President Trump issued the following Executive Orders to ignite the “Nuclear Renaissance” that is consequently taking the state of Wyoming by storm. Below the list we are providing our own summary for each Executive Order.
(#1) Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission , May 23, 2025
(#2) Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy , May 23, 2025
(#3) Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, May 23, 2025
(#4) Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base , May 23, 2025
#1 Summary: ORDERING THE REFORM OF THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, May 23, 2025
For “economic and national security”, “to produce lasting American dominance in the global nuclear energy market“, and “to create tens of thousands of high-paying jobs and generate American-led prosperity and resilience” this executive order aims to reform the NRC culture, structure, personnel, regulations, and basic operations. To accomplish much of this, the Trump admin is employing DOGE (Dept. of Government Efficiency) to:
- Reform and Modernize NRC’s Regulations
- Adopt science-based radiation limits: reconsider the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure and the “as low as reasonably achievable” standard
- Reorganize the NRC to promote the expeditious processing of license applications
- Reduce personnel and functions of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)
- Revise policies to support Jan 20, 2025 EO “Unleashing American Energy”
To carry out:
- Facilitate increased deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies
- Establish an expedited pathway to approve reactor designs
- Establish a process for high-volume licensing
- Lower regulatory and cost barriers
- Facilitate expansion of nuclear energy 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050
- Accelerate the modeling, simulation, testing, and approval of new reactor designs
- Reactivate prematurely shuttered or partially completed nuclear facilities
- Streamline the public hearings process
Corresponding federal agencies within this #1 Executive Order:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); Office of Management and Budget; Department of Defense (DOD); Department of Energy (DOE); Environmental Protection Agency; Council on Environmental Quality.
Deadlines within this #1 Executive Order:
| Deadline | EO Provision |
| 23-Jan-2026 | The NRC, working with its DOGE Team, the Office of Management and Budget, and other executive departments and agencies as appropriate, shall undertake a review and wholesale revision of its regulations and guidance documents, and issue notice(s) of proposed rulemaking effecting this revision within 9 months of the date of this order. |
| 23-May-2026 | a deadline of no more than 1 year for final decision on an application to continue operating an existing reactor of any type, commencing with the first required step in the regulatory process. |
| 23-Nov-2026 | The NRC shall issue final rules and guidance to conclude this revision process within 18 months of the date of this order |
| 23-Nov-2026 | a deadline of no more than 18 months for final decision on an application to construct and operate a new reactor of any type, commencing with the first required step in the regulatory process |
#2 Summary: REFORMING NUCLEAR REACTOR TESTING AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, May 23, 2025
This executive order aims to “foster nuclear innovation and bring advanced nuclear technologies into domestic production as soon as possible“, to “open a range of new applications to support data centers, microchip manufacturing, petrochemical production, healthcare, desalination, hydrogen production, and other industries.”
At this stage in America’s industrial evolution:
- Reform the National Laboratory Process for Reactor Testing
- Revise and expedite regulations, guidance, and procedures and practices of the Department of Energy, the National Laboratories, and any other entity under the Department’s jurisdiction
- Prioritize qualified test reactor projects
- Deploying advanced reactors for research purposes (and not to produce commercial electric power)
- Creating certain parameters where reactors will be located on existing sites, or utilizing alternative procedures under NEPA
- Establish a Pilot Program Outside the National Laboratories
- for reactor construction and operation outside the National Laboratories, including reactors “under contract with and for the account of” the Department of Energy
- Streamline Environmental Reviews
Corresponding federal agencies within this #2 Executive Order:
Department of Energy (DOE); Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); National Laboratory or Laboratories; Department’s Office of General Counsel; Council on Environmental Quality; Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Deadlines within this #2 Executive Order:
| Deadline | EO Provision |
| 30-Jun-2025 | a) The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, take action to reform the Department’s rules governing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) no later than June 30, 2025, consistent with the policies articulated in sections 2 and 5 of Executive Order 14154 of January 20, 2025 (Unleashing American Energy), and with applicable law. |
| 23-Jul-2025 | (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall issue guidance regarding what counts as a qualified test reactor for purposes of this order. |
| 23-Aug-2025 | (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall take appropriate action to revise the regulations, guidance, and procedures and practices of the Department, the National Laboratories, and any other entity under the Department’s jurisdiction to significantly expedite the review, approval, and deployment of advanced reactors under the Department’s jurisdiction. The Secretary shall ensure that the Department’s expedited procedures enable qualified test reactors to be safely operational at Department-owned or Department-controlled facilities within 2 years following the submission of a substantially complete application. |
| 4-Jul-2026 | (a) The Secretary shall create a pilot program for reactor construction and operation outside the National Laboratories, pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act’s authorization of reactors under the Department’s sufficient control, including reactors “under contract with and for the account of” the Department, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2140. The Secretary shall approve at least three reactors pursuant to this pilot program with the goal of achieving criticality in each of the three reactors by July 4, 2026. |
| 23-May-2027 | (c) The term “qualified test reactor” means an advanced reactor that satisfies thresholds established by the Department sufficient to demonstrate that, from the perspective of technical development and financial backing, the reactor may feasibly be operational within 2 years from the date a substantially complete application is submitted. |
#3 Summary: DEPLOYING ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR NATIONAL SECURITY, May 23, 2025
This executive order aims to “ensure a resilient, secure, and reliable energy supply for critical defense facilities”
- Ensure the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies to support national security objectives.
