Federal nuclear watchdog says licensing advanced power plants will get 'expensive'

The government’s role in advancing new nuclear power plant designs will get more expensive if the Trump administration and Congress are serious about moving the new reactors to market, the head of the nation’s nuclear energy watchdog told lawmakers Wednesday.

Kristine Svinicki, the Republican chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the program among the commission, the nuclear industry, and the Department of Energy to move small reactor designs to market will get more expensive, surpassing the fiscal 2017 allocation for advanced reactors.