Policy and licensing / United States (federal)
Emergency preparedness rule for small modular reactors and other new technologies
Final NRC rule in effect since 18 December 2023 offering SMRs and other new technologies an alternative emergency preparedness framework. It approves no emergency plan for any site.
- Category
- Laws, rules and executive directives
- Status
- In effect
- Instrument
- final rule · 88 FR 80050 (final rule, 16 November 2023); docket NRC-2015-0225
- Issued by
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal)
- Affects
- NRC licensing, Siting
- In effect from
- 2023-12-18
- Expiry or completion
- None recorded
- Operative text
- Federal Register 88 FR 80050 (16 Nov 2023): Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies (final rule) (Final rule)
- Last checked · next review
- 2026-10-03 · 2027-01-15
Legal and geographic scope
NRC regulation adding alternative, performance-based emergency preparedness requirements that applicants for small modular reactors and other new technologies may use instead of the large light-water reactor requirements.
Not approved or still pending
Each applicant's emergency plan is reviewed in its own licensing case.
Dated lifecycle
- 2023-11-16 · Published (Federal Register 88 FR 80050 (16 Nov 2023): Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies (final rule))
- 2023-12-18 · Took effect (Federal Register 88 FR 80050 (16 Nov 2023): Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies (final rule))
Projects or designs named by the source
- None. Location in this jurisdiction does not make a project eligible for, or approved under, this measure.
Sources
- Federal Register 88 FR 80050 (16 Nov 2023): Emergency Preparedness for Small Modular Reactors and Other New Technologies (final rule) (regulator_primary, accessed 2026-10-03)