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How to restart nuclear reactors under new US plans
The administration is using a mix of new reactor builds and restarts, but safe operation requires meeting stringent standards beyond simply resuming output.
OilPrice says the United States is looking to expand nuclear capacity under President Trump’s plan to develop new projects and restore previously shut-down reactors, while recognizing that restarting is constrained by rigorous safety requirements.
The outlet reports that in May 2025 Trump issued an executive order, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” calling for construction of 10 new large reactors and adding 5 GW of power to existing nuclear reactors by 2030.
OilPrice also notes that several reactors were shut down in past decades after nuclear safety concerns following Chornobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island, though public perception has improved in recent years.
The article points to steps already taken, including plans announced by Trump to recommence operations at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, Holtec International’s 789-MWe facility that shut down in 2022, as well as Constellation Energy’s 835-MWe Crane Clean Energy Centre on the Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania, and NextEra’s 615-MWe Duane Arnold in Iowa.