Budget & Policy

Despite recent executive orders to speed up nuclear deployment, the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy would see a sizable reduction under the White House’s fiscal 2026 budget request. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)  on May 30 released its 1,220 paged technical supplement to its budget request for fiscal 2026, […]

In addition to trimming its budget, the Department of Energy’s cleanup program for Cold War and Manhattan Project sites could have roughly a quarter fewer federal employees in fiscal 2026 than it did two years earlier. That is one of the takeaways from the White House Office of Management and Budget’s 1,220-page technical supplement to […]

In a split decision, a federal appeals court panel Friday kept in place a lower court’s order temporarily blocking the White House from carrying out more mass layoffs at the Departments of Defense, Energy, Interior and many other agencies. In a 2-to-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit kept in place […]

As expected, President Donald Trump last week signed a set of executive orders designed to speed licensing of nuclear power reactors, both commercially and on federal installations, limit review by an independent nuclear regulator and beef up  the industry’s U.S. industrial base. Here is a thumbnail overview of each of the May 23 orders.  Overhauling […]

President Donald Trump’s executive orders announced Friday May 23 are designed to spark a resurgence of nuclear plant construction in the United States, and the reaction to the news fell along predictable lines. A former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) between 2009 and 2012, Gregory Jaczko, said the regulatory process is not why […]

One of President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive orders instructs the secretary of energy to replace the surplus plutonium dilute and dispose program with one to process excess plutonium for fuel for advanced nuclear technologies. Trump’s executive order entitled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” one of four nuclear-themed executive orders released last week, said the […]

President Donald Trump’s administration on May 23 ordered an overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 18 months in order to speed approval of advanced nuclear energy projects.  In the executive action “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”, Trump directed a major redesign of the independent regulatory agency’s structure and regulations.  NRC was […]

The Department of Energy could announce the first site for a data center to support artificial intelligence, which would be located on one of its federal installations, within 90 days, according to one of the nuclear executive orders Friday from President Donald Trump. Nuclear and non-nuclear support structures for such data centers on DOE installations […]

One of President Donald Trump’s Friday executive orders instructs the secretary of energy to replace the surplus plutonium dilute and dispose program with one to process excess plutonium for fuel for advanced nuclear technologies. Trump’s executive order entitled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” one of four nuclear-themed executive orders released last week, said the program […]

The Department of Energy could announce the first site for a data center to support artificial intelligence, which would be located on one of its federal installations, within 90 days, according to one of the nuclear executive orders Friday from President Donald Trump. Nuclear and non-nuclear support structures for such data centers on DOE installations […]

President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday ordered an overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 18 months in order to speed approval of advanced nuclear energy projects.  In the May 23 executive action “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”, Trump directed a major redesign of the independent regulatory agency’s structure and regulations.  NRC […]

President Donald Trump’s executive orders announced Friday May 23 are designed to spark a resurgence of nuclear plant construction in the United States, and the reaction to the news fell along predictable lines. A former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) between 2009 and 2012, Gregory Jaczko, said the regulatory process is not why […]

Breaking: Trump orders seek to speed reactor construction on commercial, defense sites As expected, President Donald Trump Friday signed a set of executive orders designed to speed licensing of nuclear power reactors, both commercially and on federal installations, limit review by an independent nuclear regulator and beef up  the industry’s U.S. industrial base. Here is […]

Amid fears the United States is losing ground to rivals in world nuclear power markets, a group of Republicans and Democrats this week introduced the International Nuclear Energy Act. “If the U.S. doesn’t lead on nuclear energy development, Russia and China will,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a Tuesday press release. “This bill will […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite cuts to the Office of Nuclear Energy, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Wednesday the Department of Energy will lean heavily on the Loan Programs Office to stimulate new nuclear reactor investments.  Wright spoke before the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee about the DOE’s budget request highlighted in the […]

President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to sign executive orders on Friday meant to speed nuclear power reactor licensing through expedited regulatory reviews and other changes. According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Trump could sign the executive orders “as soon as” Friday. Reuters also reported Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Trump will sign […]

President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to sign executive orders on Friday meant to speed nuclear power reactor licensing through expedited regulatory reviews and other changes. According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Trump could sign the executive orders “as soon as” Friday. Reuters also reported Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Trump will sign […]

A federal district judge in California has ruled President Donald Trump lacks authority to carry out mass layoffs and sweeping reorganization of U.S. government agencies without approval from Congress. As a result, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction suspending more large-scale workforce reductions at the Departments of Defense, Energy, Interior […]

Uncertainty over Department of Energy funding and guidance at the Hanford Site in Washington state threatens to bog down work at the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) told Secretary of Energy Chirs Wright Wednesday. “The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire […]

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a tax bill, was passed in the House in the middle of the night Wednesday into Thursday 215-214 largely on party lines with Republicans Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Warren Davidson (Ohio) voting against and Freedom Caucus chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) voting “present.” The portion relevant to the […]

Amid fears the United States is losing ground to rivals in world nuclear power markets, a group of Republicans and Democrats this week introduced the International Nuclear Energy Act. “If the U.S. doesn’t lead on nuclear energy development, Russia and China will,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a Tuesday press release. “This bill will […]

The U.S. Air Force B-52 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) has exceeded the 15% significant unit cost increase threshold “due to design, production, and installation cost increases,” the Air Force said on Monday. The Air Force program executive office for bombers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, while testifying and receiving questions in the Senate, said he is working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to get more than just a “skinny budget” to Congress. “We’re working with OMB to release more of that, but that’s still a work in progress,” Wright […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite cuts to the Office of Nuclear Energy, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Wednesday the Department of Energy will lean heavily on the Loan Programs Office to stimulate new nuclear reactor investments.  Wright spoke before the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee about the DOE’s budget request highlighted in the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, while testifying and receiving questions in the Senate, said he is working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to get more than just a “skinny budget” to Congress. “We’re working with OMB to release more of that, but that’s still a work in progress,” Wright […]

Uncertainty over Department of Energy funding and guidance at the Hanford Site in Washington state threatens to bog down work at the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) told Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Wednesday. “The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire […]

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has died at age 75, only weeks after publicly announcing his cancer had returned. Connolly died early Wednesday morning, according to a family statement posted on his Congressional website. “It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted […]

Amid fears the United States is losing ground to rivals in world nuclear power markets, a group of Republicans and Democrats this week introduced the International Nuclear Energy Act. “If the U.S. doesn’t lead on nuclear energy development, Russia and China will,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a Tuesday press release. “This bill will […]

The U.S. Air Force B-52 Radar Modernization Program (RMP) has exceeded the 15% significant unit cost increase threshold “due to design, production, and installation cost increases,” the Air Force said on Monday. The Air Force program executive office for bombers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio […]

The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces will hear testimony Tuesday on Department of Energy defense activities and Department of Defense nuclear weapons programs while reviewing the fiscal 2026 defense authorization request. The hearing is scheduled to start on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time in Russel Senate Office Building, room 222. The witnesses […]