Environment
Trump’s nuclear power push weakens regulator and poses safety risks, former officials warn
Plant Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Waynesboro, GA, August 15, 2024.
Van Applegate | CNBC
President Donald Trump‘s push to approve nuclear plants as quickly as possible threatens to weaken the independent regulator tasked with protecting public health and safety, former federal officials warn.
Trump issued four sweeping executive orders in May that aim to quadruple nuclear power by 2050 in the U.S. The White House and the technology industry view nuclear as powerful source of reliable electricity that can help meet the growing energy needs of artificial intelligence.
The most consequential of Trump’s orders aims to slash regulations and speed up power plant approvals through an overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC is an independent agency established by Congress in 1975 to make sure that nuclear reactors are deployed and operated safely.
Trump accuses the NRC of “risk aversion” in his order, blaming the regulator for how few nuclear plants have been built in the U.S. over the past three decades. The president says that the NRC is focused on protecting the public from “the most remote risks,” arguing that such a cautious approach to approving plants restricts access to reliable electricity.
“We’ll be very safe, but we’ll be fast and safe,” Trump said about expediting nuclear plants at a conference on energy and artificial intelligence in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The president said his administration would get a “whole different group of people” to regulate the industry.
But three former NRC chairs who spoke to CNBC say Trump is blaming the regulator that protects the public, when the industry’s fundamental problem is that new nuclear plants are incredibly expensive to build. The chairs were appointed by Democratic presidents. CNBC also spoke to the chief of staff for a chair appointed by George W. Bush.
Only two new reactors have been built from scratch in the U.S. over the past 30 years. Those new units at Plant Vogtle in Georgia came in $18 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule. Two reactors in South Carolina were canceled in the middle of construction in 2017 due to cost overruns. The mismanagement of the Georgia and South Carolina projects led to the bankruptcy of industry stalwart Westinghouse.
Trump’s intervention at the NRC threatens the independence that the regulator needs to protect the public interest, the former chairs said. If NRC independence is compromised, the regulator could become vulnerable to industry or government influence in ways that raise the risk of a nuclear accident, they warned.
Independence threatened
Trump’s executive order is unprecedented in the history of the NRC and it is dangerous, said Allison Macfarlane, who led the NRC as chairperson from 2012 to 2014. The Fukushima nuclear accident is an example of what can happen when safety regulators are not independent, said Macfarlane, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan resulted in a severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. An investigation by Japan’s parliament concluded that the accident was manmade and found that collusion between government, industry and regulators was the root cause.
Japan’s regulators and government focused on promoting nuclear power as safe and did not force the operator to implement measures that would have made the plant less vulnerable to a natural disaster, according to the 2012 investigation. In the wake of the accident, Japan shut down all of its nuclear plants for safety inspections, losing a power source that supplied 30% of the nation’s electricity.
“There was a massive impact on the economy and that is an issue of national security,” Macfarlane said of the accident in Japan.
“The reason why we have independent regulators, and by independent I mean free of industry and political influence, is to protect the public safety and to protect national security,” she said.
Slashing regulations
Trump’s executive order seems more focused on approving reactors fast than safety, said Stephen Burns, who chaired the NRC from 2015 to 2017. The order requires the NRC to make final decisions within 18 months on applications to build and operate nuclear plants. It calls for the regulator to make decisions even faster when possible.
“To the extent it’s saying NRC is the problem and we’re more concerned with deadlines than we are with the safety case — that’s where it concerns me,” said Burns, who was also appointed to the commission by Obama.
The NRC is also ordered to undertake a “wholesale revision” of its regulations and work with the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Government Efficiency to accomplish this.
One of the goals of revising NRC regulations is to create a process to approve at a “high volume” microreactors and small modular reactors, advanced nuclear technologies that the industry believes will one day make plants cheaper and faster to build.
But these advanced reactors often have designs that are very different from the existing U.S. fleet and present different safety profiles as a consequence, said Richard Meserve, who chaired the NRC from 1999 to 2003. These new designs have not been deployed in the real world, and some use different reactor coolants such as sodium or molten salt rather than light water in traditional plants.
“We have very strict deadlines on reactors of a type that have not yet been thoroughly reviewed,” said Meserve, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton. “To set deadlines seems to me to be very imprudent. There has to be a careful analysis that is guided by data that may not be available even for some of these reactors.”
And it’s unclear what role OMB and DOGE are playing in revising the NRC’s regulations. The NRC and White House declined to comment when asked whether OMB and DOGE would have the final say over how regulations are changed.
OMB has always reviewed major NRC regulations as a matter of procedure, said Paul Dickman, who served as chief of staff for NRC chair Dale Klein, an appointee of President George W. Bush. (Klein, when asked to comment, referred questions to Dickman. CNBC also reached out to Kristine Svinicki, who was appointed as chair during Trump’s first administration, but didn’t hear back.)
The question now is whether OMB and DOGE will also be passing judgement on the technical content of the regulations, Dickman said. The pair’s undefined role in the review process introduces uncertainty that could make the NRC vulnerable to political interference, he said.
“Are they going to reject something because they didn’t like an opinion?” Dickman asked. “What’s the basis of that? There’s no guidelines for review.”
Trump is “committed to modernizing nuclear regulations, streamlining regulatory barriers, and reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission while prioritizing safety and resilience,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said.
The NRC is “working quickly to implement Executive Orders to modernize our regulatory and licensing processes while protecting public health and safety,” spokesperson Scott Burnell said.
Staff cuts
Trump has also ordered a staff reduction at the NRC at a time when the regulator is now facing tighter deadlines and a major overhaul of its regulations, the former chairs said. An executive order that calls for staff cuts “is just another way to incentivize people to look for other jobs,” Dickman said.
