# NRC Allows DOE-DOD Data Reuse for Reactor Licensing

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalized a rule allowing applicants for commercial reactor licenses to reuse analysis, test data, and other technical information from Department of Energy and Department of Defense reactor demonstration programs. Applicants must still satisfy NRC requirements and explain how the existing data applies to their proposed civilian reactors, leaving the NRC responsible for independent review. For contractors supporting reactor developers and licensing applications, the rule may reduce duplicated testing and analysis while increasing the importance of documenting data quality, access restrictions, and differences between demonstration programs and civilian safety standards.

- Applicants can draw on qualifying DOE and DOD demonstration data, but must show its relevance to the specific licensing case and meet NRC requirements.
- Contractors supporting licensing should account for data restrictions, technical traceability, and the work needed to address differences between demonstration data and civilian safety standards.
- NRC Chairman Ho K. Nieh said high-quality applications demonstrating applicability to NRC requirements can support more efficient reviews; this makes clear, well-supported data submissions central to realizing the rule’s potential.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Energy & Utilities
**Topics:** Regulatory Compliance, Policy
**Published:** October 23, 2026

### Government Entities
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- Department of Defense (DOD)

### Key Quotes
> This rule delivers the EO 14300 vision for an expedited path from DOE and [DOD] projects to NRC commercial licensing. High-quality applications showing how DOE and [DOD] results apply to NRC requirements will help us review them more efficiently.
> — Ho K. Nieh, NRC Chairman

> The people that we’ve lost are the very senior, most experienced folks, and they’ll be replaced by interns and fellows. We have an incredibly hard-working workforce, but you can only ask them to do so much, and at some point, they’re going to be asked to do more than they have ability.
> — Bradley Crowell, NRC Commissioner

### Sources
- [NRC finalizes rule allowing commercial reactor license applicants to reuse DOE, DOD data  | FedScoop](https://fedscoop.com/nrc-finalized-rule-reuse-dod-doe-data) - FedScoop