President Donald Trump moved to speed up nuclear power development May 23 with a series of executive orders designed to ease federal regulations on the sector. 

The measures require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue timely licensing decisions, allow construction on federal lands to serve national and economic security, attempt to re-invigorate the nuclear energy industrial sector and allow for reactor design testing at nuclear laboratories. 

The end goal is to quadruple U.S. nuclear power production by 2050. A shorter-term goal is to have three new experimental reactors online by July 4, 2026. 

Nuclear industry executives spoke appreciatively as they watched the president sign the orders, and advocacy groups not present at the ceremony issued a chorus of supportive comments. 

But others raised concerns about the Trump administration speeding up review of nuclear development and construction, particularly as the industry attempts to pivot from time-tested designs to new and unproven technologies. 

The narrative of commercial nuclear power in the United States is well-known: The nation pioneered the industry and built the largest reactor fleet in the world, then stepped back, completing zero commercial plants for 30 years. The nation’s first new reactors in a generation were completed recently, far behind schedule and at stunningly high cost. 

One after another, Trump and his invited speakers blamed this turn of events on federal over-regulation and said the executive orders would change that. 

“We’re not going to have cost overruns,” Trump said. 

“It’s time for nuclear, and we’re going to do it very big.” 

Reactions

The reporters gathered for the ceremony asked the president two almost cursory questions about the safety of nuclear energy, then quickly switched to tariffs and other topics. 

Trump replied that nuclear generation has become very safe. 

Neither he nor any of the speakers or questioners present drew any correlation between nuclear generation becoming safer at the same time as regulations on it were becoming more strict. 

But others made that connection. 

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a news release: “By fatally compromising the independence and integrity of the NRC, and by encouraging pathways for nuclear deployment that bypass the regulator entirely, the Trump administration is virtually guaranteeing that this country will see a serious accident or other radiological release that will affect the health, safety and livelihoods of millions.” 

Shortly after Trump was inaugurated and began to assert power over independent federal regulators such as the NRC, Allison Macfarlane, the NRC chair from 2012 to 2014, warned in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists about the dangers of faster, looser regulation of the next generation of reactors now being designed: “These proponents — some with no experience in operating reactors — want the NRC to trust their simplistic computer models of reactor performance and essentially give them a free pass to deploy their untested technology across the country.” 

But others cheered Trump’s moves. 

Constitution CEO Joe Dominguez was present at the signing ceremony. 

“The problem in the industry has historically been regulatory delay,” he said. “Mr. President, you know this because you’re the best at building big things. Delay in regulations and permitting will absolutely kill you.” 

He also noted “silly questions” by the NRC, such as the investigations into whether new reactors are suitable for a site adjacent to reactors that have been operating safely for decades. Addressing that one line of inquiry has cost Constellation $35 million each in three application processes, he added. 

Jacob DeWitte, CEO of fast reactor developer Oklo, also was present for the signing and said, “Nuclear is a manifestation of energy dominance” and “changing the permitting dynamics is going to help things move faster.” 

ClearPath Action CEO Jeremy Harrell said in a news release: “These executive orders take a whole-of-government approach to move quickly in support of new deployments.” Harrell also called for additional policy and financial support from Congress. 

Nuclear Innovation Alliance CEO Judi Greenwald applauded the Trump administration’s goals with the orders but raised concerns about some parallel actions: “Adequate staffing and funding are required for these goals to be met. Recent DOE staffing reductions and proposed budget cuts undermine the department’s efforts and make it harder to implement these executive orders.” 

Greenwald added that the alliance has long thought the NRC needed to be more efficient, but sees it making significant progress and feels it important this not be undermined by staff cuts or conflicting directives: “NRC effectiveness, efficiency and independence are critical to the public, the industry and potential customers of U.S. nuclear technology both here and abroad.” 

The Orders

President Trump signed five executive orders May 23, four of them pertaining directly to nuclear energy and the fifth requiring federal research agencies to conform to Gold Standard scientific practices. 

The nuclear executive orders are lengthy and detailed. 

The NRC order, for example, specifies: 

• • reorganization and staff cuts, including a reduction in personnel and functions of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; 
  • wholesale revision of NRC regulations and guidance; 
  • adoption of fixed deadlines; 
  • an expedited pathway for approval of reactors already tested by the departments of Defense or Energy; and 
  • consideration of nuclear energy’s economic and national security benefits alongside the traditional safety, health and environmental considerations. 

At times, the wording is blunt in its criticism of the NRC: “A myopic policy of minimizing even trivial risks ignores the reality that substitute forms of energy production also carry risk, such as pollution with potentially deleterious health effects.” 

Trump did not mention in his order that he also has moved to ramp up those other forms of energy production and remove safeguards against their deleterious effects. 

Other actions ordered by Trump include: 

• • A nuclear reactor will be built and operational on a domestic military base within three years. 
  • The departments of Energy and Defense will explore categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act for the construction of advanced nuclear reactor technologies on federal sites. 
  • The State Department and other agencies will aggressively explore opportunities for export of U.S. nuclear technology to allies to bolster the U.S. nuclear industrial sector. 
  • DOE will release at least 20 metric tons of high-assay low-enriched uranium into a readily available fuel bank for private sector projects operating nuclear reactors to power AI infrastructure at DOE sites. 
  • The “severely atrophied” domestic nuclear fuel supply chain will be expanded. 
  • All relevant federal agencies will work together to develop solutions for the “difficult problem” of treatment of nuclear waste. 
  • Multiple efforts will be undertaken to build a workforce that can do all of these things.