Arden Rowell | College of Law | Illinois

Illinois Law and Engineering Faculty Submit Interdisciplinary Comment on Landmark Nuclear Reactor Rule

Chris Davies — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:40:02 +0000

Faculty and researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have submitted a public comment to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) addressing the agency’s proposed rule on “Part 57,” a major regulatory initiative that attempts to modernize U.S. nuclear regulation by creating a dedicated licensing framework for new nuclear technologies, including microreactors and certain advanced nuclear reactors.

The submission reflects a unique collaboration between researchers at the University of Illinois College of Law and the Grainger College of Engineering, bringing together nationally recognized strengths in both engineering and administrative law to address complex regulatory questions with substantial societal consequences.

Led jointly by Professor Arden Rowell of the College of Law and Professor Zahra Mohaghegh of the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering (NPRE), the comment combines administrative law, statutory interpretation, engineering risk analysis, and regulatory economics to evaluate the NRC’s proposed framework. George Joslin, a Ph.D. student in NPRE and graduate researcher in Mohaghegh’s Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory, also contributed to the effort.

The proposed Part 57 rule was developed pursuant to Section 208 of the ADVANCE Act and represents a significant step in U.S. nuclear policy. The Illinois team’s submission evaluates whether the NRC’s proposal satisfies the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act, the ADVANCE Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act while also providing a technically and legally defensible foundation for future advanced-reactor licensing.

The comment addresses two central questions: whether the NRC’s proposed safety framework adequately supports the agency’s statutory obligations concerning safety, efficiency, and reasoned decision-making, and whether the agency’s regulatory analysis provides a sufficiently evidence-based assessment of the rule’s costs, benefits, and alternatives. The submission recommends that the NRC continue developing cost-benefit analysis as an important component of implementing the ADVANCE Act’s efficiency mandate while strengthening the evidentiary basis for key safety and regulatory determinations. It also calls for additional legal and technical justification regarding accident-analysis methodologies, cumulative impacts associated with multi-reactor deployment, and the treatment of uncertainty in the agency’s regulatory analysis.

The collaboration reflects a broader research partnership between the College of Law and the SoTeRiA Research Laboratory focused on the future of risk-informed and performance-based nuclear regulation. The work forms part of a larger NRC-funded research initiative examining how developments in reactor technology, probabilistic risk assessment, and administrative law are reshaping the governance of emerging energy systems.

At a time when advanced reactor deployment, administrative law doctrine, and federal regulatory policy are evolving simultaneously, the project demonstrates how interdisciplinary engagement can contribute to more durable and analytically rigorous approaches to public governance.

The comment was submitted to the NRC on June 15, 2026, and is now part of the agency’s public administrative record as the Commission evaluates comments and develops the final Part 57 rule.

Illinois team featuring Rowell flags risks in reactor proposal

Chris Davies — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:16:50 +0000

Professor Arden Rowell was part of an interdisciplinary team of University of Illinois researchers raising concerns about a proposed rule that could reduce environmental oversight for advanced nuclear reactors. The group submitted a public comment to the U.S. Department of Energy about a rule that would allow certain advanced reactor activities—including siting, construction, operation, and decommissioning—to proceed without standard environmental reviews. The team concluded the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not adopt the Department of Energy’s characterization of advanced reactors as technologies that normally have no significant environmental impacts.

6 faculty present research and provide commentary at St. Louis University Colloquium on Law, Behavioral Science, and Social Science

Krista Gaedtke — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:07:21 +0000

The College of Law was well-represented at the recent St. Louis University Colloquium on Law, Behavioral Science, and Social Science. Professor Jennifer Robbennolt presented a work-in-progress called “’The Rule of Law’ Silo” that is co-authored by Professors Verity Winship and Colleen Murphy. The paper presents the results of a survey to understand what people understand the phrase “the rule of law” to mean.

Professor Arden Rowell presented a paper called “Why Behavior?” The paper develops a model to systematize how different scholarly traditions approach the question of why law & behavior matters.

Professor Bob Lawless and recent graduate Emily Woo ’25 presented a paper that they co-authored with Jennifer Robbennolt and Angela Koo ’25, entitled “Who Gets the Last Word? Interruptions and Floor Control on the Supreme Court.” The paper, forthcoming in the University of Illinois Law Review, began as Emily and Angela’s class project for Empirical Methods. Using data scraped from transcripts of Supreme Court oral arguments, the paper reinforces past findings about gendered patterns of interruptions between the justices and also builds a more complex story by focusing on which justices retain floor control after being interrupted.

Finally, Professors Kenworthey Bilz, Lesley Wexler, and Verity Winship were commentators for papers at the colloquium.

Science quotes Rowell on nuclear energy rule changes

Chris Davies — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 20:40:59 +0000

The federal government’s moves to reform the rules surrounding nuclear energy plants might have had the effect of streamlining the process of bringing new reactors online and, thus, creating more nuclear energy for the United States’ power grid. Federal agencies making changes behind closed doors, without input from experts, has chilled scientists, however. Moving quickly and creating uncertainty, Professor Arden Rowell tells Science, could backfire and slow progress.

Read the full article from Science.

