FIA Writes Letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

On July 30, the Fusion Industry Association wrote to Margie Doane, the Executive Director of Operations for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to make clear the industry’s official stance on how the United States should ensure a safe, efficient, and secure fusion energy regulation framework. The letter was sent in CC is Chairman Hanson, Commissioner Baran, and Commissioner Wright.

This letter includes key points for appropriate fusion regulation as well as FIA recommendations for how to build a regulatory regime. Currently, the NRC staff is developing an options paper to present to the Commission, that would outline how to regulate fusion. The FIA argues that we need the appropriate, risk-informed regulatory framework from the outset. Because of the rapid acceleration in fusion technology and the urgency of climate change, it is imperative that the NRC creates a regulatory regime that supports rapid, global adoption of fusion energy. Further, in this letter, the FIA argues that the NRC should not rush to write this option paper until they gain a better understanding of how different fusion is from fission technology.

The full letter is available below.

July 30th, 2021