Despite Budget Trim, Staffing Shortfalls, Federal Nuclear Energy Push on Target

President Donald Trump has prioritized the development of reactor technologies by accelerating momentum established under 2024’s ADVANCE Act with four May 2025 executive orders that shorten licensing timelines, trim regulations, and streamline reviews in a drive to quadruple the nation’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050. But the reality of safely achieving that goal was questioned during an April 22 House hearing on the Trump administration’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) spending request, which clips allocations by 8 percent and staffing by 7 percent while pushing full-throttle to meet the president’s aim to license 10 new reactors by 2030, including three by July 4, 2026. The administration’s $892.3 million fiscal year 2027 proposed budget is $79 million less than this year’s outlay, with its largest component—$460.7 million for reactor research and testing—8.3 percent below 2026 enacted allocations, and its $132.4 million for nuclear materials and waste safety trimmed by 6.4 percent....