United States President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the nation’s independent nuclear regulatory commission to reduce regulations and fast-track new licenses for reactors and power plants, seeking to shorten a multi-year process to 18 months.
The requirement was part of a batch of executive orders signed by Trump on Friday that aim to boost United States nuclear energy production amid a boom in demand from data centres and artificial intelligence.
Licensing for reactors in the US can take over a decade at times, a process designed to prioritize nuclear safety, but which has discouraged new projects.
“This is going to turn the clock back on over 50 years of overregulation of an industry,” United States Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who heads the White House Energy Dominance Council, said in the Oval Office.
The moves include a substantial overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including examining staffing levels and directing the Energy and Defense departments to work together to build nuclear plants on federal lands.
The administration envisions the Department of Defence taking a prominent role in ordering reactors and installing them on military bases, a senior White House official said.
The orders also seek to reinvigorate uranium production and enrichment in the United States.
Trump had declared a national energy emergency in January as one of his first acts in office, saying the US had inadequate supplies of electricity to meet the country’s growing needs, particularly for data centers that run artificial intelligence systems.
Most of Trump’s actions have focused on boosting fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, but administration officials also support nuclear power, which in recent years has attracted growing bipartisan support.
