NRC Approves Construction of Nation’s First Small Modular ReactorTVA’s Clinch River Project Receives Construction Permit After 14-Month NRC Review

In February of 2026, NIA released the U.S. Nuclear Energy Project Tracker to help stakeholders understand the status of early mover projects in the United States with respect to five key indicators: (1) site selection and site work, (2) licensing, (3) project teaming, (4) offtake, and (5) funding. The September 2026 update to that tracker is available today. Here are a few highlights:

The following statement may be attributed to Judi Greenwald, President and CEO of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance: “This has been an extraordinarily busy summer for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its stakeholders. NRC proposed eight rules with comment periods in July and August. “With these proposed rules now public, the NRC is nearly done with proposing all the rules under the wholesale rule rewrite called for by Executive Order 14300.

Westinghouse Electric Company has successfully completed zero-power criticality testing for its eVinci™ microreactor, which validated the models and core design assumptions of the technology.

(IDAHO FALLS, Idaho) –– Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) located at Idaho National Laboratory announced 13 new projects were selected to participate in the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative.

States and local policymakers are playing an increasingly important role in enabling the development and commercialization of new nuclear energy projects. The 2026 update to the NIA New Nuclear Energy Guide for State Policymakers answers the key question, “What can states do?” by highlighting the policies, partnerships, and initiatives that can help advance new nuclear energy projects in states.

In January, NIA published the report, Right-Sizing Reactors, to explore the economic trade-offs between large-scale reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors. We concluded that both large and small reactors have pathways to lower costs — but they need different enabling conditions to get there, and it’s worth being more specific about the polic

For all its success, the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (45X) is limited in scope, omitting technologies that have become increasingly important. This analysis models the economic impacts of expanding 45X.

Oklo achieves first criticality less than a year after groundbreaking through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program. The Groves low-power test reactor is the first reactor under the program to achieve criticality on private land, built from the ground up on a greenfield site. The Groves facility establishes the operational foundation for future commercial isotope production. The project proves American nuclear deployment timelines can be measured in months rather than years. Oklo

Article Summary After Illinois lifted its moratorium on construction of new nuclear power plants, Gov. JB Pritzker instructed state agencies

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) conducted anonymized interviews in 2025 with various new reactor applicants to gauge the licensing process and build on our prior licensing efficiency reports. This report summarizes the major insights with respect to progress against prior licensing efficiency recommendations, as well as new recommendations. The summary and recommendations presented in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of any particular interviewees, but instead are NIA’s insights and synthesis of the conversations.

Idaho Falls, IDAHO – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected the Prometheus project to receive a Phase II award of $60 million over three years (subject to appropriations).

New Jersey’s energy regulators will seek to procure about 1,100 megawatts of new nuclear power to meet growing energy needs.

On July 4, 2026 at 12:20 a.m. MT, we brought a commercial-scale advanced reactor to criticality.

The following statement may be attributed to Judi Greenwald, President and CEO of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance:

The following statement may be attributed to Judi Greenwald, President and CEO of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance:

NIA submitted a public comment on the NRC's Part 53 rulemaking (RIN 3150-AL36; NRC-2025-0379). This letter addresses NIA's highest-priority recommendations for the final rule. NIA believes the followi...