The Trump Administration recently issued four Executive Orders (EOs) focused on nuclear technologies[1] that, collectively, aim to “unleash the domestic nuclear base,” “reestablish the United States as the global leader in nuclear energy,” and “bring advanced nuclear technologies into domestic production as soon as possible.”
In addition to streamlining regulatory requirements and environmental reviews, the EOs – issued in late May 2025 – discuss a number of funding opportunities for companies performing work in the nuclear energy sector, including through procurement contracts, grants, pilot programs, and loans. This alert provides an overview of how companies can pursue those opportunities.
Prioritizing nuclear energy
The EOs provide that having access to “resilient, secure, and reliable” nuclear energy is critical to national- and economic-security interests. The EOs specifically identify reliable energy access as being necessary for “advanced computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and other mission capability resources at military and national security installations and national laboratories.”
The EOs also express a desire to “reestablish the United States as the global leader in nuclear energy.” To do this, the EOs discuss the need to further develop, deploy, and operationalize the “revolutionary potential” of advanced reactors, including microreactors, small modular reactors, and Generation IV and Generation III+ reactors. The EOs also set a target of increasing the American nuclear energy capacity from approximately 100 gigawatts in 2024 to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
Contract and grant opportunities
The EOs indicate that, to accomplish the above referenced goals, the US government will be entering into contracts, grants, and other similar agreements that provide funding for nuclear energy reactors and technologies, as well as funding to develop the nuclear energy supply chain and to manage nuclear waste.
Below is a nonexhaustive list of the procurement and grant opportunities that will likely flow from the EOs. For companies interested in pursuing any such opportunities, it will be important to (1) understand the various stakeholders and structures within the US Department of Energy (DOE) and US Department of Defense (DOD) and (2) identify the relevant opportunities sufficiently ahead of the deadline for proposal submission.
In certain situations, it may be helpful to connect with relevant DOE or DOD offices prior to the issuance of a solicitation. Additionally, for companies not currently performing under government contracts or grants, there will be new compliance obligations to be worked through prior to submitting proposals for these opportunities.
- Nuclear reactors at military installations: The US Army, with the support of DOE, will be creating a program of record for the utilization of nuclear energy for both installation energy and operational energy. This program will aim to have the operation of a nuclear reactor at a domestic military installation no later than September 30, 2028.
- Advanced nuclear technologies at DOE sites: DOE will be designating DOE sites, including National Laboratories, for the use and deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies for the purpose of powering AI infrastructure, other critical or national security needs, supply chain items, or on-site infrastructure. DOE is to prioritize early site preparation and authorization activities with the goal of operating an advanced nuclear reactor at the first site no later than November 2027.
- Reactor testing at DOE sites: DOE is required to “significantly expedite” review, approval, and deployment of advanced nuclear at DOE sites. Specifically, according to the EO, DOE must create expedited procedures that enable qualified test reactors to be safely operational at DOE sites within two years of the submission of a substantially complete application.
- Pilot program for reactor construction and operation: DOE is directed to create a pilot program for reactor construction and operation outside the National Laboratories, under which DOE must approve at least three applications with the goal of achieving criticality in each of the three reactors by July 4, 2026.
- Restarting closed nuclear power plants: DOE and DOD are to consider restarting or repurposing closed nuclear power plants to serve as energy hubs for military microgrid support.
- Research and development opportunities: DOD and DOE are directed to execute contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and/or similar types of agreements (eg, OTAs) for research, development, design, acquisition, specification, construction, inspection, installation, certification, testing, overhaul, refueling, operation, maintenance, supply support, and disposition of advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
- Nuclear reactor supply chains: EO 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” identifies the need for the US government to build domestic supply chains sufficient to support the US nuclear energy industry.
- Spent nuclear fuel: The EOs indicate that the government will be issuing contracts for goods and services relating to the use of nuclear energy, such as remediation services and the removal and management of spent nuclear fuel. DOD and other federal agencies are tasked with developing a recommended national policy to support the management of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. DOE is tasked with creating a new program to dispose of surplus plutonium by processing and making it available to industry in a form that can be utilized for the fabrication of fuel for advanced nuclear technologies. Companies interested in providing input on those policies are encouraged to consider engaging with the relevant DOD and DOE offices in the near future.
- Workforce development: States and other grantees are encouraged to use grant funding to develop nuclear engineering and other nuclear energy-related skills and to support work-based learning opportunities.
Defense Production Act
EO 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” invokes the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), 50 U.S.C Chapter 55, to direct the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, to seek “voluntary agreements” with domestic nuclear energy companies. Under Section 708 of the DPA, these “voluntary agreements” exempt private companies from certain antitrust restrictions and permit cooperation and information sharing to address production and distribution challenges across the domestic industrial base.
Notably, the EO does not invoke the priorities and allocations authority under Title I of the DPA. However, parties to “voluntary agreements” under the DPA often find themselves in receipt of “rated orders” when the government has surge requirements or when there are supply chain constraints that limit the government’s ability to acquire critical supplies necessary for the national defense.
Accordingly, the EO’s directive on “voluntary agreements” indicates that significant government contracting opportunities could be on the horizon for companies in the nuclear sector.
Loan opportunities
The EOs directed DOE to provide funding for the restart, completion, uprate, or construction of nuclear power plants.
To accomplish this goal, the DOE Loan Programs Office is to prioritize activities that support nuclear energy, including through making funding available for restarting closed nuclear power plants, increasing power output of operating nuclear power plants, constructing nuclear reactors, and enhancing the nuclear fuel supply chain. More specifically, DOE is to provide funding sufficient to facilitate 5 gigawatts of power uprates to existing nuclear reactors and have 10 new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030.
The deadline for applying for such funding will move quickly, as DOE is required to identify “priority” companies for funding by November 2025. In deciding which companies to prioritize, DOE will consider degrees of design and technological maturity, financial backing, and potential for near-term deployment.
Conclusion
The opportunities discussed above will become available on a rolling basis.
[1] EO 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base”; EO 14299, “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security”; EO 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”; and EO 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy.”
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