NRC Proposes Accelerated Licensing Pathway for DOE and DOW Authorized Reactor Designs

Key Takeaways 

• On April 2, 2026, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a proposed rule to create a new licensing pathway that would allow commercial reactor applicants to reference prior U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) or U.S. Department of War (DOW) authorizations for demonstration projects to demonstrate the safety of their designs.
• Under the proposed amendments, NRC review of previously authorized designs for demonstration projects would focus on risks arising from new commercial applications rather than revisiting safety determinations already addressed by DOE or DOW.
• Applicants using this pathway must identify how attributes of the prior DOE or DOW authorization satisfy applicable NRC regulations and must address any changes to the design, functionality, associated hazards, siting, or underlying safety assumptions from those considered in the prior authorization.
• The proposed rule creates a “data bridge,” allowing commercial applicants to reference safety data from reactors previously authorized by the DOE or DOW. This enables a “build once, certify once, scale everywhere” strategy for developers.
• The DOE has issued solicitations for four DOE-managed sites for the rapid development of AI data centers and innovative technology, including nuclear power. These sites offer existing infrastructure and expedited permitting to meet 2027 operational goals. Selections for the sites are expected to occur within the next several months.
• Recent solicitations from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force for microreactors also provide a high-margin “first-of-a-kind” (FOAK) market. Under the proposed rule, the data from these military deployments can be used to fast-track commercial NRC licensing for the same design.
• The NRC is seeking public comment on this streamlined pathway until May 4, 2026. 

Introduction 

The NRC issued a proposed rule on April 2, 2026, to amend 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 50 and 53 that would streamline the commercial licensing process for reactor designs that have previously been authorized and tested under prior DOE or DOW programs.[1] The rule builds upon the interagency coordination framework already established by the October 2025 Addendum No. 9 to the DOE-NRC Memorandum of Understanding on Nuclear Energy Innovation[2] and the NRC’s guidance (Guidance) issued on December 8, 2025. The Guidance enables future NRC license applicants to receive licensing efficiency benefits from prior DOE authorizations for certain reactor designs that (1) have been tested and (2) have demonstrated the ability to function safely, in part through voluntary preapplication engagement with NRC staff. The proposed rule, in turn, provides the regulatory pathway through which applicants can formally reference both DOE and DOW authorizations, making the information-sharing and technical coordination contemplated by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) directly actionable. 

Proposed Changes to Part 50 

Section 50.43(e) provides two options for license applicants to demonstrate how newer reactor designs accomplish their safety functions. The proposed rule would add a third option, allowing an applicant to reference a prior DOE or DOW authorization and successful testing and demonstration of the authorized design as a means of satisfying NRC requirements. Applicants utilizing this pathway would be required to identify how the attributes of the prior authorization satisfy NRC regulations and address any changes to the design, functionality, associated hazards, siting information, or underlying safety assumptions from those considered in the prior authorization. This amendment would apply across Part 50 and Part 52. 

Proposed Changes to Part 53 

For the Part 53 risk-informed, technology-inclusive framework, the NRC proposes to revise § 53.440(a)(1) to explicitly accommodate the option for applicants to reference a prior DOE or DOW authorization to demonstrate that design features meet the functional design criteria required by §§ 53.410 and 53.420. Applicants would need to identify how aspects of the prior authorization satisfy applicable NRC regulations and consider interdependent effects throughout the commercial nuclear plant and the range of conditions under which design features must function throughout the plant’s lifetime. Publicly available guidance documents will be issued to support implementation of these pathways. 

Current Opportunities for Utilizing this Pathway 

Department of Energy Solicitations for AI Infrastructure Powered by Innovative Technology 

From August to December 2025, the DOE identified four federal sites for rapid AI data center and energy development.[3] For each solicitation, DOE focused on three configurations of project proposals: Integrated Data Center and Energy Projects, Phased Integrated AI Data Center and Energy Projects, and Energy Infrastructure Projects.[4] Each solicitation expresses a preference for innovative energy technology, including nuclear and geothermal technologies, for potential generation sources and requires that new sources be incorporated either directly into the project design or indirectly through a partnership between the AI data center operators and new energy generators. 

Siting a nuclear demonstration project at one of these locations provides a “triple win” for FOAK nuclear developers: 

• Siting. Prequalified federal land with existing power infrastructure.
• Oversight. Initial deployment under agile DOE authorization.
• Scalability. Direct access to the NRC’s new expedited licensing pathway once the design is proven. 

