As of May 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order initiating a plan to deploy 300 GW of net new nuclear capacity by 2050, with 10 large reactors under construction in the US by 2030, while expanding nuclear fuel supplies. [1] President Trump also signed 3 other orders to accelerate Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews of reactor license applications and reconsider NRC radiation limits. [2] The orders also aim to expand Energy and Defense roles in nuclear power plant licensing and siting and speeding up new test reactor deployment. The order includes a directive to review the statutory authorities to identify any legislative changes needed to achieve the aforementioned national policy, as well as an evaluation of the reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel from the operation of Department of Defense and Department of Energy reactors. Another order calls on the Secretary of Energy to 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.” Staffing reductions and budget cuts at DOE and NRC could undermine some of these efforts, making it harder to implement the executive orders. Furthermore, the involvement of federal departments to license and oversee projects could create additional red tape as companies navigate between more than one new oversight body.
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