Key Takeaways
Trump signed four executive orders compelling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for nuclear power plants, acting on applications within 18 months.
The United States once led the world in nuclear design and construction, but delays and high costs have yielded that position to China, which is building record numbers of reactors.
Trump’s goal is to quadruple domestic production of nuclear power within 25 years.
Trump has extended the Defense Production Act for purchasing uranium to strengthen the domestic supply chain, in a shift from at one time relying on Russian supplies.
Trump has ordered DOE and DOD to explore federal lands under their control that may be suitable for siting nuclear plants.
Attention is also focused on small nuclear reactors that can be deployed quickly and at lower costs.
Nuclear power supplies 19% of U.S. electricity and is a baseload, dispatchable generating source that is needed to meet demand from AI data centers and new electrification.
On May 23, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that directed the nation’s independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reduce regulations and expedite the licensing process for new reactors and power plants, effectively overhauling the agency. The orders intend to fast-track new nuclear projects and technologies through federal permitting and deploy cost-cutting initiatives to scale back the NRC. The industry will be encouraged by federal subsidies as the draft budget legislation passed by the House of Representatives keeps tax credits for new and existing nuclear plants, but requires them to begin construction before January 1, 2029. The goal is to quadruple domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, increasing capacity from around 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
The orders provide an 18-month deadline for the NRC to act on industry applications and create a pilot program intended to place three new experimental reactors online by July 4, 2026, in just 13 months. They also invoke the Defense Production Act to facilitate federal purchases of nuclear fuel to strengthen the domestic supply chain and weaken Russia’s substantial hold on it. Until 2023, the United States got much of its enriched uranium from Russia, which stopped after Russia invaded Ukraine, and a bipartisan law was passed. The orders also call for the Energy and Defense departments to assess the feasibility of restarting closed nuclear power plants and explore siting reactors on federal lands and military bases.
According to the order reforming the NRC, “the current structure and staffing of the NRC are misaligned with the Congress’s directive that the NRC shall not unduly restrict the benefits of nuclear power.” It directs the NRC to consult with the Department of Government Efficiency to “reorganize the NRC to promote the expeditious processing of license applications and the adoption of innovative technology.”
To speed up the development of nuclear power, the orders grant the U.S. energy secretary authority to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects, rather than the NRC. Even so, Trump’s goal will be difficult to achieve with the current state of the U.S. nuclear industry. The U.S. nuclear renaissance was decades ago, and only two new large reactors, which are at a nuclear plant in Georgia, have been built in nearly 50 years. They were completed years late and at least $17 billion over budget, but many attribute that to overregulation and red tape by the NRC. The United States currently operates 94 nuclear reactors, which generate approximately 19% of the nation’s electricity.
A number of countries are speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of smaller nuclear reactors to meet a surging demand for electricity from artificial intelligence data centers and electrification, which the Biden administration pushed during his term in office. Recognizing the need for new baseload power, President Biden signed legislation to modernize the licensing of new reactor technologies so they can be built faster. The NRC is currently reviewing applications from companies and a utility that want to build small nuclear reactors to begin generating electricity in the early 2030s. It expects its review to take three years or less, but this is 18 months longer than Trump’s orders allow.
On May 20, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced that it had submitted a permit to install the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactor (SMR). In Ontario, Canada, the power company has begun building the first of four small nuclear reactors. Russia and China are also adding to their nuclear arsenal. China is building new nuclear plants at a stunning pace, with 10 reactors green-lighted in each of the last two years and 26 under construction. Its fleet may soon displace France as second in reactors behind the United States. China has 55 nuclear reactors in operation, while France has 56 reactors at 18 different power plants. Chinese officials have touted their strategy of standardized development of nuclear power plants, which enables the faster completion of projects.
China is also in the process of constructing a SMR , known as “Linglong One,” which is the first SMR globally to have passed the universal safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Its construction is expected to be finished by 2026 with a power generation capacity of 125 megawatts.
Conclusion
President Trump has signed four executive orders to revamp the nuclear industry in the United States, from building new reactors with advanced designs in a quick and efficient manner to boosting the domestic uranium industry to make fuel readily available and independent from foreign countries. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is overhauling itself to meet its goal, addressing excessive overregulation and red tape from the independent agency. While the United States ranks first in overall nuclear capacity, it has been shuttering plants rather than building new ones, losing 18 reactors to massive subsidies from renewable energy plants that rely on perfect weather to function and competition from gas plants. China is overtaking France for second place in nuclear reactors with 55 operating, and 26 under construction. China is expected to have a small modular reactor operating next year.