DOW Requests for Information and Solicitations 

The proposed rule’s explicit inclusion of DOW authorizations is a major signal for the microreactor and small modular reactor (SMR) markets. Under Section 91(b) of the Atomic Energy Act, the DOW can authorize reactors for military use outside of the traditional NRC process. Current DOW requests for information (RFI) and solicitations that could serve as the “Reference Design” for future commercial NRC applications include: 

• Air Force SMR/Microreactor RFI (March 2026). The Air Force is currently evaluating designs ranging from one MW to 300 MW to ensure energy resilience at its bases, with responses due April 19, 2026.[5]
• Army’s Janus Program. Launched in October 2025, this program aims to deploy commercially owned and operated microreactors (1-20 MW) on domestic military installations by September 2028.[6]
• Army microreactor bid (April 2026). The Army issued a solicitation in November 2025 for microreactors to be commissioned at two domestic military sites to provide reliable, on-site clean power.[7] Responses to that solicitation were due in December 2025.
• Project Pele. This ongoing DOW initiative to demonstrate a mobile microreactor (utilizing TRISO fuel) serves as the primary technical precursor for many of the designs now seeking commercial NRC paths.[8] 

Strategic Implications for AI Hyperscalers 

For data center developers, the “regulatory sandbox” provided by DOE and DOW land is the most viable path to achieving the 2027-2030 deployment timelines required for next-generation AI clusters. The benefits of the proposed rule include: 

• Site readiness. DOE sites like Idaho National Lab (INL) or Savannah River already have completed characterizations, shortening NEPA timelines.
• Data credibility. NRC review will focus on new commercial risks only, not on re-litigating safety determinations already made by the DOE and DOW.
• Speed to scale Developers can use a DOW pilot to generate the “operational hours” data that the NRC needs to approve the subsequent 10-20 units for a commercial AI campus. 

By aligning a pilot project with a current DOE or DOW solicitation, developers can essentially “offload” the initial technical and regulatory risk to a federal mission, using the resulting authorized data as a shortcut through the NRC’s Part 50 or Part 53 commercial frameworks. 

Opportunity to Leverage DOE’s ‘AI-Driven’ Licensing Breakthroughs 

In March 2026, the DOE successfully demonstrated the use of Gordian AI (built on Microsoft Azure) to convert a DOE safety document into an NRC-ready license application in just 24 hours. This rule makes such AI tools far more effective. Because the rule explicitly allows applicants to “reference” prior authorizations, AI can be used to map the DOE data directly to NRC requirements, reducing the manual “translation” burden that traditionally takes months. 

Conclusion 

The NRC’s proposed rule represents a significant step toward reducing duplicative regulatory review for reactor designs that have already been tested and authorized by DOE or DOW. By codifying a third pathway for demonstrating safety function compliance, the rule could meaningfully accelerate the commercial deployment of advanced nuclear technologies when both the administration and industry are seeking to expand domestic nuclear energy capacity.  

The ultimate impact of the rule, however, will depend on the content and timing of the NRC’s forthcoming guidance documents, the extent to which applicants can demonstrate alignment between prior authorizations and NRC requirements, and any modifications made during the final rulemaking process. The public comment period closes May 4, 2026. This is a critical window for developers to ensure that the forthcoming NRC guidance documents are sufficiently flexible to account for the unique data generated during DOE demonstration phases. 

Endnotes

[1] NRC notes that the proposed regulatory text for this limited scope rulemaking would continue to use the title, “Department of Defense,” to avoid creating inconsistencies with or causing confusion in the NRC’s existing regulations. 

[2] Addendum No. 9 provides the operational mechanisms for NRC technical staff to observe DOE's authorization reviews and gain firsthand familiarity with the demonstration reactor technologies being tested under DOE jurisdiction. It also establishes processes for sharing documented safety analyses, technical data, and other information generated during DOE's review process so that it can be leveraged in future NRC licensing activities. 

[3] Our November 25, 2025, Update delves into all aspects of these solicitations.

[4] In each case, the DOE solicitation states, “The Lease Agreement with the Government is for the purposes of designing, financing, permitting, developing, constructing, installing, owning, maintaining, operating, and decommissioning AI data center and energy generation infrastructure (the Project) including, but not limited to: data center facilities with specialized Information Technology equipment; associated cooling facilities; energy supply infrastructure; transmission and storage infrastructure; and other ancillary facilities and equipment reasonably required for the installation, maintenance, operation, decommissioning, and site restoration/remediation of AI data center and energy generation facilities including such conduits, lines, wiring, electrical systems, interconnection facilities, and other ancillary facilities and equipment reasonably required for the installation, maintenance, operation, decommissioning and site restoration of an energy generation facility given the available real property described herein.” 

[5] Air Force SMR RFI (2026): Department of the Air Force, Request for Information: Small/Micro/Modular Reactor Technologies, FA8240-26-R-3001 (Mar. 19, 2026).

[6] Janus Program: U.S. Army & Department of Energy, Announcement of the Janus Program for Commercial Microreactor Deployment (Oct. 14, 2025).

[7] Army announces next steps on Janus Program for next-generation nuclear energy. Nine installations were identified as potential locations for projects, including Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Drum, Fort Hood, Fort Wainwright, Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Redstone Arsenal.

[8] U.S. Dep’t of Energy, Department of Defense Breaks Ground on Project Pele Microreactor (Sept. 24, 2024); Nuclear Reg. Comm’n, Project Pele Overview: Mobile Nuclear Power For Future DoD Needs, INL advances Department of War’s Project Pele demonstration microreactor with first TRISO fuel delivery (Dec. 2, 2025).