On May 23rd, President Trump signed four executive orders related to nuclear power. Taken as a whole, these orders seek to streamline the approvals process for new nuclear reactors in the United States. One of the orders sets a goal of 10 large reactors under construction in the U.S. by 2030. The regulatory streamlining that predominates the orders is the correct response to rising power demand.
For an industry historically stymied by the federal government at every turn, interest in fast-tracking new nuclear projects is big news.
Companies reacted to the news immediately. Nuclear stocks shot up, and companies were quick to signal a readiness to build. Westinghouse, the developer of the AP1000 reactor in particular, showed a readiness to act.
Following the new orders, Westinghouse interim Chief Executive Dan Sumner said that the company was “uniquely positioned” to deliver on the 10-reactor goal thanks to its approved reactor design for the AP1000, existing supply chains, and recent experience building two reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The AP1000 is a 1,000 Megawatt (MW) reactor.
Sumner went on to say that, “There are 10 large nuclear reactors in the executive order and we believe that we can do them all with AP1000 reactors . . . Our customers, the hyperscalers, the tech firms, the suppliers are all coming together to try to figure out exactly how to deploy.”
Westinghouse experienced delays and cost overruns at Plant Vogtle, but much of this can be attributed to an unfriendly and constantly changing regulatory environment at the time.
Investment Bank TD Cowen estimates that if 10 reactors are built without cost overruns or delays, they will cost $75 billion.
There has been significant interest in the AP1000 design abroad. Westinghouse has partnered with power companies abroad to develop AP1000s internationally, including in Bulgaria, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, and Poland.
As power demand in the U.S. rises from Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers and other sources, new nuclear power plants would be a boon to grid reliability. Nuclear power is incredibly reliable, working optimally for about 92% of the time, meaning that it operates nearly all the time at its expected level of output. This is significantly higher than any other electricity source. The nuclear executive orders have increased interest in further nuclear development, mainly because of regulatory streamlining. The orders do reference existing government action, such as the use of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO), which offers subsidized loans, but most of the focus of the orders is free market. It will be interesting to see if Westinghouse can avoid the pitfalls of Plant Vogtle in developing new units.