President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 Thursday with measures that further the bipartisan push for next-generation nuclear power plants.
Next-generation nuclear reactors could get a boost from the National Defense Authorization Act
Congress passed energy provisions in the annual defense bill that could help spur the development of advanced nuclear reactors.
Congress passed energy provisions in the annual defense bill that could help spur the development of advanced nuclear reactors.
Image: Laura Normand / The Verge
is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home, a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals.
The Trump administration has embraced the technology as a new energy source for data centers demanding greater amounts of electricity for AI. Many Democrats, meanwhile, have championed smaller and ostensibly cheaper and easier-to-build nuclear reactors as a carbon pollution-free energy source that can help fight climate change. The US military has also been interested in microreactors to power off-grid operations
The defense bill, which Congress passed earlier this week, includes two amendments that advocates for commercial nuclear energy are celebrating. The International Nuclear Energy Act establishes working groups and boosts funding and interagency cooperation on the development and export of US nuclear technologies. The NDAA also reauthorizes the US International Development Finance Corporation, a finance institution that’s expected to invest in nuclear power plant and uranium fuel projects.
Those are “big wins” that make nuclear exports more attractive in the global market, Rowen Price, senior policy advisor for nuclear energy at center-left think tank Third Way, says in an email to The Verge.
The bill also directs the Department of Defense to create an executive agent role “for installation and operational nuclear energy.”
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