A lawsuit recently filed by Utah, Texas, and Last Energy (a microreactor company) is challenging a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rule requiring all nuclear power-producing entities—including those that do not generate enough electricity to turn on a lightbulb—to obtain an operating license from the commission before turning on. If successful, the lawsuit could diminish the federal government's role in the heavily regulated nuclear energy industry.
The requirement, known as the Utilization Facility Rule, can be traced back to the McMahon Act of 1946. This law gave the government a monopoly on nuclear power by granting federal regulators licensing authority over any equipment or device capable of making fissile material or "adapted for making use of atomic energy."
