Nuclear Energy Policy

The U.S. Department of Energy has quietly moved to exclude a broad class of advanced nuclear test reactors from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, issuing a Federal Register notice Monday that declares such projects categorically exempt from environmental impact statements or assessments. The change, ordered by President Trump in a May 2025 nuclear‑power executive order, applies to experimental reactors being built at sites like Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to have at least three advanced designs operating by July 4, 2026 to help power energy‑hungry AI data centers. DOE argues the designs employ 'inherent' and 'passive' safety features that make full NEPA reviews unnecessary, but nuclear‑safety experts such as Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists warn that these largely untested concepts 'on paper' are still capable of severe accidents and should face more, not less, environmental and safety scrutiny. The step comes just days after NPR revealed DOE had already, in secret, relaxed internal nuclear safety, security and environmental rules to speed these projects, deepening concern among watchdogs that the administration is dismantling traditional checks on new reactor designs while channeling billions in private and public money into them. For U.S. communities near test sites, and for a grid increasingly tied to both nuclear power and AI‑driven demand, the exemption means fewer public disclosures and fewer formal opportunities to contest or shape projects that carry long‑term environmental and accident risks.