Trump signs executive orders to boost nuclear power, speed up approvals

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump signed executive orders Friday intended to quadruple domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, a goal experts say the United States is highly unlikely to reach.
To speed up the development of nuclear power, the orders grant the US energy secretary authority to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects, taking authority away from the independent safety agency that has regulated the US nuclear industry for five decades.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing executive orders regarding nuclear energy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. --Photo AP/Evan Vucci

The order comes as demand for electricity surges amid a boom in energy-hungry data centers and artificial intelligence. Tech companies, venture capitalists, states and others are competing for electricity and straining the nation’s electric grid.
“We’ve got enough electricity to win the AI arms race with China,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. “What we do in the next five years related to electricity is going to determine the next 50” years in the industry.
Still, it’s unlikely the US could quadruple its nuclear production in the time frame the White House specified. The United States lacks any next-generation reactors operating commercially and only two new large reactors have been built from scratch in nearly 50 years. Those two reactors, at a nuclear plant in Georgia, were completed years late and at least US$17 billion over budget.
The nation’s 94 nuclear reactors supply about 19 percent of US electricity, compared to about 60 percent for fossil fuels and 21 percent for renewables, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
At the Oval Office signing, Trump, surrounded by industry executives, called nuclear a “hot industry,” adding, “It’s time for nuclear, and we’re going to do it very big.”
Burgum and other speakers said the industry has stagnated and has been choked by overregulation.
“Mark this day on your calendar. This is going to turn the clock back on over 50 years of overregulation of an industry,’’ said Burgum, who chairs Trump’s newly formed Energy Dominance Council.
The orders would reorganise the independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure quicker reviews of nuclear projects, including an 18-month deadline for the NRC to act on industry applications. The measures also create a pilot program intended to place three new experimental reactors online by July 4, 2026 — 13 months from now — and invoke the Defense Production Act to allow emergency measures to ensure the US has enough uranium and other reactor fuel for a modernized nuclear energy sector.
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.
The NRC is assessing the executive orders and will comply with White House directives, spokesperson Scott Burnell said Friday.
Jacob DeWitte, chief executive officer of the nuclear energy company Oklo, brought a golf ball to the Oval Office. He told Trump that’s the amount of uranium that can power someone’s needs for their entire life.
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said, holding up the ball.
“Very exciting indeed,” Trump said.
Trump has signed a spate of executive orders promoting oil, gas and coal that warm the planet when burned to produce electricity. Nuclear reactors generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. Trump said reactors are safe and clean, but did not mention climate benefits. Safety advocates warn that nuclear technology still comes with significant risks that other low-carbon energy sources don’t, including the danger of accidents or targeted attacks, and the unresolved question of how to store tens of thousands of tons of hazardous nuclear waste.
The order to reorganise the NRC will include significant staff reductions but is not intended to fire NRC commissioners who lead the agency. David Wright, a former South Carolina elected official and utility commissioner, chairs the five-member panel. His term ends June 30, and it is unclear if he will be reappointed.

(Latest Update May 26, 2025)