Chloe Shrager
Amazon's recently acquired data center (foreground) in Salem Township, Pennsylvania, is a stone's throw from the Susquehanna nuclear power plant.
In November 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission blocked the company's request to obtain more electricity directly from the plant.
President Trump's nuclear-for-AI executive orders could bypass the traditional market and regulatory regime entirely by deploying reactors on federal sites. (Credit: Talen Energy)
As Big Tech turns to nuclear power to solve the artificial intelligence power problem, critics have cast doubt on energy developers’ ability to build new reactors on a timeline that will satisfy data centers’ energy needs.
High costs and lack of commercial economic viability have been persistent obstacles to new nuclear infrastructure development. But on May 23,
President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that represent the most explicit government commitment to nuclear power for artificial intelligence yet.
Three of the orders explicitly mention AI as a driver for nuclear energy development and a potential beneficiary.
One directive incentivizes the operation of privately funded advanced nuclear reactor technologies on federal sites—mainly national laboratories or military installations—allegedly to power AI infrastructure, labelled as “critical defense facilities,”
and mandates the deployment of small modular nuclear reactors on one of these sites within 30 months.
Previously, tech companies were the most vocal advocates pushing for nuclear power to meet AI’s energy demands.
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