I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1006 

To require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to distribute an optional 

and anonymous survey to certain Commission employees to ultimately 

find solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Mr. DONALDS (for himself, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. MACE, and Mr. NEHLS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to distribute 

an optional and anonymous survey to certain Commission 

employees to ultimately find solutions to improve the 

efficiency and effectiveness of the Commission, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Regulatory 

5 Commission Survey Act’’ or the ‘‘NRC Survey Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NRC SURVEY. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Commission is an independent agency 

2 created by Congress in 1974 to ensure the safe use 

3 of radioactive materials and nuclear power for bene4 ficial civilian purposes while protecting people and 

5 the environment. 

6 (2) The mission of the Commission is to regu7 late the national civilian use of nuclear byproducts, 

8 nuclear sources, and special nuclear materials to en9 sure adequate protection of public health and safety, 

10 to promote the common defense and security, and to 

11 protect the environment. 

12 (3) Before commercial nuclear technology can 

13 be deployed in the United States, it must be ap14 proved by the Commission. 

15 (4) Historically, the Commission has been a 

16 thorough, methodical, and conservative agency and 

17 is considered to be the gold standard in the world 

18 with respect to regulating nuclear power. 

19 (5) The Commission is a technically competent 

20 agency that seeks strategies to successfully mod21 ernize its approach to license the next generation of 

22 nuclear reactors. 

23 (6) Current licensing procedures through the 

24 Commission are very prescriptive and based pri25 marily on conventional pressurized water reactor deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1006.IH H1006

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1 signs that have the potential to restrict nuclear inno2 vation. 

3 (7) The existing design, licensing, and delivery 

4 processes for new reactor projects are extremely ex5 pensive and have lengthy timelines compared to such 

6 design, licensing, and delivery processes in other 

7 countries. 

8 (8) The Commission reports directly to Con9 gress each year and is an independent agency that 

10 is not a part of the executive branch. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that Congress— 

13 (1) recognizes the need for the Commission to 

14 maintain public trust by keeping the nuclear indus15 try safe while also recognizing the need for increased 

16 efficiency to license nuclear reactors in the United 

17 States; 

18 (2) understands that asking for continued 

19 transparency from the Commission relating to the 

20 development and licensing of nuclear reactors is im21 portant for Congress and the American public; 

22 (3) stresses the need for the Commission to 

23 modernize its regulatory regime to facilitate efficient 

24 licensing of innovative next-generation nuclear tech25 nology; and 


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1 (4) believes that unnecessarily long licensing re2 views raise significant barriers to investment, reduce 

3 customer interest in advanced reactors, and threaten 

4 the long-term deployment potential of nuclear reac5 tors for the next generation. 

6 (c) NRC EMPLOYEE SURVEY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the inspector gen9 eral shall draft and distribute an optional and anon10 ymous survey, in accordance with paragraphs (3) 

11 and (4), to covered employees. 

12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

13 date of distributing the survey to covered employees 

14 pursuant to paragraph (1), the inspector general 

15 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com16 mittees a report containing— 

17 (A) an unbiased cumulative summary of 

18 the responses to each question of such survey; 

19 (B) a document that contains every indi20 vidual response to each question of such survey; 

21 and 

22 (C) any other information the inspector 

23 general determines necessary or appropriate. 


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1 (3) CONTENTS OF SURVEY.—The survey draft2 ed and distributed under paragraph (1) shall inquire 

3 about the following: 

4 (A) Any enhancements that can be made 

5 to existing licensing frameworks utilized by the 

6 Commission to increase the efficiency, timeli7 ness, and predictability of engagements between 

8 the Commission and licensees. 

9 (B) How the Commission could improve 

10 the process of preparing for and learning about 

11 the technical details of each proposed nuclear 

12 reactor in a licensing application. 

13 (C) How the Commission could improve 

14 outreach to stakeholders, including any rec15 ommendations with respect to changing the ex16 isting policies of the Commission relating to 

17 public engagement. 

18 (D) Whether the Commission implemented 

19 a risk-informed and performance-based ap20 proach to reviewing licensing applications and, 

21 if implemented, how the Commission has imple22 mented such approach to reviewing licensing 

23 applications. 

24 (E) Examples of laws or regulations relat25 ing to nuclear energy that— 


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1 (i) may be unnecessary, irrelevant, or 

2 duplicative; 

3 (ii) need to be revised for modern ad4 vanced reactors; and 

5 (iii) negatively affects the effectiveness 

6 and efficiency of the Commission. 

7 (F) How the Commission could maximize 

8 the efficiency of licensing reactors that are 

9 similar to reactors that are already licensed by 

10 the Commission. 

