Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy

               By the authority vested in me as President by the 
               Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
               America, it is hereby ordered:

               Section 1. Purpose. The United States led the 
               development of civilian nuclear power through the 
               Atomic Energy Commission, the National Reactor Testing 
               Station (now known as Idaho National Laboratory), and 
               several other Federal Government entities. This work 
               produced safe and abundant energy. But in the decades 
               since, commercial deployment of new nuclear 
               technologies has all but stopped. The Idaho National 
               Laboratory has principal responsibility for 
               constructing and testing new reactor designs; it 
               concluded construction of new reactors in the 1970s. 
               Our proud history of innovation has succumbed to 
               overregulated complacency.

               As I stated in Executive Order 14156 of January 20, 
               2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), the 
               United States needs a reliable, diversified, and 
               affordable supply of energy to drive development of 
               advanced technologies, manufacturing, transportation, 
               agriculture, and defense industries, and to sustain 
               modern life and national security. Nuclear energy both 
               is vital to this effort and has never held so much 
               promise. Decades of research and engineering have 
               produced prototypes of advanced nuclear technologies 
               that incorporate passive safety mechanisms, improve the 
               physical architecture of reactor designs, increase 
               reactor operational flexibility and performance, and 
               reduce risk in fuel disposal. Advanced reactors--
               including microreactors, small modular reactors, and 
               Generation IV and Generation III+ reactors--have 
               revolutionary potential. They will open a range of new 
               applications to support data centers, microchip 
               manufacturing, petrochemical production, healthcare, 
               desalination, hydrogen production, and other 
               industries.

               The United States cultivated the effort to design and 
               build the first Generation IV reactor for commercial 
               use, but the Federal Government has effectively 
               throttled the domestic deployment of advanced reactors, 
               ceding the initiative to foreign nations in building 
               this critical technology. That changes today. It is the 
               policy of my Administration to foster nuclear 
               innovation and bring advanced nuclear technologies into 
               domestic production as soon as possible.

               Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

                   (a) The term ``advanced reactor'' has the same 
               meaning as the term ``advanced nuclear reactor'' in 42 
               U.S.C. 16271(b)(1).
                   (b) The term ``Department'' means the Department of 
               Energy.
                   (c) The term ``qualified test reactor'' means an 
               advanced reactor that satisfies thresholds established 
               by the Department sufficient to demonstrate that, from 
               the perspective of technical development and financial 
               backing, the reactor may feasibly be operational within 
               2 years from the date a substantially complete 
               application is submitted.
                   (d) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
               Energy.

               Sec. 3. Findings. With some rare and arguable 
               exceptions, no advanced reactors have yet been deployed 
               in America. I find that design, construction, 
               operation, and disposition of such reactors under the 
               auspices of the Department--and not to produce 
               commercial electric power--would be for research
               purposes, rather than ``for the purpose of 
               demonstrating the suitability for commercial 
               application of . . . a reactor'' within the meaning of 
               42 U.S.C. 5842. The purpose of testing these reactors 
               at this stage in America's industrial evolution is to 
               establish fundamental technological viability. Thus, at 
               least for the foreseeable future, advanced reactors 
               over which the Department exercises sufficient control 
               and that do not produce commercial electric power, 
               including those ``under contract with and for the 
               account of the [Department],'' 42 U.S.C. 2140(a)(2), 
               fall within the jurisdiction of the Department, which 
               has authority to foster research and development in 
               nuclear reactors. Nothing in this section alters the 
               authority or jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.

               Sec. 4. Reforming the National Laboratory Process for 
               Reactor Testing. (a) Within 60 days of the date of this 
               order, the Secretary shall issue guidance regarding 
               what counts as a qualified test reactor for purposes of 
               this order.

                   (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the 
               Secretary shall take appropriate action to revise the 
               regulations, guidance, and procedures and practices of 
               the Department, the National Laboratories, and any 
               other entity under the Department's jurisdiction to 
               significantly expedite the review, approval, and 
               deployment of advanced reactors under the Department's 
               jurisdiction. The Secretary shall ensure that the 
               Department's expedited procedures enable qualified test 
               reactors to be safely operational at Department-owned 
               or Department-controlled facilities within 2 years 
               following the submission of a substantially complete 
               application.
                   (c) Upon finding that an applicant has submitted a 
               substantially complete application for a qualified test 
               reactor, the Secretary shall establish a team 
               consisting of representatives from the Secretary's 
               office, the relevant National Laboratory or 
               Laboratories, the Department's Office of General 
               Counsel, and any other entities within the Department 
               that possess the authority to deconflict, oppose, or 
               approve the application. The team shall provide 
               assistance to the applicant to ensure expeditious 
               processing of its application. For these purposes, each 
               member shall report directly to the Secretary.
                   (d) The Secretary shall prioritize qualified test 
               reactor projects for processing, as consistent with 
               applicable law.

               Sec. 5. Establishing a Pilot Program Outside the 
               National Laboratories. (a) The Secretary shall create a 
               pilot program for reactor construction and operation 
               outside the National Laboratories, pursuant to the 
               Atomic Energy Act's authorization of reactors under the 
               Department's sufficient control, including reactors 
               ``under contract with and for the account of'' the 
               Department, in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2140. The 
               Secretary shall approve at least three reactors 
               pursuant to this pilot program with the goal of 
               achieving criticality in each of the three reactors by 
               July 4, 2026.

                   (b) Upon approval of an application for this pilot 
               program, the Secretary shall assign a team to provide 
               assistance to the applicant as specified in subsection 
               4(c) of this order.

               Sec. 6. Streamlining Environmental Reviews. (a) The 
               Secretary shall, in consultation with the Chair of the 
               Council on Environmental Quality, take action to reform 
               the Department's rules governing compliance with the 
               National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) no later than 
               June 30, 2025, consistent with the policies articulated 
               in sections 2 and 5 of Executive Order 14154 of January 
               20, 2025 (Unleashing American Energy), and with 
               applicable law.

                   (b) The Secretary shall, consistent with applicable 
               law, use all available authorities to eliminate or 
               expedite the Department's environmental reviews for 
               authorizations, permits, approvals, leases, and any 
               other activity requested by an applicant or potential 
               applicant. In addition to the measures outlined in 
               section 7 of the Executive Order of May 23, 2025 
               (Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for 
               National Security), such measures shall include 
               determining which Department functions are not subject 
               to NEPA, creating categorical exclusions as appropriate 
               for reactors within certain
               parameters (or relying on existing categorical 
               exclusions), relying on supplemental analyses where 
               reactors will be located on existing sites, or 
               utilizing alternative procedures under NEPA.

               Sec. 7. Implementation. The Secretary shall work with 
               the DOGE Team Lead at the Department, as defined in 
               Executive Order 14158 of January 20, 2025 (Establishing 
               and Implementing the President's ``Department of 
               Government Efficiency''), with the Director of the 
               Office of Management and Budget, and with the Director 
               of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to 
               implement this order.

               Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
               shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                   (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
               applicable law and subject to the availability of 
               appropriations.
                   (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
               create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
               enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
               the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
               entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
               other person.
                   (d) The Department of Energy shall provide funding 
               for publication of this order in the Federal Register.
                              
                 DONALD J. TRUMP

               THE WHITE HOUSE,

                   May 23, 2025.