1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to halt the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program and restore proper Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight of all commercial nuclear reactors in the United States. The Department of Energy has rewritten internal rules to accelerate experimental reactor development under President Trump's executive order requiring three or more reactors online by July 4 this year. These new rules eliminate 750 pages of safety, security, and environmental requirements, cutting roughly two-thirds of the original protections. The changes reduce training requirements for guards, weaken nuclear material security protocols, and loosen groundwater protections. This represents a dangerous shift in regulatory authority. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has historically regulated commercial nuclear reactors through a transparent public process grounded in scientific expertise. The Energy Department's pilot program bypasses this established framework, extending authority over experimental commercial designs that can now be built outside national laboratories. The rewritten rules were shared with ten participating companies but kept hidden from the public until NPR obtained copies through a Freedom of Information Act request. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned that "in the rush to fulfill President Trump's order, they are slashing the procedures that would normally be used to ensure the safety and security case for these reactors." Companies including Antares Nuclear, Radiant Industries, and Aalo are rushing construction to meet the summer deadline. The NRC exists precisely to prevent political pressure from compromising nuclear safety decisions. Partisan politicians at the Energy Department lack the independent scientific oversight structure necessary to protect Americans from nuclear accidents or security breaches. I urge you to introduce or support legislation that restores exclusive NRC authority over all commercial nuclear reactors, regardless of their experimental status, and requires full public review of any reactor authorization process.