One year after executive orders directed federal agencies to accelerate nuclear energy deployment, the US Department of Energy reports that domestic nuclear expansion is advancing on multiple fronts, with a national target to grow the nuclear fleet from approximately 100 gigawatts today to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
A key regulatory milestone was reached in March 2026 when TerraPower received its construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the first ever issued for a commercial non-light-water power reactor in the United States. TerraPower broke ground on its Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor in Wyoming shortly thereafter, beginning the first advanced reactor construction project in the country.
The NRC is simultaneously reviewing a construction permit application from the Tennessee Valley Authority for a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The commission also completed an environmental assessment for the proposed Long Mott Generating Station in Texas, a potential site for North America's first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed at an industrial site.
The NRC completed the fastest-ever license renewal process for Duke Energy's Robinson Unit 2 in 2026 and has indicated it will apply the same expedited schedule to future renewal applications. Utilities with nuclear assets are pursuing license renewals at 20 plants and power uprates at 29 units, with 23.4 gigawatts of new nuclear planned across the sector over the next 15 years, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Morgan Stanley now projects total nuclear investment in the United States will reach $2.2 trillion through 2050, a 47% increase over last year's projection.
Source: Department of Energy -- https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/one-year-after-executive-orders-us-nuclear-energy-renaissance-full-swing