Clarifying the Limits of Regulatory Authority Under the Clean Air Act

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was established to protect public health and safety, promote common defense and security, and ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy, goals rooted in the Atomic Energy Act’s directive to serve the general welfare. But today, the NRC’s regulatory system often fails to reflect that mandate. Congress recently tried to address this by realigning the NRC’s mission with this original statute. Despite clear statutory obligations, the Commission has yet to align its regulations with health-based standards already defined by Congress in the Clean Air Act (CAA). These standards are science-based, consistent with broader federal risk frameworks, and grounded in law, not discretionary policy. Reconsidering NRC’s regulatory framework through the lens of the Clean Air Act is essential to restoring statutory fidelity, enabling nuclear deployment, and ensuring a modern, coherent approach to public health and safety.

True NRC modernization would require the agency to adopt the standard set in the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. A reconsideration of NRC regulation must begin by establishing a risk floor for regulatory intervention, using the CAA’s scientifically grounded thresholds as a model. Such a reform would align the Commission’s practices with modern public health standards, legislative direction, and the urgent need to deploy clean, reliable nuclear energy. Wholesale revisions that are not made through this lens would be inconsistent with the law and be seen as arbitrary and capricious by the courts.

You can read the whitepaper below: