Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chief Data Officer and Deputy Chief AI Officer Basia Sall said on June 25, 2026 that AI has shortened some NRC licensing reviews that once took four years to as little as nine months, Nextgov/FCW reports. Sall is quoted saying the NRC aimed to reduce a particular licensing type to 18 months under a May 2025 Trump executive order, and that AI compressed the first round to nine months. The NRC has been using AI to draft documents and review precedent, and has engaged industry partners who curated NRC public data to improve submission quality, per Nextgov/FCW. The agency has also partnered with GSA on AI maturity assessment and governance, FedScoop reports. The Department of Energy and national labs have been separately collaborating with the NRC on AI-assisted regulatory review workflows, per DOE and the American Nuclear Society.
AI has helped to slash nuclear licensing review times, NRC official says