“It’s a loss of personnel and competency which is really probably the most worrisome part of all this stuff,” Dickman said.
A senior White House official told reporters in May that the size of the staff cuts had not been determined. The executive order does allow for staffing to increase for plant licensing. The NRC and White House declined to comment when asked by CNBC about the potential cuts and whether licensing staff would be beefed up.
Last month, Trump fired NRC Commissioner Christopher Hanson, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. Hanson said in a statement that Trump terminated his position “without cause contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.” The White House declined to comment when asked why Hanson was fired.
“This is part of the overthrow of the NRC as an independent agency,” Meserve said.
Political interference, whether real or perceived, threatens undermine U.S. public confidence in nuclear power, Dickman said. Such interference would also tarnish the NRC’s reputation as the international gold standard for approving reactors, which would make it more difficult for U.S. companies to sell nuclear technology abroad, according to Macfarlane, Burns and Meserve.
“Public confidence in the safety of reactors is enhanced by the fact that there is an independent regulator that’s separated from the political process,” Meserve said. “There is a danger when you mix in political considerations and promotion along with the safety mission that the safety mission gets suppressed to some extent — and you could end up with some very bad mistakes being made.”
Mangrove Lithium is scaling up in a big way to produce more homegrown lithium in North America. The Vancouver, Canada-based company just announced it will build another new facility, and this one will crank out 20,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium yearly – enough to power over 500,000 EVs, as much as North America’s current refining capacity.
Mangrove has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to lock in demand with multiple major US battery gigafactories. These deals cover offtake for the entire output of the new refinery. However, the company has not yet announced the refinery’s site location.
“Global customers are recognizing that Mangrove is a strategic partner in securing lithium supply,” said CEO and founder Saad Dara.
Annie Liu, Mangrove’s chief strategy and commercial officer, added, “Having negotiated deals for automakers like Tesla and Ford, I’ve seen just how crucial a reliable Western lithium supply chain is – and that’s exactly what we’re building here.”
The new plant will go beyond Mangrove’s current electrochemical refining tech by adding spodumene concentrate processing – in other words, extending the company’s operations further upstream in the lithium supply chain. It’s a big move toward reshoring parts of lithium refining, which is still heavily dominated by China.
Dara warned that the global lithium supply chain is getting more fragile by the day, so “Mangrove is building the foundation for a self-reliant, scalable, and sustainable North American lithium future,” he said.
His urgency isn’t hypothetical: Earlier this year, China floated the idea of banning exports of key lithium extraction and processing tech. With most lithium still processed in China, the idea of being cut off sent a clear message – North America needs local capacity, and fast.
Mangrove says its electrochemical refining process is flexible when it comes to feedstock and output, which helps reduce costs, shrink carbon footprint, and eliminate waste. That flexibility could be a game-changer as the continent tries to build out a cleaner and more secure lithium supply chain.
Meanwhile, Mangrove’s first commercial plant in Delta, British Columbia, is already under construction. Backed by a USD 35 million funding round, the project is on track to come online by the end of the year. That plant alone will supply enough battery-grade lithium to power about 25,000 EVs annually. It will be North America’s first electrochemical lithium refining facility.
Read more: Critical EV battery materials face a supply crunch by 2030
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Environment
Hyundai is using its three-row IONIQ 9 EV with a built-in drone launch pad to save the planet
Meet the Hyundai IONIQ 9 Seed Ball Drone Station. Hyundai’s new three-row EV is more than just a family hauler — it’s now using drones to help restore forests.
Hyundai IONIQ 9 EV restores forests with drones
After delivering the first customer models just a few months ago, Hyundai’s three-row electric SUV is already doing more than just cutting emissions.
Hyundai introduced the IONIQ 9 Seed Ball Drone Station on Thursday, a modified version of the brand’s largest EV, complete with a built-in drone launch pad.
The interior features a dedicated drone operation PC, dual monitors, and a swivel seat, essentially transforming it into “a fully functional mobile office.”
Hyundai’s specially designed EV, built in collaboration with Guru E&T, is being used to plant trees in areas that are hard to access. Equipped with vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities, Hyundai’s electric vehicles supply power for the drones in remote areas.
The drones scatter “seed balls,” which are clay spheres filled with soil, organic matter, and seeds throughout the area.
The modified IONIQ 9 is part of the Korean automaker’s ongoing Smart Forest Restoration Program. It follows the IONIQ 5 Monitoring Drone Station, launched in 2023.
Hyundai is utilizing its new EV models to help restore forests in Uljin, Korea, which were severely impacted by widespread wildfires in 2022.
The efforts are part of Hyundai’s forest-building efforts called the IONIQ Forest project. Launched in 2016, the project covers 13 countries, including the US. Hyundai plans to expand the drone projects into other regions in the future.
After deliveries began in the US in late May, Hyundai reported IONIQ 9 sales reached over 1,000 by the end of June.
Hyundai’s three-row electric SUV starts at $60,555 with an EPA-est range of up to 335 miles. Like the IONIQ 5, it also features a native NACS port to access Tesla Superchargers.
The IONIQ 5 remains one of the top-selling EVs in the US, with over 19,000 sold in the first half of 2025. With leases starting at just $179 per month, the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 (now with more range and a built-in NACS port) is hard to pass up right now with the EV tax credit set to expire at the end of September.
Since both the IONIQ 9 and IONIQ 5 are built at Hyundai’s new EV plant in Georgia, they still qualify for the $7,500 tax credit until the deadline.
Looking to snag the savings while they’re still here? You can use our links below to find the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 2026 IONIQ 9 in your area.
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