President Trump is hailing four companies for meeting his July Fourth deadline to usher in a “nuclear renaissance” in the U.S.
The four privately funded micro-reactor developers reached “criticality,” a stage when they can steadily release energy.
“It’s a big day,” Mr. Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “What we’ve done is pretty much a miracle.”
Mr. Trump hailed the achievement with the CEOs from Antares Nuclear Inc., Deployable Energy, Aalo Atomics and Valar Atomics Inc.
“We’re celebrating a historic milestone for civilian nuclear energy and the incredible renaissance of nuclear power in America,” Mr. Trump said.
The president often points to energy production as key to American success, especially in the artificial intelligence sector, which requires a lot of power.
Mr. Trump signed a series of nuclear-oriented executive orders in early 2025 aimed at quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050.
The orders directed the Department of Energy to use nuclear power for military installations and critical AI infrastructure; set firm timelines for licensing new reactors (18 months) and for re-licensing existing ones (12 months); sped up reactor testing and commercial licensing time frames; and directed agencies to restart retired nuclear plants.
The Trump administration this week signed a pact with Saudi Arabia to help the Middle Eastern country develop a civilian nuclear program.
However, Mr. Trump said U.S. help would be conditioned on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, an initiative that normalizes relations between Israel and Arab or Muslim-majority countries.
“It’s time now that they do it,” Mr. Trump said Friday.
