The four orders address nearly all aspects of the federal government’s civilian nuclear apparatus, though some question arise about implementation.
Friday, President Trump signed four new Executive Orders (the “Orders”)—Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, and an order focused on Nuclear Energy for National Security—with a goal to quadruple U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050. The overall goal of the Orders is to “expedite and promote to the fullest possible extent the production and operation of nuclear energy,” which matches previous statements by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that “America must lead the commercialization of affordable and abundant nuclear energy.”
The Orders cover a wide array of nuclear energy issues, from invoking the Defense Production Act to revitalize the nuclear fuel cycle to fast-tracking small modular reactor (SMR) deployment, with a striking goal of achieving criticality in at least three reactors of a new pilot program by July 4, 2026. To accomplish these goals, the Orders invoke a number of authorities, including from the Department of Defense and Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies to build new reactors on federal lands.
Notably, President Trump has ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and other agencies to implement a “wholesale regulatory revision” of the NRC licensing regime on a truncated timeline, while also calling for a “substantial reorganization” of NRC staff. A number of the priorities in Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were included in the bipartisan ADVANCE Act of 2024, though they have now been reformulated with stricter deadlines and less deference to the NRC. This comes as the Supreme Court yesterday lifted a stay in order to allow the President to fire board members of two other independent agencies, indicating the Court’s intent to allow much greater executive control and direction over independent commissions, like the NRC.
The implementation of the Orders, however, raises some questions. Specifically, some conflicts arise between the recent House reconciliation bill, which shortens the eligibility window for key tax incentives for nuclear and significantly reduces credit subsidy funding for the DOE Loans Program Office (LPO). These moves appear to conflict with the Orders’ instructions to use loan guarantees, direct loans and procurement agreements to support domestic deployment of nuclear. If unchanged, this language would require borrowers—particularly those developing first-of-a-kind projects—to bear the full cost of the loan risk, making LPO-backed financing less affordable and accessible. Secretary Wright has made strong statements against the cuts, citing LPO as “the most efficient tool we have in the department to help emerging energy technologies.” It is also unclear how a potential reduction in force at the NRC could support a rapid growth in license applications, even given the regulatory reforms.
[View source.]
