Episode summary
White House Pushes to Unlock Nuclear Energy with 'UPRISE' | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 8 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec, Christina Ruffini, Emily Graffeo · Guests: Ho K. Nieh
Summary
The discussion centered on the Trump administration’s push to speed up nuclear power deployment, including White House support for the UPRISE event and new efforts to uprate existing reactors. Ho K. Nieh said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made “major progress” over the past year, including renewing operating licenses for 18 reactors and preparing licensing frameworks for commercial deployment and power increases. He framed the agency’s role as delivering “credible, predictable, and timely” safety decisions so projects are not delayed.
Nieh rejected the idea that the NRC is weakening safety standards. Instead, he said the agency is streamlining internal workflows and reviewing decades-old rules that were written for older reactor designs. He pointed to a new licensing framework published in March that is meant to work for any reactor type and to support faster, technology-neutral reviews.
He also said the agency has no role in deciding where data centers are built, but it will review any reactor application intended to power one. On technology, he described a new generation of reactors that includes large, small, and micro designs, uses non-water coolants, and relies on passive safety features and more tolerant fuels.
Key takeaways
- Ho K. Nieh said the NRC has renewed operating licenses for 18 U.S. reactors, allowing them to run for another 20 years.
- Nieh said the NRC is not lowering safety standards, but is removing outdated, 70-year-old regulatory conservatisms and improving workflow efficiency.
- The NRC published a technology-neutral licensing framework in March for any reactor type, which Nieh said is designed to speed reviews without sacrificing safety.
- Nieh said the NRC has no role in siting data centers, but it will review reactor applications that aim to power them.
- He described next-generation reactors as ranging from large gigawatt units to microreactors, using different coolants and passive safety systems.
Notable quotes
“there absolutely has been major progress being made since President Trump issued his nuclear executive orders just a year ago last month”
“We have actually renewed the operating licenses for 18 of the operating power reactors in the United States so they can continue operating for another 20 additional years”
“the NRC is not lowering its standards for safety. We are actually increasing our focus on safety by really looking at what matters most”
“many of these regulations were put in place nearly 70 years ago when we knew much less about these reactor technologies than we know today”
“They use coolants that are not light water. They use non other types of coolant such as high temperature gas or molten salt”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
Well, last year, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at bolstering the nuclear energy industry in the United States, including one telling the Department of Energy to approve at least three reactors by July 4th, 2026. Yes, this year. The Department of Energy has also altered or removed some of the regulatory framework around the industry to expedite the buildout of new nextgen reactors which has raised some questions about safety and it's at a time when the US and the world are of course drastically increasing energy needs to power AI.
Joining us now to talk about this is US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Hony. Chairman, thank you for joining us. I know you had a big event at the White House today.
Uh, I wanted to ask you, has there been any progress in the effort to get these big nuclear projects going? I know they were supposed to be at least three by July 4th, 2026. That's coming up pretty soon.
And then hopefully 10 big reactors under construction by 2030. But so far, we haven't seen any actual tangible announcements. Uh, can you give us a status update?
Sure, I can. So, there absolutely has been major progress being made since President Trump issued his nuclear executive orders just a year ago last month. As you have heard, the Department of Energy has announced a criticality with one of their 11 reactors going through the pilot project, which is a very big milestone in terms of reactor development.
What the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is doing as the nation's nuclear safety regulator, we are preparing the licensing frameworks for applications for commercial deployment.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- nuclear energy
- white house policy
- nuclear regulation
- energy demand
- uprise initiative
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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