TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS & WHAT TO KNOW THIS WEEK
- National Cleanup Workshop early bird registration extended by two weeks! Register
today!
- 📅 Date: September 14-16
📍 Location: Arlington, VA 🔗 Don't miss out - Register Here!
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to revise regulations to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - read more below.
- Aalo's newest reactor reached criticality
early on July 4, marking the fourth advanced reactor to reach criticality ahead of the July 4 deadline - read more below.
- Visit ECA on LinkedIn for regular updates.
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION RATE EXTENDED BY TWO WEEKS! REGISTER TODAY!
Early bird registration rates for the annual National Cleanup Workshop from September 14th - 16th, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia have been extended for two weeks. $1225 Private Sector Early Bird ​(increases to $1375 on July 21) $725 DOE Approved Attendees (increases to $875 on July 21) *use DOE discount registration code ​$475 Virtual
New Speakers Announced: - Dave Brunnert, Chief Operating Officer, DOE-EM
- Jack Zimmerman, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, DOE-EM
- Marla Morales, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Disposition,
DOE-NE
- Erik Olds, Manager, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management/Acting Manager, Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, DOE-EM
- Edwin R. Deshong, III, Manager, Savannah River Operations Office, DOE-EM
- Michael Lempke, President, Global Security, HII
- Benjamin Souther, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Environmental and Security, Bechtel
- John Eschenberg, Senior
Vice President, Amentum
- Al Collins, Business Group President, Mission Solutions, Fluor
- Heatherly Dukes, President, BWXT Technical Services Group
- Jeff Kendall, President, AtkinsRĂ©alis U.S. Nuclear
- David "DJ" Johnson, Vice President/General Manager, HOneywell Federal Solutions; Chair, EFCOG
- Chuck Hope, Council Member, City of Oak Ridge, TN; Chair, ECA
- Mark
Bollinger, Manager, Carlsbad Field Office, DOE-EM
- Ray Geimer, Manager, Hanford Field Office, DOE-EM
Schedule: Tuesday, September 15: Full-Day Programming, Evening Networking Reception Wednesday,
September 16: Full-Day Programming Full agenda coming soon!
Thank you to our Sponsors!
NRC PROPOSES OVERHAUL OF ENVIORNMENTAL REVIEWSThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday unveiled a proposal to streamline environmental reviews by expanding the number of “categorical exclusions” that apply to nuclear operators. The changes proposed are in response to the 2025 executive order requiring a regulatory overhaul at the NRC, which comes as the administration is trying to usher in a broader buildout of nuclear power to help meet
growing energy demand. The proposed rule released today are aimed at changing how the agency enforces the National
Environmental Policy Act is framed by the NRC as a “deregulatory action,” and builds on changes the NRC finalized earlier this year to expand the actions that can be excluded from NEPA reviews (click here to read ECA's article on potential community impacts published earlier this year). Categorical exclusions are designed to speed project permitting reviews under
NEPA for relatively minor actions that don’t affect human health in a significant way. “The NRC is proposing to expand the categories of actions that normally do not significantly affect the quality of the human environment to the list of categorical exclusions … such as categorical exclusions related to license renewal, construction permits, early site permits, and other common licensing activities,” the commission said in
the 155-page notice. The NRC is also proposing a pathway for increasing the number of categorical exclusions in part by rolling in categorical exclusions adopted by other agencies. “While adopting a categorical exclusion from another agency has been available to Federal agencies previously, the NRC’s current regulations and guidance do not consider or address the possibility of adoption,” the NRC said. Christopher Hanson, the former NRC chair, said that the NRC’s proposed changes “are part of a broader debate” that had been happening
at the agency regarding streamlining NEPA implementation dating back to his time there. “There was a bipartisan push, and there still is, for permitting reform,” Hanson said in an interview. “The NRC leaned into that in the previous administration, and I think what you’re seeing is them continuing to lean into it in this administration as well.” The
NRC’s proposal also aims to tighten up timelines for environmental reviews. Under the proposed rule, the commission would be required to publish environmental assessments within a year and environmental impact statements within two years. The rule would go a step further though to limit public feedback on environmental impact statements. “Under this proposed rule, the NRC would discontinue preparation and publication of
draft EISs as currently outlined in 10 CFR part 51, including the routine solicitation of public comments on draft EISs under § 51.73 because NEPA does not require the preparation and publication of draft EISs,” the rule reads. The way the change is written, “the public wouldn’t see anything until the final EIS comes out,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the nonprofit Union of Concerned
Scientists. The changes would still leave some wiggle room for the NRC to have the “option of additional requests for public comment, in certain circumstances, to assist in preparation of an EIS,” the commission said. The new rule also lays out that NEPA wouldn’t apply to actions taken by the traditionally independent agency that are not considered to
be a “major federal action.” Examples of major actions that would still be subject to NEPA would include “an application for a new license or permit and application for renewal of a license or permit.” Further, for its environmental impact statements, the NRC is changing up how it defines the level of environmental impact an action has, which is laid out in three categories: “small,” “moderate” and “large.” Small, under the
NRC’s new definition, would mean there is no significant impact on the environment. The NRC said that the changes in the proposed rule would generate cost savings of $135 million from fiscal 2027 through 2036. Implementation costs of the changes would be “minimal,” the commission added. The proposed rule is open to comments from the public until
11:59pm ET on August 21, 2026. Comments can be submitted by following this link. The rule would go into effect 30 days after a finalized version is made public. Read the full article from POLITICO here.
