U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders as early as Friday to revitalize the American nuclear energy sector. The move comes as rising energy demands driven by artificial intelligence create what Energy Secretary Chris Wright calls a "Manhattan Project 2" moment—referring to the urgent development of atomic technology during WWII.
The executive actions aim to streamline the regulatory process for building new nuclear reactors and secure domestic fuel supply chains. A draft summary indicates that Trump will invoke the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to declare a national emergency over U.S. reliance on enriched uranium and reactor components from Russia and China.
Key directives include fast-tracking site approvals for nuclear facilities, identifying federal lands for deployment, and encouraging the Department of Energy and Department of Defense to ease construction processes. The plan also calls for the expanded use of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) to finance nuclear projects. Previously underutilized during Trump's first term, the LPO now holds hundreds of billions in funding due to laws passed under the Biden administration.
Sources say nuclear industry leaders, including the Nuclear Energy Institute and Constellation Energy, may attend a signing ceremony. The executive orders, still in draft form, could undergo changes before finalization.
While nuclear energy is valued by Democrats for its low carbon emissions, Republicans support it for providing stable, baseload power—unlike intermittent wind and solar sources. However, the U.S. still lacks a permanent solution for nuclear waste storage.
As China leads the global expansion of nuclear power, the U.S. is seeking to reclaim its leadership in the sector, which once pioneered the technology and still holds the world’s largest nuclear power capacity.