- Enable private sector investment, innovation, development, and use of advanced nuclear technologies
- aligning incentives to fully leverage federally owned uranium and plutonium resources.
- Coordinate regulatory efforts across the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy
- Deployment and Use of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies at Military Installations
- Designating AI data centers within the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia, in whole or in part, that are located at or operated in coordination with Department of Energy facilities, including as support for national security missions, as critical defense facilities, where appropriate.
- Designate one or more sites owned or controlled by the Department of Energy within the United States, including national laboratories, for the use and deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
- Identify all useful uranium and plutonium material within the Department of Energy’s inventories that may be recycled or processed into nuclear fuel for reactors in the United States.
- Release into a readily available fuel bank not less than 20 metric tons of high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for any project from the private sector which receives authorization to construct and operate at a Department of Energy-owned or controlled site and that is regulated by the Department of Energy for the purpose of powering AI and other infrastructure.
- ensure that a long-term supply of enriched uranium is available for the continued operation of projects – to reduce reliance on foreign sources of fuel.
- Site, approve, and authorize the design, construction, and operation of privately-funded nuclear fuel
recycling, reprocessing, and reactor fuel fabrication technologies at identified sites, for the purpose of fabricating fuel forms for use in national security reactors, commercial power reactors, and non-power research reactors. - Promote American Nuclear Exports
Corresponding federal agencies within this #3 Executive Order:
Department of Defense (DOD); Department of Energy (DOE); Secretary of State; Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality; Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); Department of Commerce; United States Trade and Development Agency; Secretary of the Treasury; Office of Science and Technology Policy; Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council; Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
Deadlines within this #3 Executive Order:
| 23-Jun-2025 | The Secretary of Energy, subject to the concurrence of the Secretary of State and after consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Defense, shall approve or deny each technology transfer export authorization request within 30 days of receipt of a complete application and completion by the Department of Energy of the required accompanying analysis, |
| 23-Aug-2025 | (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall designate one or more sites owned or controlled by the Department of Energy within the United States, including national laboratories, for the use and deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies. |
| 23-Aug-2025 | Sec. 5. Uranium and Related Materials for Reactors Referenced in this Order. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall identify all useful uranium and plutonium material within the Department of Energy’s inventories that may be recycled or processed into nuclear fuel for reactors in the United States |
| 23-Aug-2025 | (c) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of OMB, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, determine a strategy |
| 23-Aug-2025 | (d) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of OMB, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, determine a strategy |
| 23-Aug-2025 | (e) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State or his designee shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Energy, and after review by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, implement a program to enhance the global competitiveness of American nuclear suppliers, investors, and lenders to compete for nuclear projects around the globe |
| 23-Jan-2026 | (d) Within 240 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Secretaries of the military departments, prepare and submit to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs recommendations for legislative proposals and regulatory actions regarding the distribution, operation, replacement, and removal of advanced nuclear reactors and spent nuclear fuel on military installations. |
| 23-Nov-2027 | The Secretary of Energy shall prioritize early site preparation and authorization activities with a goal of operating an advanced nuclear reactor at the first site no later than 30 months from the date of this order. |
| 23-May-2029 | (v) achieving competitive parity in the global market for high-level advocacy and representation from the Federal Government to foreign governments of potential import countries to include alignment on nuclear-related bilateral issues, focusing on countries with the highest probability of nuclear deployment within the next 4 years. |
#4 Summary:
References to funding within this #4 Executive Order:
Corresponding federal agencies within this #4 Executive Order:
Deadlines within this #4 Executive Order:
Other Executive Orders related to Trump’s Nuclear Renaissance:
Protecting American Energy From State Overreach, April 8, 2025
Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure, July 23, 2025
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