11 (G) How efficient the Commission would 

12 be in reviewing licensing applications if the 

13 Commission reviewed licensing applications 

14 through a holistic approach instead of a chap15 ter-by-chapter approach. 

16 (H) How providing clear expectations and 

17 targets for achievable review milestones for po18 tential applicants would affect the process of re19 viewing and approving licensing applications. 

20 (I) Suggestions for Congress to revise or 

21 clarify any terms and definitions relating to nu22 clear energy that— 

23 (i) are used within the scope of em24 ployment for covered employees; 

25 (ii) may be outdated; 


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1 (iii) have inconsistencies in term 

2 usage or definitions across different laws 

3 and regulations; or 

4 (iv) with respect to terms and defini5 tions relating to nuclear energy in laws 

6 and regulations, used within the scope of 

7 employment for covered employees. 

8 (J) Any term, and the corresponding defi9 nition, relating to nuclear energy and nuclear 

10 waste matters in laws and regulations, that are 

11 used within the scope of employment for cov12 ered employees, that— 

13 (i) may be outdated and in need of re14 vision; 

15 (ii) have— 

16 (I) inconsistencies in the defini17 tion of such term across different laws 

18 and regulations; or 

19 (II) inconsistencies in the defini20 tion of such term across different 

21 agencies; and 

22 (iii) may affect potential innovation in 

23 the nuclear industry due to the inconsist24 encies described in clause (ii) in the defini25 tion of such term. 


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1 (K) Suggestions to Congress to clarify any 

2 inconsistencies described in paragraph 

3 (3)(J)(ii). 

4 (L) Whether covered employees feel a 

5 sense of urgency when reviewing a licensing ap6 plication. 

7 (M) Whether covered employees believe 

8 that the lack of efficient licensing is hampering 

9 nuclear innovation and dissuading American 

10 companies from getting involved in the nuclear 

11 industry. 

12 (N) Whether covered employees believe 

13 that the Commission is capable of approving 

14 potentially hundreds of new licensing applica15 tions, including licensing applications for fission 

16 reactors and fusion reactors, in a timely man17 ner over the course of the upcoming decades. 

18 (O) Suggestions to redefine the overall 

19 mission statement and mandate of the Commis20 sion so that such mission statement and man21 date reflects the goals of maintaining safety 

22 and promoting nuclear innovation. 

23 (P) Challenges a covered employee faces on 

24 a daily basis within the scope of employment of 


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1 such covered employee and how Congress could 

2 alleviate such challenges. 

3 (Q) How the current funding structure of 

4 the Commission affects the ability of the Com5 mission to— 

6 (i) engage in rulemaking or licensing 

7 review; 

8 (ii) educate covered employees; and 

9 (iii) conduct research to support risk10 informed and performance-based regula11 tions. 

12 (R) How the current funding structure of 

13 the Commission may inhibit private companies 

14 from— 

15 (i) rapidly acquiring licenses for new 

16 nuclear reactors; and 

17 (ii) suggesting improvements to the 

18 Commission, if any, to such funding struc19 ture. 

20 (S) Any obstacles imposed by the Commis21 sion that— 

22 (i) negatively affect American nuclear 

23 competitiveness; and 

24 (ii) should be removed. 


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1 (T) How the Commission could improve 

2 the resolution of disagreements between appli3 cants and covered employees. 

4 (U) Recommendations on improving com5 munication between the Commission and appli6 cants with respect to providing an early and 

7 predictable timeline and estimated costs of the 

8 licensing application process, including 

9 preapplication review and application review. 

10 (V) Whether the Advisory Committee on 

11 Reactor Safeguards (established under section 

12 29 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2039)) is effectively and efficiently re14 viewing safety studies and licensing applica15 tions, or whether the role of the Advisory Com16 mittee on Reactor Safeguards— 

17 (i) is unnecessary and redundant with 

18 the existing review process by the Commis19 sion; and 

20 (ii) ultimately impedes nuclear innova21 tion. 

22 (W) How the Commission is using artifi23 cial intelligence, whether the functions of the 

24 Commission could be improved if the Commis25 sion adopted an AI-friendly culture, and what 


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1 organizational challenges the Commission would 

2 face in adopting and using a broader range of 

3 artificial intelligence. 

4 (X) How digitizing old data and informa5 tion may improve the overall efficiency of the 

6 Commission, the steps taken to digitize such 

7 data and information, and any challenges the 

8 Commission is facing or will face in digitizing 

9 such data and information. 

10 (Y) Challenges the Commission faces with 

11 relying on data from safety and performance 

12 data simulations of proposed nuclear reactors 

13 during the application review. 

