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 so few nuclear plants have been built since the 1970s. Jaczko also said Trump’s actions would weaken the NRC and increase the chances of a serious accident.
“President Trump’s executive order shows he is committed to further lawlessness, more nuclear accidents, and less nuclear safety,” Jaczko said in a release. “This guillotine to the nation’s nuclear safety system will only make the country less safe, the industry less reliable, and the climate crisis more severe.”
The United States is the international leader in nuclear power generation, according to the World Nuclear Association. Southern Co.’s Vogtle 3 in Georgia was connected to the grid in April 2023, followed by unit 4 in March 2024, making them the newest reactors in the United States, according to the association.
Some priorities in the Trump executive orders were part of the “bipartisan ADVANCE Act of 2024, though they have now been reformulated with stricter deadlines and less deference to the NRC,” according to a Friday analysis by nuclear practice attorneys for the Pillsbury law firm.
Also, according to the Pillsbury law firm, conflicts between the House of Representatives budget reconciliation bill and the orders. “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 [Loan Program Office] LPO-backed financing less affordable and accessible.”
Executives such as Constellation Energy CEO Joseph Dominguez and Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte, who both attended the White House ceremony Friday praised the orders.
Plant operators spend too much time “answering silly questions” from NRC, especially when it comes to justifying license extensions for existing reactors, Dominguez said.
Other U.S. nuclear executives also praised the executive orders.
“We appreciate the administration’s ongoing actions to preserve existing nuclear plants and usher in the deployment of next generation nuclear,” said Nuclear Energy Institute CEO Maria Korsnick, who also attended the signing ceremony.
“By streamlining the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, accelerating the deployment of advanced reactors, and restoring the nuclear industrial base, the president is charting a course toward the nuclear renaissance that will power our nation’s future,” said Orano USA CEO Jean-Luc Palayer.
“These executive orders mark a pivotal step toward ensuring the long-term stability, technological innovation, regulatory efficiency, and global leadership of the United States in nuclear energy,” said U.S. Nuclear Industry Council CEO Todd Abrajano.