Rowell files regulatory comment, prompting change in regulation of nuclear safety

Krista Gaedtke — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 21:15:20 +0000

Working with an interdisciplinary team of nuclear engineers, Professor Arden Rowell coauthored a public comment submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in response to its proposed “Sunset Rule.” The rule had proposed “sunsetting” ten regulatory rules addressing nuclear safety.

The comment addressed foundational administrative law issues, including statutory authority, the agency’s current mission, and the requirements of reasoned decision-making under the Administrative Procedure Act. Following the close of the public comment period, the NRC partially withdrew the proposed rule.

The episode highlights the importance of expert participation in the administrative process. It also reflects the College of Law’s strong engagement with national policy questions at the intersection of law, technology, and public governance.

Rowell co-authors editorial on nuclear regulation

Chris Davies — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 15:58:23 +0000

Many recent changes in rules and regulations surrounding nuclear power reactors have been enacted with the goal of expanding the use of nuclear technology, but the shifts also run the risk of overwhelming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and threatening the industry. In a new editorial published by Nuclear Newswire, Professor Arden Rowell and a team of nuclear engineers from the University of Illinois attempt to answer urgent questions in order “to prevent industry-wide paralysis and ensure that new nuclear power reactors are deployed both safely and efficiently.”

Read their full editorial on Nuclear Newswire.

College of Law honors Rowell with 2025 award for scholarly excellence

Krista Gaedtke — Tue, 20 May 2025 21:26:13 +0000

Professor Arden Rowell was awarded the 2025 Carroll P. Hurd Award for Scholarly Excellence for her paper, “Indoor Environmental Law,” 54 Environmental Law 101 (2024). The Carroll P. Hurd Award for Scholarly Excellence was established in 2002, by Michael Moore and Heidi Hurd, in honor of Heidi’s father, Carroll Parsons Hurd, whose work as a political theorist and lawyer elevated theoretical curiosity and intellectual rigor above all other virtues. Rowell accepted the award during the annual faculty retreat on May 15, 2025.

J. Sharpe and Rowell quoted in article on threats to DEI programs

Chris Davies — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:05:49 +0000

The “Dear Colleague Letter” issued by the U.S. Department of Education in February expressed a threat that schools that support diversity initiatives could face funding cuts. With several cultural houses on campus, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign could be among the targets to lose funding. In an extensive examination, Illinois Public Media quotes both Dean Jamelle Sharpe and Professor Arden Rowell on how the letter may affect the Illinois campus and the levels of uncertainty that exist currently. “The Department is taking a very aggressive and expansive view of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Sharpe said. “They believe it should be applied to situations that the Supreme Court’s decision itself did not address.”

Read the full article from Illinois Public Media.

Regulatory Review analyzes recent article from Rowell

Law News — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:30:00 +0000

Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors, yet current environmental laws do not regulate indoor air quality. The Regulatory Review recently analyzed a recent article from Professor Arden Rowell in which she argues that effective environmental policies should include indoor environments, as existing regulations like the Clean Air Act only cover outdoor air, creating a patchwork of inadequate protections. She advocates for comprehensive federal regulations to address indoor air quality, emphasizing that such measures are essential for safeguarding human health as outdoor environments become more hazardous.

Read the full review online.

College of Law teams up with Nuclear Engineering to further safe regulation of advanced nuclear reactors

Law News — Fri, 10 May 2024 13:45:00 +0000

Professor Arden Rowell has teamed up with the Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory, led by Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering Associate Professor Zahra Mohaghegh on a new research grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The grant, titled “Context-Based Analysis of a Risk-informed, Performance-based Regulatory Approach for Advanced Nuclear Reactors,” will span from 2024 to 2027. The project aims to help the NRC—the agency responsible for regulating the safety of civilian nuclear reactors—identify how to effectively use its aging statutory mandates to address new and emerging nuclear technologies.

“The NRC’s legal responsibility to regulate nuclear energy has never been more important,” Prof. Rowell emphasizes. “Reactor technology is advancing rapidly even as the risks of relying on fossil fuels become increasingly apparent. How can NRC best regulate the risks and opportunities presented by advanced reactor technologies, while still staying true to its legal and democratic mandate to protect people and the environment? This is a legitimately difficult question, and I hope that our collaboration can help NRC craft a creative but implementable answer.”

NPRE Associate Professor Zahra Mohaghegh, has highlighted the value of this project as a collaboration between engineering and law experts. “Because accident scenarios must consider social and environmental distress, managerial deficiency, and human error as well as physical and technical system failures, I believe that risk analysis and risk-informed regulation require the development of a common vocabulary within diverse engineering and social science domains to address risk emerging from the interface of social and technical systems,” said Prof. Mohaghegh.

Professors Rowell and Mohaghegh are affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where engineering and non-engineering experts collaborate to address complex real-world problems. They have previously collaborated on a DOE project and are now looking forward to a new collaboration under this NRC grant, supporting development and enhancement of risk-informed performance-based regulatory approaches. This project will aid decision-makers and stakeholders in ensuring safe, resilient, sustainable, and socially and environmentally responsible technological advancements for nuclear energy.