Reinstate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Independence 

Established in 1974, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) operated as an independent regulator, and thus was shielded from political or industry influence. Through a series of executive orders in 2025, the White House has slowly pulled back the NRC’s independence, first enabling the Office of Management and Budget to oversee the regulatory process1 and later requiring the NRC to establish shortened timelines on nuclear licensing.2 The EOs also asked the NRC to consult about radiation exposure limits with the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, two agencies that are incentivized to expedite AI adoption and lack relevant experience with radiation exposure limits.3 Federal policymakers can reinstate the NRC’s independence to ensure nuclear safety is not compromised by political aims.

  1. Ibid., 14; White House, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” February 18, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-accountability-for-all-agencies. ↩︎
  2. Guerra and Khlaaf, Fission for Algorithms, 14; White House, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.” ↩︎
  3. Guerra and Khlaaf, Fission for Algorithms, 14. ↩︎