When the government shutdown began, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) stated it had enough carryover funds to stay open for about a week. Unfortunately, October 9 was the last full day of “normal” operations for the agency that regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials, such as in nuclear medicine, through licensing, inspection and enforcement of its requirements. Details can be found on the NRC’s blog, where Chairman Allison Macfarlane states:
Beginning on Thursday, we will not conduct non-emergency reactor licensing, reactor license renewal amendments, emergency preparedness exercises, reviews of design certifications or rulemaking and regulatory guidance…
Let me stress, however, that all of our resident inspectors will remain on the job and any immediate safety or security matters will be handled with dispatch. We can — and will without hesitation — bring employees out of furlough to respond to an emergency. We must, in this regard, err on the side of safety and security.