For months, it seemed like the Trump administration was saying one thing about nuclear energy and doing another.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright waxed poetic about the need for new reactors to power future energy demand. But the White House proposed gutting the budget for the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy, firing most of the staff at the Loan Programs Office right as the in-house lender was supporting reactor projects, and working with Republicans in Congress to phase out key tax credits to support atomic power stations.
On Friday, President Donald Trump attempted to reverse course.
Flanked by chief executives from Constellation Energy, the nation’s largest nuclear utility, and Oklo, the darling of Silicon Valley’s microreactor startups, in the Oval Office, Trump signed a series of four executive orders designed to jumpstart construction of new nuclear power plants across the United States. The orders direct the military and the Energy Department to take a more active role in building new reactors and intensify the White House’s effort to take control over the previously independent watchdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yet analysts warned that the executive actions may not be enough to counteract the federal cuts.
In fact, the way the orders are written threatens to increase uncertainty and invite political blowback before any reforms can be fully implemented, potentially making multi-billion-dollar investments in nuclear plants more risky.
“Nuclear is a big, complicated, expensive endeavor, and there’s a misconception by some that if you simply cut red tape everything else will magically be solved,” said Josh Freed, the director of the climate and energy program at the think tank Third Way. “I’m incredibly dubious of that.”
The first order instructed the Department of Defense to deploy new reactor technologies at military bases in a bid to allow developers to circumvent rules for civilian plants. The second order targeted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission directly, mandating tighter deadlines and a study on whether the watchdog should assess the risks of radiation exposure differently while calling for staffing cuts. The third order directed the Department of Energy to speed up testing of new reactors and approve at least three new designs by July 4, 2026.
The fourth and perhaps most impactful order outlined a plan to “reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base” through direct federal funding for uranium fuel and new reactors, starting construction on at least 10 new large-scale reactors by the end of the decade, and opening the door to reprocessing spent fuel waste.
Some of the orders simply reinforce changes already underway thanks to the Biden administration’s nuclear policies or the ADVANCE Act Congress passed last year to hasten the NRC’s approvals of new, next-generation reactors. Much of what is new depends on initiating reviews or studies that require agencies to “spend 90 or 180 days to 18 months analyzing and thinking, and then issue reports or changes,” said Brett Rampal, the senior director of nuclear and power strategy at the consultancy Veriten.
“For a while, this may introduce a lot of uncertainty even if the resulting change happens or is positive,” he said. “The clock is ticking until midterm elections and if things don’t happen, and Congress decides to start functioning and doing its job again, we could see further uncertainty fueled by rollback discussions.”
Trump’s order to the NRC is predicated on a previous White House executive action aimed at seizing control over independent agencies, including the nuclear regulator. While that initial executive order from February has yet to be decided in court, government accountability watchdogs called the action illegal.
“This recent order with the NRC tells the agency to do specific actions which would implement direct control by the president,” said Adam Stein, the director of the nuclear energy innovation program at the Breakthrough Institute. “But it also says it’s subject to all relevant statutes.”
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that established federal rules for nuclear energy and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 that created the NRC “both say the commission shall set the necessary level of regulation,” Stein said.
“It’s not the commission and OMB or OIRA or the president shall,” he added, referring to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. “It’s the commission shall.”
That, Stein said, “is actually introducing a little more uncertainty” than the existing regulatory approach developers blamed for ratcheting up the costs of nuclear projects.
“On net, there could be improvements in efficiency,” he said. “But this absolutely increases uncertainty because it’s unclear what the path forward will be or what the final product will be.”
Ultimately, Stein said, “it completely depends on how it’s implemented and who’s implementing it.”
“Is it going to be the commission that implements it?” he said. “Or is it going to be DOGE that implements these changes?”
The Department of Government Efficiency, the internal federal taskforce organized by billionaire donor Elon Musk to slash jobs and spending, was largely responsible for laying off key federal employees at the Energy Department’s nuclear offices.
On Tuesday, two sources with direct knowledge told Latitude Media on condition of anonymity, officials from DOGE were at the NRC.
