US NRC dismisses Trump order on radiation limits, keeps LNT model

President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14300 on May 23, 2025 directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to re‑evaluate the linear no‑threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure and the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) standard, and to consider adopting fixed (“determinate”) dose limits for workers and the public.

On July 1 the NRC released new safety rules that drop the term ALARA but retain the LNT approach, effectively ignoring the order’s instruction to move to determinate limits. The agency cited lack of scientific support, despite an Idaho National Laboratory report recommending occupational limits of 5,000 mrem and public limits of 500 mrem and suggesting the changes could improve nuclear power’s cost‑competitiveness. The NRC estimated its modest revisions would save the industry about $9.5 million a year.