Trump Plans to Quadruple U.S. Nuclear Power Capacity by 2050

U.S President Donald Trump declared that “the age of nuclear energy has arrived” as he signed four executive orders aimed at easing regulations on the nuclear power industry. His plan calls for concluding reactor construction permit decisions within 18 months, breaking ground on 10 large-scale reactors by 2030, and quadrupling the country’s nuclear power capacity by 2050. As the United States may find it difficult to achieve its goals alone, attention is turning to the possibility of industrial cooperation between South Korea and the U.S.

At the signing ceremony held at the White House on May 23 (local time), Trump was joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and top CEOs from the nuclear industry. “Nuclear is a very safe and environmentally friendly industry,” Trump said. “We need to do it right, and we’re going to go very big.” While the executive orders focus on small modular reactors (SMRs), Trump emphasized that large-scale nuclear power plants would also be built. He had pledged during his presidential campaign to significantly ease regulations on nuclear power, and on his first day in office, declared a national energy emergency and signaled his pro-nuclear stance.

The four executive orders consist of reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), overhauling nuclear energy research within the Department of Energy, promoting nuclear plant construction on federal lands, and expanding domestic uranium mining and enrichment. The goal is to increase nuclear generation capacity from the current 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050. The orders also include a requirement that decisions on new reactor permits be made within 18 months. Currently, environmental reviews alone typically take two to three years, and including all related procedures, the process often extends several more years. The directive shortens this timeline to just a year and a half. Furthermore, the NRC has been instructed to consider not only traditional factors such as safety and environmental impact, but also the economic and national security benefits of nuclear power. The orders also direct the NRC to reduce its staff and to scale back the size and function of its Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to only the bare minimum necessary.

The White House explained that “133 reactors were built before 1978, but since then, only two commercial reactors have gone into operation,” attributing the decline to excessive regulation. Earlier this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that electricity demand in the U.S. would reach 4.205 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) this year and 4.252 trillion kWh next year, breaking the all-time high of 4.097 trillion kWh recorded last year.

There are also concerns that the U.S. may not be able to achieve these goals on its own, which could open the door to opportunities for South Korea. The New York Times noted that one of the executive orders instructs the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) to secure funding for restarting decommissioned nuclear plants and constructing new reactors. However, due to restructuring under the Trump administration, the LPO’s staff has been cut in half, and Republican lawmakers in the House have proposed reducing its budget. Analysts point out that if federal support for reactor construction proves inadequate, potentially leading private-sector investment to fall short of expectations, South Korea may be in a position to fill the resulting gap.