Of course the NRC had no say so there, there WAS no NRC at the time. It was the AEC and of course they had a say so there. Rickover was the AEC Representative there. All plants, including military ones were under the regulations of the AEC. If you get a chance read the hearings on military reactors and Shippingport that the Joint Committee Of Atomic Energy, the organization which oversaw the AEC and military reactor development, conducted. Watching Rickover just play these congressmen and senators is FASCINATING.