FOURTH REACTOR REACHED CRITICALITY AHEAD OF JULY 4 DEADLINE
Early in the morning of July 4 Aalo became the fourth advanced reactor to reach criticality ahead of the July 4 deadline set by the May 2025 executive order. Aalo's achievement officially exceeded the goal of having at least three test reactors to achieve criticality by July 4. “We are proud to
play a major role in America’s nuclear renaissance, going from breaking ground to a sustained chain reaction in just eight months, one of the fastest reactor builds in modern American history,” said Yasir Arafat, president and chief technical officer of Aalo Atomics, in the company’s announcement of its achievement. Read the full article from Nuclear Newswire here.
BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS HEARING SCHEDULEOn
Capitol Hill, FY 2027 appropriations hearings are in full swing as both House and Senate committees hear testimony regarding the President's Budget Request. Incase you missed it! Here are recordings of recently passed hearings: As the FY27 appropriations and authorization process continues, stay up to date by visiting the recently updated ECA Federal Budget Tracker!
The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission will hold the 737th Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards on July 8 - 10, 2026. The Committee will be conducting meetings that will include some Members being physically present at the headquarters of the NRC while other Members participate remotely. You can participate remotely via Microsoft Teams or via phone at 301–576–2978, passcode 136614530#. View a detailed agenda and the Microsoft Teams link
here. Read the entire meeting announcement here. The Office of Management and Budget published a proposed rule proposes to
revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance. OMB is proposing revisions that would improve transparency, accountability, and oversight for Federal awards across the Federal Government. Public comments will be accepted until July 13, 2026 using this link. Read the full proposed rule here. The Department of Energy published a meeting announcement on Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah. The meeting will take place on Thursday, July 16, 2026; 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m. CDT at the West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC),
Emerging Technology Center, Room 215, 5100 Alben Barkley Drive, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. and streamed on YouTube (link here), no registration is necessary. Read the entire announcement here. The Department of Energy published a meeting announcement on Environmental Management
Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah River Site. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 21 from 9:00 am - 4:00pm EDT at the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative at 4345 Trolley Line Road, Aiken, South Carolina 29801 and streamed on YouTube (link here), no registration is
necessary. Read the entire announcement here. The
Maritime Administration (MARAD) and Department of Transportation (DOT) published a request for comment on the Development of a Commercially Viable System-Centric Small Modular Reactor Concept for Deployment in the Marine Transportation System to support the development of a U.S.-built scalable, repeatable, commercially viable, system-centric, small modular reactor (SMR) and their deployment within the marine transportation system. This Request
for Information (RFI) for a single vessel or technology demonstration seeks public feedback on proficient system architecture, including liability frameworks, insurance pathways, port acceptance, workforce development, and standards integration for vessel deployment. The request for comment will be open to public comment until midnight on August 5, 2026. Comments can be submitted here. Read the entire
request for comment here. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a proposed rule on Modernizing Materials Licensing. The NRC is proposing to amend its regulations for byproduct, source, and special nuclear material to modernize the NRC’s materials licensing requirements. The proposed rule will be open to public comment until midnight on
August 10, 2026. Comments can be submitted here. Read the entire proposed rule here. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a proposed rule and draft guidance; public meeting;
request for comment on Integrated Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal. The NRC is proposing to amend its regulations that govern the land disposal of low-level radioactive waste to expand regulatory coverage to include certain transuranic wastes. The proposed rule will be open to public comment until midnight on August 17, 2026. Comments can be submitted here. Read the entire proposed rule here.
CATCH UP ON RECENT HEADLINES:
Palisades enters final stage of work before restart Holtec International announced that over the past several weeks, the Palisades restart project reached a "watershed moment" as the last of the major projects were successfully closed out and the site transitioned from large-scale activities to the remaining routine maintenance, testing, inspection, and operational
readiness work required before startup. Read the full article here. TRISO fuel delivered for Kaleidos reactor experiment The first shipment of fuel for full-power, full-temperature testing of Radiant's Kaleidos microreactor technology has been delivered to the National Reactor Innovation Center's Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments facility at Idaho National Laboratory. Read the full article here. Centrus Energy announced that it has signed a contract to finalize the terms of the competitively-awarded, $900 million task order it received from the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year. The award will support deployment of large-scale
production capacity for High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) as part of Centrus' multi-billion-dollar capacity expansion that will include Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) as well as HALEU. Read the full article here.
National Cleanup Workshop 2026 Arlington, VA | September 14-16 Learn More Here
CATCH UP ON PAST WEBINARS Click the button below to visit ECA's YouTube Channel to rewatch past webinars, and
find the recordings from our most recent webinars on our YouTube channel!
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