New radiation safety requirements will provide a more structured target for reactor innovation without lowering safety standards, the head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has said.

Speaking in the Atomic Insights podcast, NRC chairman Ho Nieh said that rule changes including the planned elimination of the NRC’s “as low as reasonably achievable” (Alara) requirements by the end of April would serve to benefit the development of the nuclear industry but would “not lower safety standards whatsoever”.