This paper reviews the pivotal phases of the evolution of the current technology-dependent nuclear power safety regulation in the United States. Understanding of this evolution is essential to the development of any future regulatory paradigm, including the technology-neutral regulatory approach that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently embarked on to develop. The paper proposes and examines the implications of a predominately rationalist and best-estimate probabilistic regulatory framework called safety goals-driven performance-based regulation. This framework relies on continuous assessment of performance of a set of time-dependent safety-critical systems, structures and components that assure attainment of a broad set of technology-neutral protective, mitigative, and preventive goals. Finally, the paper discusses the steps needed to develop a corresponding technology-neutral regulatory system from the proposed framework.