POLICY & FINANCE | US BUDGET REQUEST
Trump’s new nuclear energy direction
Ambitions to become a global energy powerhouse bode well for the US nuclear sector under the second Trump administration which has instigated a swathe of rulings designed to accelerate the development of a domestic nuclear industry.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S STATED AIM is to ‘Achieve American Energy Dominance’, which would see the federal government maximise extraction of the country’s energy resources (except its wind and solar resources) in order to provide abundant energy for domestic use and excess fossil fuels for export. In this paradigm, nuclear is favoured both as domestic generation (using US uranium) and as a key technology, in the form of new-build reactors, both to meet domestic needs and to offer a new technology export opportunity. This was reflected in President Trump’s FY26 discretionary funding request. Introducing the proposed budget, the president promised to “unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources”, while at the same time cancelling the Biden administration’s $15bn Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) investment in renewable energy and carbon dioxide removal. The proposed Budget, “reorients Department of Energy funding toward research and development of technologies that could produce an abundance of domestic fossil energy and critical minerals, innovative concepts for nuclear reactors and advanced nuclear fuels, and technologies that promote firm baseload power”. It simultaneously proposes a $5.7bn cut in IIJA funding to the Department of Transportation, which would have stimulated electricity demand via support for electric vehicle charging.
Budgetary requests reflect the Executive Orders (EOs) announced by President Trump since his inauguration in January. On 20 January EO 14156, on Declaring a National Energy Emergency, called on the heads of executive departments and agencies to source and deploy domestic energy resources on Federal lands and beyond, using “lawful emergency authorities” to act, as well as their ongoing authority. Domestic energy resources include uranium, as well as fossil fuels and, despite the characterisation of “unreliable renewable energy”, biofuels, geothermal heat and hydro power. On 14 February, a second EO (14213) on Establishing the
National Energy Dominance Council was again focused on expanding US energy production. The EO said: “it shall be the policy of my Administration to make America energy dominant”. The new Dominance Council would advise the President on how to realise that goal. It would set long-term goals to cut red tape, enhance private sector investments across the energy-producing economy, focus on innovation and eliminate unnecessary regulation. Despite the EOs’ focus on new technology, the President’s funding request would reduce funding at the Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) by £260m. The request says this is a “fiscally responsible level for high risk, high reward research advancing reliable energy technologies and other critical and emerging technologies” and it would cut
Above: The Trump administration’s stated aim is to ‘Achieve American Energy Dominance’ 22 | July 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45
