White House Pushes to Unlock Nuclear Energy with 'UPRISE'

0:00What if data didn't sit still? What if intelligence moved with us? Not buried in reports, but activated in real time. Where lives are being shaped. Where decisions are being made. It all starts with a question. Where is the potential? Cotality turns data into clarity. Intelligence into insight. Insight into action. Because when intelligence moves, we all move forward. Cotality. Intelligence beyond bounds. The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across HR, IT, and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work.

0:50Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM. When you're running a business, the best days are the ones where priorities stay on track. For midsize and large companies, that isn't always easy. Risk can touch multiple parts of an organization at the same time, often in ways that aren't immediately obvious. It might involve property, liability, or cyber. It could stem from regulatory requirements or challenges tied to a specific industry or the scale of an operation. At that level, managing risk becomes an ongoing discipline, not a one-time decision.

1:28At The Hartford, the focus is on helping businesses manage risk before it turns into something more disruptive. That means working with companies to identify where they're exposed, decide what matters most, and put practical standards in place so risk is managed as part of day-to-day operations. And when losses do happen, The Hartford can pair that risk control work with insurance coverage grounded in underwriting, risk engineering, and claims experience developed over time. Learn more at the Hartford dot com slash risk mitigation. Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio.

2:13Well, last year, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at bolstering the nuclear energy industry in the United States, including one telling the Department of Energy to approve at least three reactors by July 4th, 2026. Yes, this year. The Department of Energy has also altered or removed some of the regulatory framework around the industry to expedite the buildout of new next-gen reactors, which has raised some questions about safety. And it's at a time when the U.S. and the world are, of course, drastically increasing energy needs to power AI. Joining us now to talk about this is U.S.

2:47Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Hone. Chairman, thank you for joining us. I know you had a big event at the White House today. I wanted to ask you, has there been any progress in the effort to get these big nuclear projects going? I know they were supposed to be at least three by July 4th, 2026. That's coming up pretty soon. And then hopefully 10 big reactors under construction by 2030. But so far, we haven't seen any actual tangible announcements. Can you give us a status update? Sure, I can. So there absolutely has been major progress being made since President Trump issued his nuclear executive orders just a year ago last month.

3:21As you have heard, the Department of Energy has announced a criticality with one of their 11 reactors going through the pilot project, which is a very big milestone in terms of reactor development. What the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is doing as the nation's nuclear safety regulator, we are preparing the licensing frameworks for applications for commercial deployment. So today I was at the White House here in support of an event that the Department of Energy is sponsoring to uprate the power output of America's existing nuclear reactors. And the NRC has a very critical role in doing that. And we are doing that to ensure that we're going to provide credible, predictable, and timely safety decisions so that we do not delay America's existing nuclear power plants and being upgraded to really meet America's urgent demand for electricity.

4:13So over the past 12 months, the NRC has taken some major steps to reform its licensing frameworks and how it conducts its safety regulatory reviews. We have actually renewed the operating licenses for 18 of the operating power reactors in the United States so they can continue operating for another 20 additional years. And we're expecting to receive more applications to increase the power outputs of the nation's reactors over the coming years. I want to talk to you about those upgrades first. So you're saying the power upgrades could add about 2.5 gigawatts of capacity by 2027 and about five by 2029.

4:50But you said the regulatory environment is increasingly central to the story. So does that mean that you are taking away regulations or lessening them to make that happen? How are you making this happen? And are you concerned that by streamlining some of those regulations you might be taking away safety guardrails? Just to be clear, the NRC is not lowering its standards for safety. We are actually increasing our focus on safety by really looking at what matters most when we do our licensing activities. So we're introducing efficiencies in our internal workflows. We're introducing greater mechanisms for accountability and how the federal government manages its resources and oversees its work.

5:26So the NRC remains a strong regulator, And we continue to do so even in light of all the activity here, because it is important that we continue to deliver our safety decisions in a way that's credible. Chairman, what regulations did you need to streamline? So there are a lot of regulations in how the United States government oversees and licenses the reactors in this country. There's huge volumes of regulations, and we're taking a very close look at all of those regulations. because many of these regulations were put in place nearly 70 years ago when we knew much less about these reactor technologies than we know today.

