Appearing with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum as well as nuclear energy company heads, Trump signed four orders that aimed at slashing regulation in the nuclear industry. The orders call for a “total and complete reform” of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), cutting regulations for the industry. Under the new orders, the organization will have to approve or deny permits for nuclear reactors within 18 months, according to CNBC.
Burgum introduced the orders, saying that the moves will "turn the clock back on over 50 Years of over regulation of an industry," and added, "America has always American greatness has always come from innovation, and we were very innovative. We led post World War Two and all things nuclear. But then we've been stagnated. We've choked it with over regulation."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touched on how important the nuclear energy industry — with modular reactors — will be for the American military as well. After a few nuclear energy CEOs addressed the impacts of the orders, the president signed the orders.
An official handed the first order to Trump to be signed, saying that it will "speed up the approval and adoption process for specialized nuclear reactors" for sites involving AI as well as other technology.
The second that was signed by the president is aimed bringing the regulatory process" for the NRC "into line with the actual needs of the industry and public safety."
A third order invokes a "revised regulatory process" and will "create a new pilot program with an expectation that we will have three new experimental factors online by July 4, next year," the official said while handing the order to Trump.
The fourth order that Trump signed had to do with reinvigorating the nuclear industry and "includes an invocation of the defense production act in order to spur a closer collaboration with private industry to ensure that we have the fuel supplies we need for a modernized nuclear energy sector."
Trump signed a fifth, albeit not related to nuclear energy directly, but one that will establish better practices when it comes to studies and science-based literature that the US uses in order to create policies.
