Trump signs orders to revive US leadership in nuclear power

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday signed orders meant to accelerate the construction of nuclear power plants, including small, untested designs that offer the promise of rapid deployment but have yet to be built in the U.S.

The effort is a bid to meet a coming surge in electricity demand and help the U.S. reclaim its edge in nuclear energy. While the U.S. was once the leader in deploying and producing nuclear power, in the last 30 years it’s finished building only two new reactors and shuttered existing plants, even as China and Russia race to deploy them.

Trump’s initiative to unleash nuclear energy could give a boost to an emission-free source of power that’s championed as a climate-friendly alternative to electricity generated by burning coal and natural gas. However, the president has championed nuclear energy as a complement, rather than a replacement, for fossil fuels.

“We’re signing tremendous executive orders today that really will make us the real power in this industry,” Trump said as he signed the directives in the Oval Office, adding that nuclear technology “has come a long way, both in safety and costs.”

Trump was joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and energy industry executives including Constellation Energy Corp. CEO Joseph Dominguez and Jake DeWitte of Oklo Inc.

The initiative represents the latest bid by an American president to jump start the domestic nuclear industry, which has languished in recent decades. Former President Joe Biden last year laid out a plan to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050, and Trump’s new plain aims to quadruple it. It also comes as technology companies are clamoring for power to supply energy-hungry data centers.

The effort is likely to give a boost to companies developing small reactors, including Last Energy Inc., Oklo, TerraPower LLC and NuScale Power Corp. The orders also include provisions aimed at ensuring 10 large, conventional reactors are also under construction by 2030, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially benefiting Westinghouse Electric Co., whose gigawatt-scale AP1000 design was the last commercial nuclear unit built in the U.S. and has been embraced worldwide.

Trump’s nuclear initiative also would support the restart of shuttered nuclear plants as well as upgrades at existing sites and completion of others — potentially aiding South Carolina utility Santee Cooper’s bid to resume building two reactors at its V.C. Summer plant, where soaring costs prompted the company to halt construction in 2017.

However, Trump’s nuclear push comes as lawmakers move to phase out a government subsidy that’s seen as critical to helping propel construction of new reactors and support existing plants. Developers have said the change would create a significant barrier to building nuclear plants.

Under a bill that passed the House early Thursday, new and expanded advanced nuclear projects would be eligible to receive clean energy tax credits only as long as they begin construction by the end of 2028, while tax credits for existing nuclear power plants would expire at the end of 2031.

Trump’s initiative aims to spur construction of at least one reactor at U.S. military installations. That would allow nuclear energy to power and operate critical defense facilities and AI data centers, a senior White House official said. And, because that approach doesn’t involve commercial plants, it lets developers bypass the customary approval process through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In the meantime, the NRC would also get an overhaul. There are plans to cull workers at the agency in consultation with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting program, along with new timelines for license approvals. A senior White House official said Trump’s order directs a substantial reorganization of the NRC, which will cause staff turnover and changes in roles at the regulatory agency.

While some developers have decried the lengthy and expensive process to secure NRC approval for proposed designs, as well as to renew licenses for existing facilities, some nuclear power advocates worry the effort may backfire by sparking regulatory upheaval and uncertainty. If new reactor designs can’t be fully vetted within the president’s proposed 18-month deadline, they warn, the models could even be rejected altogether, an outcome that would likely undermine Trump’s deployment goals.

Trump is also ordering a review of acceptable levels of radiation exposure.

Some energy experts have expressed alarm about the president’s plan to strengthen the domestic supply chain for nuclear fuel, potentially creating a market for reprocessed radioactive material and surplus plutonium stockpiles. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz this week warned that the proposal may lead “to the creation of additional stocks of weapons-usable materials.”

The president is also embracing the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office as a potential source of financing for nuclear projects, people familiar with the matter said. Under Trump’s orders, the office would be directed to prioritize activities and resources for restarting shuttered plants, increasing output at existing sites, completing construction of unfinished reactors and building new advanced-nuclear units.

Reactors currently supply almost a tenth of the world’s power, including about 100 gigawatts of capacity in the U.S. Advocates say the industry needs to grow threefold by 2050 to help avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. Like wind and solar plants, nuclear generates electricity without producing the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming.

But reactors also have the advantage of running around the clock, delivering the non-stop power that’s in-demand from artificial intelligence companies and data center operators.

The U.S. was at the vanguard of installing nuclear power plants for decades, but China is now the world’s top builder, with roughly 30 reactors under construction. Russia, meanwhile, has spent years honing its own technology and has exported reactors to buyers in India, Iran and elsewhere.

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(With assistance from Ari Natter and Klara Auerbach.)

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