6:08So there were conservatisms that were included in these regulations that are no longer needed today based on the increased state of knowledge and the high levels of safety performance that exists in these facilities, as well as the ones that are being designed. Can you give us an example, though, of one particular regulation that you have removed because you thought it was overly arduous? So right now we have not published all the draft regulations in the ones that we're updating here. But what I will say is that we did just publish a brand new licensing framework this past March that provides a licensing approach for any type of reactor that can be licensed in the United States.

6:48So the current regulations were really designed for the large reactors that are operating today. They are really not fit for purpose for the new technologies that are being designed. So just in last March, we introduced a technology neutral licensing framework to provide a safety focused review that can be done more efficiently. Chairman, there's been a lot of pushback from Americans on the build out of data centers to power artificial intelligence. It's an issue I'm hearing that's going to be coming up during midterms. It's becoming increasingly more political. Do you anticipate that being an obstacle here to the build out of nuclear in the U.S., the NIMBYism, essentially?

7:32Yeah, that's a great question. So as America's nuclear safety regulator, we don't really have any input into whether a data center is going to be deployed in any location in the United States. What our role is, however, is when an application for a reactor license to power a potential data center comes to the NRC, we are responsible for doing a rigorous safety review on time, on schedule, so we do not introduce any unnecessary delays in deploying the power. But as far as the decision to go forward with a data center, the NRC has no role in that. I mean, nuclear fusion and reactor technology has evolved, but the fundamentals of it haven't changed all that much at the larger sites.

8:15Anyway, you've got closed reactors, you've got open reactors, you've got light water, you've got heavy water reactors. Can you explain how these next gen reactors work, how big they are in comparison to what we're used to seeing or thinking about? You know, we all think of little Simpsons, giant concrete, you know, cascade coffins over these reactors. Is that what we're talking about here? Is this something completely different? We are talking about so many different designs. Today's fleet of 94 operating reactors are what you can consider large light water reactors. These were technologies that were developed in the 1950s and 60s and brought to America's grid through the 70s and 80s.

8:53The reactors that are being looked at today are much different than that. They use coolants that are not light water. They use other types of coolant such as high temperature gas or molten salt. They come in different sizes, large, medium, small and even micro reactors. When you think about a large reactor, think a gigawatt. There are small modular reactors that are roughly around 100 or so, a few hundred megawatts. Then you have these micro reactors that are far below 100 megawatts. So there are so many different types of designs. The The other unique feature about these new technologies is the fuel itself.

9:28These advanced reactors are using different fuel types, using different manufacturing processes to create these fuels, and all of these reactors that are being developed now use what is called passive safety features so that you don't have to rely on very specialized systems or components to respond to any type of event in the reactor. and the fuel themselves are actually much more tolerant of severe conditions in case something happens inside the reactor.

10:00Ask yourself, what are your best people spending their time on right now? Expense reports, receipt chasing, month-end close that takes weeks. You become what you spend on, and that's not what you're building toward. Brex is the intelligent finance platform that eliminates that work before it starts. AI agents that handle the manual stuff automatically. So your team can spend their time on what actually compounds. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at brex.com slash AF. Aging is real, and so are the benefits of new Vital Proteins Collagen Sparkling Water. Because around the age of 30, your body needs backup to keep your collagen up.

10:40So get your daily glow up, now in three fresh flavors. Strawberry blossom, lemon lime, and blood orange. Improved skin health in as little as 30 days thanks to collagen peptides? Cheers to that. So you can stay vital, stay you. Visit VitalProteins.com to learn more and where to buy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Identity theft can cost more than you think. Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why LifeLock is backed by the Million Dollar Protection Package, which covers up to$1 million each for stolen funds, fees for experts and lawyers, and out-of-pocket expenses.

11:19Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with LifeLock. Join now and save up to 30 % your first year at lifelock.com slash iHeart. Terms apply.