The Donald Trump administration, which seeks to become an ‘energy dominant nation’, has begun to drive the ‘reconstruction of a nuclear powerhouse’. On the 23rd (local time), President Trump signed four executive orders to accelerate the construction of nuclear power plants and significantly ease regulations related to nuclear power plants. He said, “This executive order will make the United States a true power (country) in the nuclear industry again.”<\/p>\n
The executive orders signed that day include<\/p>\n
\u25b6 reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)<\/p>\n
\u25b6 streamlining the Department of Energy’s nuclear reactor testing<\/p>\n
\u25b6 rapid deployment of advanced nuclear power plant technology<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u25b6 revitalizing nuclear power plant bases. The key is to quadruple the nuclear power generation capacity of the United States by 2050. This is higher than the previous Joe Biden administration’s plan to triple the capacity by the same period. To this end, the U.S. Department of Energy has decided to start construction of 10 new large-scale nuclear reactors by 2030.<\/p>\n
President Trump instructed the Secretary of the Army to establish a program to operate and start nuclear reactors at military facilities within the next three years to supply power to artificial intelligence (AI) data centres designated as important defence facilities.<\/p>\n
The White House pointed out in a reference material that day, \u201cSince 1978, only two new nuclear reactors have been put into commercial operation in the United States,\u201d and \u201cAlthough nuclear power technology has advanced, it is safer and cheaper than ever, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has failed to approve new nuclear power plants due to an overly risk-averse culture that requires as little radiation as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Trump has instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to lower regulatory barriers through an executive order, including shortening the approval process for new nuclear power plants to 18 months. President Trump said, \u201cThis is the nuclear era, and we are going to push forward very, very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
This executive order also includes provisions to provide funding, such as loan guarantees, for the expansion of nuclear power plants, including the restart of closed nuclear power plants and the completion of construction of nuclear power plants that have been suspended. The Secretary of Energy was instructed to work with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to provide priority funding to companies with the ability to rapidly deploy advanced nuclear power technology. It also includes provisions to guarantee the mining, processing, and refining of nuclear minerals such as uranium. \u201c<\/p>\n
This action will turn back the clock on more than 50 years of over-regulation of the nuclear industry,\u201d said Doug Burgum, the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cenergy czar.\u201d Since declaring a national energy emergency upon taking office on January 20, President Trump has continued to push for deregulation of fossil fuels, including expanding oil and gas drilling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"