14 (Z) How effective the Commission is at 

15 communicating to applicants, potential appli16 cants, and nuclear stakeholders about changes 

17 made to the regulatory process. 

18 (AA) Whether any new requirements or 

19 processes implemented following the nuclear ac20 cident in Fukushima may have inadvertently 

21 changed the culture and safety precautions of 

22 the Commission in a negative manner, including 

23 any unnecessary and burdensome regulations 

24 that were promulgated due to such nuclear acci25 dent. 


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1 (BB) How to make the budget and fee 

2 processes of the Commission more transparent. 

3 (CC) Whether the Commission is taking 

4 appropriate actions to hire highly skilled, tech5 nical individuals to prepare for the future influx 

6 of licensing new nuclear reactors. 

7 (DD) Whether the Federal Government 

8 should standardize the definition of nuclear 

9 waste. 

10 (EE) The effectiveness of topical reports in 

11 the licensing process, how topical reports im12 prove the efficiency of the licensing process, any 

13 challenges that are involved with topical re14 ports, and suggestions on how to improve the 

15 timeliness of reviewing and approving topical 

16 reports. 

17 (FF) In the event the use of a topic report 

18 is not applicable, the effectiveness of other 

19 forms of preapplication engagement, including 

20 how the Commission and potential applicants 

21 may reach a resolution or binding conclusions 

22 on key issues in a timely manner. 

23 (GG) How the Commission could navigate 

24 environmental impact statements in an efficient 

25 and effective manner, and any challenges that 


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1 arise while performing and reviewing environ2 mental impact statements. 

3 (HH) Any lessons the Commission can 

4 learn from foreign governmental agencies that 

5 govern nuclear energy. 

6 (II) Any other question that the inspector 

7 general, in consultation with the Commissioners 

8 of the Commission, determines appropriate. 

9 (4) ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE.—The survey 

10 drafted and distributed under paragraph (1) shall 

11 include at the top of the survey a statement that— 

12 (A) describes the intent of this Act in rela13 tion to the purpose of the survey drafted and 

14 distributed under paragraph (1); and 

15 (B) assures covered employees that there 

16 will be no repercussions or consequences from 

17 taking such survey. 

18 (d) STAKEHOLDER SURVEY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the inspector gen21 eral shall, if feasible, draft and distribute a survey 

22 similar to the survey under subsection (c) to stake23 holders in the nuclear industry in accordance with 

24 this subsection. 

25 (2) PARTICIPATION.— 


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1 (A) STAKEHOLDER REQUEST.—If feasible, 

2 in distributing a survey under paragraph (1), 

3 the inspector general shall distribute such sur4 vey to a stakeholder in the nuclear industry 

5 only upon request by such stakeholder. 

6 (B) ANONYMITY.—If feasible, the inspector 

7 general shall establish a process that allows 

8 stakeholders in the nuclear industry to anony9 mously request to participate in the survey 

10 under subsection (a). 

11 (C) NOTIFICATION.—If stakeholders in the 

12 nuclear industry are able to anonymously re13 quest to participate in the survey under this 

14 subsection, not later than 5 days after the date 

15 the Commission distributes the survey described 

16 in subsection (c), the inspector general shall no17 tify such stakeholders that have previously en18 gaged with the Commission, and such stake19 holders that are engaged in discussions with the 

20 Commission at a time after the date of enact21 ment of this Act, about the opportunity to par22 ticipate in the survey under paragraph (1). 

23 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

24 date of distributing the survey described in para25 graph (1), the inspector general shall transmit to the 


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1 appropriate congressional committees a report, ac2 companying the report in subsection (c)(2), con3 taining— 

4 (A) an unbiased cumulative summary of 

5 the responses to each question of such survey; 

6 (B) a document that contains each indi7 vidual response to each question of such survey; 

8 and 

9 (C) any other information the inspector 

10 general determines necessary or appropriate. 

11 (e) EXCLUDED ACTIVITY FROM COST-RECOVERY RE12 QUIREMENT.—Section 102(b)(1)(B) of the Nuclear En13 ergy Innovation and Modernization Act (Public Law 115– 

14 439; 132 Stat. 5565) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(iv) Costs for activities related to 

17 drafting and distributing surveys under the 

18 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Survey 

19 Act.’’. 

20 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com25 merce and the Committee on Oversight and AcVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:58 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1006.IH H1006

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1 countability of the House of Representatives; 

2 and 

3 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

4 Resources and the Committee on Environment 

5 and Public Works of the Senate. 

6 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

8 (3) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 employee’’ means any applicable employee of the 

10 Commission. 

11 (4) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘inspec12 tor general’’ means the inspector general of the 

13 Commission. 

Æ 


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