TEXAS – The states of Texas and Utah dropped an end-of-year lawsuit on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The states, along with Last Energy, claim the NRC is stifling progress and exercising undue authority over those developing small modular reactors and microreactors.
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The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas and reads the NRC “does not really regulate new nuclear reactor construction so much as ensures that it almost never happens.”
The argument is that SMRs and microreactors should fall under the NRC’s “stringent oversight” for operation and safety, but should not be bound to the NRC’s licensing requirements that are needed before any construction can begin.
Attorneys General for Texas and Utah claim the NRC is working beyond its scope when it comes to SMRs and microreactors.
“The NRC’s requirement that any entity must obtain and then maintain incredibly costly NRC licenses to construct and operate even the smallest and safest nuclear facilities is based on the agency’s erroneous and completely unexplained interpretation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (“AEA”)," the lawsuit reads.
Attorneys for Texas and Utah claim SMRs and microreactors do not meet the AEA’s definition for NRC licensing requirements because the ACT applies only to those reactors “capable of making use of special nuclear material in such quantity as to be of significance to the common defense and security, or in such manner as to affect the health and safety of the public.”
The lawsuit reads the SMRs and micro reactors, in this case, are far smaller than conventional reactors. The US Department of Energy reports conventional reactors produce roughly 1,000 megawatts of power, whereas the SMRs involved in this lawsuit would produce 20 megawatts or less.
Attorneys for the states write the SMRs being developed also have safety features designed to prevent “close to zero radiation” leakage even in the “worst reasonable scenario like a meltdown.”
Researchers at Texas A&M’s Center for Advance Small Modular Reactors and Microreactors tell KPRC 2 Investigates SMRs are designed to be “walkaway safe.” This means no human intervention would be needed to safely contain or shut down a reactor in the event of a power failure, water outage, or disaster.
The idea for SMRs and microreactors is to power specific communities or facilities as a way to provide more reliable, cleaner energy to a power grid that is facing rapidly increasing demands.
A working group convened by the Public Utility Commission of Texas recently published a report outlining why Texas should expand its use of nuclear energy. The lawsuit notes Utah is also considering using nuclear energy as part of “Operation Gigawatt,” which seeks to double the state’s power production over the next decade.
The NRC has not yet filed a response in court to the Dec. 30 lawsuit or responded to KPRC 2’s request for comment.
