Data / Federal rules / 2026-08015
Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published this final rule in the Federal Register on April 24, 2026. It took effect on May 26, 2026.
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What the agency says
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations that govern the NRC's environmental reviews of new nuclear reactor applications under the National Environmental Policy Act. The rulemaking codifies the generic findings of the NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors. The Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors uses a technology-neutral framework and a set of plant and site parameters to determine which potential environmental impacts would be common to the construction, operation, and decommissioning of many new nuclear reactors, and thus appropriate for a generic analysis, and which potential environmental impacts would be unique, and thus require a project-specific analysis. The NRC is also issuing revision 4 to regulatory guide 4.2, "Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations," and COL-ISG-030, "Environmental Considerations Associated with New Nuclear Reactor Applications that Reference the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (NUREG-2249)." This rulemaking is separate from NRC's comprehensive review and reform of its regulations, including those governing environmental review, in accordance with Executive Order (E.O.) 14300, "Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-08015
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Published
- April 24, 2026
- Takes effect
- May 26, 2026
- Dates
- This final rule is effective May 26, 2026.
- Docket
- NRC-2020-0101
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 3150-AK55
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 10 CFR 51
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Environmental impact statements; Hazardous waste; Nuclear energy; Nuclear materials; Nuclear power plants and reactors; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 32
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Everything from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on environmental impact statements · Rules on hazardous waste · Published in April 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.