspect both reactors and nuclear materials. At a time when pre-application and licensing engagements are surging, insufficient knowledge transfer to newer staff, and the departure of experienced leadership, risks project delays and uncertainty.
The credibility of the NRC stems from the commitment of its staff and its strong sense of mission. The NRC must preserve its technical excellence with a workforce that is capable, accountable, motivated, and aligned at every level. Congress must ensure that NRC has the tools it needs to attract and retain excellent staff and maintain its organizational effectiveness.
Path forward for NRC
As advocates for new nuclear energy, NIA is focused on the NRC’s role in re-establishing U.S. nuclear energy leadership. Safeguarding NRC’s independence, transparency, and staffing is vital to the public, the industry, and potential customers of U.S. nuclear technology both here and abroad. For more information see my testimony before House Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy.