Trump Signs Executive Orders to Boost US Nuclear Energy

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed executive orders Friday intended to boost the U.S. nuclear energy industry by reducing regulatory burdens and increasing domestic production of uranium.

Nuclear power plants would produce four times as much electricity for the United States compared with now under Trump’s plan. This year, they are expected to produce about one-fifth of U.S. electrical output.

Much of the new nuclear generation would be done on public lands in a move nearly certain to outrage environmentalists.

“It’s a hot industry, it’s a brilliant industry,” Trump said about nuclear energy before signing four executive orders in the Oval Office. 

One order would speed up the permitting process for nuclear plant operators. A second order allows the Department of Energy to build plants on federal lands. A third provides incentives for domestic uranium mining and enrichment. A fourth would reorganize the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The permitting process for nuclear plants currently can take a decade and $35 million in regulatory costs, according to industry officials.

“We’re going to get it very fast and we’re going to get it very safe,” Trump said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be required to review and approve or disapprove a permit within 18 months under Trump’s orders.

Part of the Trump administration’s motivation comes from the growth of artificial intelligence.

The technology is becoming a core feature of U.S. industries but it also consumes enormous amounts of electricity through the data centers that power it.

The electricity demand for U.S. data centers is expected to triple by 2030 to more than 600 terawatt-hours, according to a projection from the business consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

The United States is on track to break electricity consumption records in 2025 and 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Electrical generation — much of it from polluting fossil fuels — is not growing at the same pace.

Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gases, only the potentially deadly radiation that led to major meltdowns at plants in Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Fukushima, Japan, in 2011.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said “overregulation” has impeded growth of the nuclear energy industry. Only two nuclear reactors have been built in the United States in the past 30 years.

There are 54 nuclear power plants in 28 states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Their average age is 42 years old.

Burgum said more nuclear energy is important to stay competitive with China in artificial intelligence.

Stock prices for nuclear energy companies, such as Constellation Energy, Centrus Energy and Uranium Energy, shot up on the stock market Friday.

Trump was surrounded by corporate executives from some of the companies during the White House signing ceremony.

One of them was Joseph Dominguez, Constellation Energy’s chief executive officer. “This is an abrupt change,” Dominguez told CNBC after the ceremony.

Many of the regulations needed before nuclear reactors can start operating are redundant, he said.

In addition to speeding development of nuclear plants, Dominguez said the executive orders would ensure a secure supply of domestic uranium. Most of the uranium used in the United States now comes from Canada, Russia and Turkey.

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