NRC Sends Modernizing Security for Nuclear Materials NPRM to OMB

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a notice of proposed rulemaking from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on “Modernizing Requirements Relating to Physical Protection of Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of Radioactive Material [NRC-2025-1238]”. This rulemaking was not listed in the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda.

The rulemaking would appear to be targeting amendments to 10 USC Part 37, Physical protection of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material. This Part was included as one of the recent regulatory revisions published on December 3^rd, 2025, where the NRC placed portions of regulations under a new sunset provision (in this case sunsetting on January 8^th, 2027), so this rulemaking should also serve as the first 5 year extension of that sunset.

According to an NRC memo on FY 2026 regulatory priorities:

“This initiative aims to modernize the NRC's regulations by removing unnecessary requirements relating to physical protection and security of category 1 and category 2 quantities of radioactive material, while maintaining safety and security. The NRC anticipates the proposed rule to be published in March 2026.”

According to that memo, the listed regulatory efforts (including this rulemaking) are being proposed in response to EO 14300, Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It also notes that the proposed rulemakings “are deregulatory and are expected to result in cost savings to both NRC and Industry stakeholders”.

This rulemaking is generally outside of the scope of this blog, but it deserves mention as it deals with chemical security in the most extreme case.