US President Donald Trump on Friday signed executive orders, which aims to four times the domestic production of nuclear power in the next 25 years. However, experts say that America is very difficult to reach this goal.
In order to accelerate the development of nuclear power, these orders have empowered the US Energy Secretary to approve advanced reactor designs and projects and have been taken away from the independent security agency regulating the US nuclear industry for five decades.
This order has come at a time when data centers and artificial intelligence have increased due to increase in demand for energy. Tech companies, venture capitalists, state and others are competing for electricity and putting pressure on the country’s electric grid.
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Internal Secretary Dag Bergam said, ‘We have enough electricity to win the AI weapons race with China. What we will do in the field of electricity in the next five years will decide the future of the industry for the next 50 years.
At the same time, experts believe that it is very difficult to four times nuclear production within the time frame set by the White House. In the US, no next generation reactors are currently operating commercially and only two new big reactors have been created in the last 50 years. These two reactors built at an atomic plant in Georgia have been completed with a delay of years and more than a budget of at least $ 17 billion.
American President is excited
During the signature ceremony at the Oval Office, Trump, surrounded by industry officials, termed nuclear power as a hot industry and said that now the time of nuclear power has come and we are going to do it on a very large scale.
“It will take back the excessive regulation on the industry for more than 50 years on the industry,” said Trump’s newly formed Energy Dominance Council President Bergam said. Bergam and other speakers said that the standoff has arisen in the industry and it is being interrupted due to excessive regulation.
These orders provide a provision to reorganize the independent nuclear regulatory commission (NRC) so that the review of nuclear projects is faster, including the NRC instructions to take action within 18 months deadline on industry applications. A pilot program has also been created with these measures, which aims to start three new experimental reactors by July 4, 2026.
Apart from this, emergency measures will be implemented using the Defense Production Act, so that the reactor fuel required for the modern nuclear power sector is ensured.
NRC spokesman Scott Burnel said on Friday that NRC is evaluating executive orders and will follow the instructions of the White House.