{"id":16664,"date":"2026-07-09T08:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16664"},"modified":"2026-07-09T08:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:53:42","slug":"us-moves-to-eliminate-longtime-radiation-safety-principle-for-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16664","title":{"rendered":"US moves to eliminate longtime radiation safety principle for nuclear power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The federal government is proposing to overhaul radiation safety regulations for nuclear power, including by eliminating a long-term principle for nuclear safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week proposed to get rid of the requirement for nuclear plants to ensure that radiation exposure is \u201cas low as is reasonably achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proponents of the change say just using radiation dose limits is less subjective than going by the \u201cas low as is reasonably achievable\u201d principle \u2014 and that it led to overly conservative protections that stifled the nuclear industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters of the current language, however, say that having the \u201cas low as reasonably achievable\u201d principle, also known as ALARA, in place ensures that nuclear plants take all measures possible to reduce exposure for workers and the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NRC Chair Ho Nieh said in a statement that the agency is \u201craising the standard for regulatory clarity, not lowering the standard for safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur radiation dose limits remain unchanged \u2014 what we\u2019re eliminating is unnecessary ambiguity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But critics say that eliminating ALARA means getting rid of a key incentive for energy companies to keep radiation levels as low as possible \u2014 and could mean more cancer cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFacility owners felt like \u2026 ALARA was forcing them to go well below the allowable radiation limits and spend a lot of money to do that,\u201d said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyman warned that the change could ultimately make it so that currently low doses of radiation that workers and the public are exposed to \u201ccould increase really all the way up to regulatory limits without any sanction from the NRC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this could include by having employees work longer shifts and therefore getting more radiation exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, he said, \u201cthis is opening the door for sloppier practices\u201d and \u201cworse management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to axing ALARA, the NRC is proposing other changes, including loosening emissions limits for radioactive material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that under one of the rules it is proposing to change, current regulations would allow for an estimated four excess cases of fatal cancer for every 10,000 people exposed to the maximum allowable radiation for 70 years. It said that the change it is making would allow this number to go up to nine cases for every 10,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also proposed increasing how much radiation caregivers for people who receive radiation treatment can be exposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency said that all of the changes it is proposing would save the industry about $9.53 million per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moves come as the Trump administration has been pushing for the U.S. to build more nuclear power. Last year, an executive order from President Trump set the goal of quadrupling the nation\u2019s nuclear power capacity by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also directed the NRC to reconsider its use of ALARA and to speed up approvals for nuclear reactor licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the NRC is technically an independent agency, it is made up of three Republicans and two Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the White House fired a Democrat from the commission, which at the time, had a 3-2 Democratic majority. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled the White House can conduct such firings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The federal government is proposing to overhaul radiation safety regulations for nuclear power, including by eliminating a long-term principle for nuclear safety. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week proposed to get rid of the requirement for nuclear plants to ensure that radiation exposure is \u201cas low as is reasonably achievable.\u201d Proponents of the change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-16664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nUS moves to eliminate longtime radiation safety principle for nuclear power - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16664\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US moves to eliminate longtime radiation safety principle for nuclear power - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The federal government is proposing to overhaul radiation safety regulations for nuclear power, including by eliminating a long-term principle for nuclear safety. 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