A series of new executive orders call for prompt approval to expand the long process of the US nuclear energy sector.
US President Donald Trump has signed a series of new executive orders aimed at boosting the country’s nuclear energy production, repeating regulations.
Friday’s order, signed by Trump at an oval office event, called on the national independent nuclear regulatory commission to cut regulations and speedy new licensing for reactors and power plants.
In one order, a new reactor must be determined within 18 months. It will severely reduce processes that could take more than a decade. Speaking from the oval office, Trump described the nuclear industry as “hot.”
“It’s a great industry. You have to get it right,” he said, CEO of the nuclear company, Pete Hegses, Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Home Affairs Doug Burgham.
“The president’s actions will bring over 50 years of over-regulation in the nuclear industry back to the “clock.”
Trump’s order also called for a staffing level assessment at the Nuclear Regulation Authority, directing the U.S. energy and defense department to cooperate in building nuclear power plants on federal lands.
The construction of more nuclear reactors, which he told reporters before signing, is aimed at addressing the increased energy needs created by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
It was not immediately clear how much power Trump and the administrative department could assert against the Nuclear Regulation Commission, which Congress created as an independent body in 1974.
Trump’s order also calls for growth in domestic production and enrichment of uranium, the main fuel used in nuclear power.
“National Energy Emergency”
Since taking office in January for a second term, Trump has focused on deregulation in the energy industry, but much of the focus has been on fossil fuels.
On January 20th, when he returned to the White House, Trump declared a “national energy emergency.”
As part of that order, he asked the head of federal agencies to identify emergency situations that could be used to promote identification, lease, status, status, production, transportation, refinement and the generation of domestic energy resources on federal and non-federal lands.
He further called high energy prices a “active threat” to US citizens and national security.
Nuclear energy has long been a troubling problem in the United States, splitting people seeking alternatives to fossil fuels.
On the one hand, the industry offers a means to produce energy with low greenhouse gas emissions. However, nuclear energy production requires special storage to produce waste that can remain radioactive for a long period of time and ensure public safety.
Nuclear power also poses the risk of rare but potentially severe accidents.
For many, incidents like the three-mile island accident represent a possible danger. In 1979, a nuclear generator on a three-mile island in Pennsylvania suffered mechanical damage, releasing radioactive gases into the air, prompting a repulsion against nuclear power.
Even with Trump’s regulatory rollback, many experts in the field believe it will take the US years to expand its nuclear infrastructure.
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