Trump administration moves to accelerate US nuclear energy revival
US media has reported that President Donald Trump is preparing to sign executive orders to help accelerate developments within the domestic nuclear energy sector.
The move is aimed at reducing the red tape holding up the regulatory process on approvals for new reactors, while strengthening fuel supply chains.
The media reports noted that the new US administration has been debating four draft executive orders to boost nuclear power that seek ways to give the administration more power to approve reactors and reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Nuclear plans accelerating
A recent US Department of Energy (DOE) report has highlighted the jump-start the nuclear energy sector has received in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
The DOE said several major milestones had already been announced since President Trump took office, from strengthening the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain to supporting the first restart of a retired nuclear power plant.
“The long-awaited nuclear renaissance is right around the corner thanks to President Trump, as the administration works to restore American energy dominance and bring more reliable, secure, and affordable power back to US taxpayers,” the DOE stated.
Palisades nuclear plant
Among the highlights of the nuclear activities achieved under the new administration has been the proposed restart of the Palisades nuclear plant.
Palisades will provide 800 megawatts of baseload power in Michigan when completed, after the DOE announced second and third disbursements of up to $23.7 billion in loan guarantees to Holtec for the project.
Once fully approved, it will be the first restart of a retired commercial nuclear reactor in US history.
American-made SMRs
The DOE has also moved to back President Trump’s support for small modular reactors (SMRs) with the re-issuance of a $1.4b solicitation to support their deployment.
The modified solicitation process removed a 20 percent weighting for DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) imposed by the previous administration, to ensure potential SMR first-movers would be judged on technical merit alone.
With strong AI and data centre take-up, the DOE says US electricity demand is forecast to soar in the coming years and that next-generation SMRs could provide flexible, reliable power for energy-intensive sectors.
Reactor construction permit
Elsewhere, a construction permit application has been made to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a proposed advanced nuclear project in Seadrift, Texas.
The project is part of a demonstration program supported by the DOE and includes four Xe-100 reactors at a Dow chemical plant.
If approved, it would be the first advanced nuclear facility at an industrial site in the US.
HALEU commitment
Meanwhile, the DOE recently made conditional commitments to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to five US nuclear developers to meet their near-term fuel needs.
According to the DOE, a number of advanced reactors will need HALEU to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles and increased efficiencies over current technologies.
However, HALEU is not currently available from domestic suppliers.
The DOE said the first round of HALEU allocations would bring innovative American nuclear technologies one step closer to commercialisation and expand the use of nuclear energy in the nation.