The Duck Curve#decommissioning
Five states ask NRC to withdraw, re-propose uranium ISR groundwater rule
Attorneys general for New Mexico, California, Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts asked the NRC on October 13, 2026 to withdraw and re-propose its uranium in-situ recovery groundwater rule, saying it weakens a 2021 staff draft in at least twelve respects, including one year of post-restoration monitoring instead of three. Cameco backs the one-year period, and the comments also split over the rule's decommissioning-timeliness changes.
NRC's proposed reactor rule published; comments due November 9
The NRC's proposed rule 'Regulatory Enhancements for Reactor Licensing, Decommissioning, and Operational Oversight' was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2026 at 91 FR 60702; its major provisions, the notice says, include changes in fifteen lettered areas, and comments are due November 9, 2026. The text says removing the 15-year expiration on standard design approvals would not modify existing approvals; the draft analysis of the rule and its associated draft guidance puts net averted costs over 30 years at $311 million (7 percent discount rate) to $411 million (3 percent).
NRC proposes rule package for existing reactors and new applicants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on September 11, 2026 a proposed rule, docket NRC-2025-1138, that it calls a broad overhaul of its reactor licensing and oversight regulations under Executive Order 14300, for existing plants and new applicants. The release lists ten changes "among other things," including removing the expiration date for standard design approvals; comments run 30 days after Federal Register publication, which the NRC's tracker estimates for September 25, 2026, with a final rule estimated for March 31, 2027.
