WASHINGTON (April 6, 2026)—Last Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) revealed a decision to phase out an agency-led security inspection program that was congressionally mandated following the September 11 attacks. The program includes simulating terrorist attacks every three years at every operating U.S. nuclear power reactor to test the plants’ security forces. The goal of the independent inspections is to protect U.S. nuclear facilities and communities against terrorist sabotage that could cause a reactor meltdown and massive, widespread release of harmful radioactivity. This change follows the Trump administration’s increasing interference with the NRC’s ability to independently set nuclear safety standards.
Below is a statement by Dr. Edwin Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“Given the ongoing security threats to U.S. critical infrastructure, including those arising from tensions due to ongoing and intensifying Middle East conflict, such a move must be seen as a major failure of the federal government's responsibility to protect the nation from catastrophic acts of radiological terrorism.
“The NRC's vote will replace this critical program with a stage-managed event—akin to a professional wrestling match—in which the NRC will only be allowed to passively observe exercises run entirely by plant managers and personnel. This introduces an unacceptable potential for conflicts of interest, which violate the commission’s congressional mandate.
“The Nuclear Energy Institute, the largest nuclear power trade association in the United States, has made its loathing for these inspections clear. On behalf of its members, such as Constellation Energy, it has been pushing for years to cancel the program and replace it with self-inspections. Now that President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the NRC, they have finally been granted their wish at the expense of public health, safety and U.S. national security.”