In the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, he has pushed heavily for nuclear power to play a larger role in the United States’s energy portfolio.
Trump’s second term started Jan. 20, 2025 and hit the one-year mark on Tuesday. The Department of Energy released a roundup Tuesday highlighting Trump administration actions in the energy sector.
In May 2025, Trump issued four nuclear-related executive actions meant to streamline nuclear licensing and create momentum to build more nuclear reactors.
The orders are meant to advance the administration’s goal to expand the domestic nuclear energy capacity from nearly 100 gigawatts in 2024 to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
Through Trump’s executive orders, DOE announced its reactor pilot program in June 2025 and a supplementary nuclear fuel line program in July 2025. The advanced reactor pilot program sets a goal of having at least three demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4, 2026.
The fuel line program was created to support the reactor pilot program and to strengthen the U.S. nuclear supply chain. DOE made several selections for both the advanced reactor and fuel line production programs during the past year.
DOE and the White House also supported ongoing industry efforts to bring retired nuclear reactor units back into service.
In November 2025, DOE, through its Loan Program Office, announced that it had closed a $1 billion loan to restart operations at Three Mile Island Unit 1, now known as Crane Clean Energy Center.
The restart of the power plant, located near Middletown, Penn. is expected to bring around 850 megawatts back on the grid and create over 600 jobs, DOE said.