President Trump's Nuclear Executive Orders & The Implications for Aalo Atomics

President Trump's nuclear EOs are officially here. All four are exciting, but one in particular stands out. “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies For National Security” could help us move even faster on our already aggressive timeline.

To understand the implications, let's first explore the history.

In the First Atomic Age (1950s to mid 70s), there was no such thing as the DOE (Department of Energy), or the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). There was just the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission). The AEC was responsible for both regulating and promoting nuclear energy.

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At first, this sounds like a conflict of interest. Many people did challenge this structure, and this controversy was a major driver behind the creation of the NRC and DOE. Nonetheless, this original AEC framework was the best way to facilitate the invention and development of nuclear technology at the time, and it was done quite safely(*). How? Because this structure allowed researchers to iterate quickly, in remote locations where mistakes could be made safely and limits could be pushed, without impacting civilian health.

This lighter oversight paradoxically led to experiments and discoveries that made nuclear safer when later deployed to power civilian population centers. In that spirit, several national laboratories were established in remote locations where experimentation could take place.

The most impactful lab for testing novel nuclear technology was the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS), which is now known as the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Between 1949 and 1974, 52 test reactors were built and experimented with at this lab. It is primarily thanks to these 52 test reactors that we have much of our nuclear power plant technology around the world today!

We can't stress this enough: All reactor types, whether water, sodium, salt, gas, or otherwise, were invented or majorly progressed at these US national labs. And it all happened in the First Atomic Age, under the oversight of the AEC.

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Under the AEC, the United States deployed over 60 commercial reactors and 10 were brought online in 1974 alone. In 1974, Congress passed the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and broke the AEC into the NRC and the "Energy Research and Development Administration" (now DOE). In 1975, NRC began regulating these mature technologies that had been deployed by the AEC, along with other future commercial units.

The closest equivalent to the AEC today (where new nuclear technology can be experimented on) is the DOE, which was formed in 1977. The DOE is responsible for both the promotion of nuclear energy and its safety. DOE has authority under the Atomic Energy Act to authorize reactors to operate under their jurisdiction, on non-civilian soil.

So now we can explain the relevance to Aalo. Aalo's early team came from the MARVEL program. In 2023, MARVEL became the first terrestrial reactor ever to achieve DOE approval for construction, since the DOE was established.

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In many ways, MARVEL represents the birth of the Second Atomic Age. That is, the first time that we have returned to something akin to the original AEC model -- rapidly iterating, reviewing, and approving new reactor designs -- since the First Atomic Age.

This puts Aalo's strategy into context: We are the only company in the country pursuing DOE authorization for our first power-producing experimental nuclear plant. This is our Aalo-X project, and we're on track to begin construction within 12 months.

Ultimately, our goal is to license thousands of commercial reactors under the NRC. Therefore, we are pursuing both DOE and NRC approval in parallel, for different projects. DOE approval (for Aalo-X) will likely come to fruition first and will help inform our commercial NRC projects over the next few years. Our license application to the NRC will benefit not just from a high-quality application, but also an operational experimental plant.

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Implications of Trump's Executive Order

President Trump's new Executive Orders potentially open a new door. It is becoming increasingly clear that we must not lose to China & Russia in the race on nuclear power, and AI. AI training requires >100 GW globally in the next 5 years, and 40 GW in the US alone, which is unprecedented. Falling behind represents a substantial risk for the US.

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In light of this, one EO is particularly exciting. Section 4 of "DEPLOYING ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR NATIONAL SECURITY" is the most applicable here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/deploying-advanced-nuclear-reactor-technologies-for-national-security/

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What this means is that there may now be a path to deploy hundreds more commercial Aalo Pod power plants under DOE authorization (where DOE has jurisdiction) to power AI data centers. These plants would count as defense critical electric infrastructure.

Aalo is very well positioned to take this challenge on given our team, strategic approach, and progress (now nearing DOE approval to construct our first power plant). We've also hired top folks from Microsoft, SpaceX, Tesla, Oil & Gas, Bloom Energy, and as mentioned, MARVEL.

The situation is still developing, and there is uncertainty on how things will play out. But this is the most pro-nuclear environment the world has seen since the 60's, and we are working incredibly hard to ensure we don't squander this opportunity.

Currently it takes 10 years to build a 1 GW plant in the US. We must turn this on its head and set up factories that can produce several GW per year. This has never been done, but now it can be. AI data centers, for the first time ever, offer the nuclear industry the right environment to pull this off. And data centers are just the beginning. Once the factory is set up and deployment proven, there are endless other markets to pursue; power for large cities, smaller municipal utilities, desalination, industrial process heat, synthetic hydrocarbon production, and lots more.

Nuclear is humanity’s ultimate energy source, and we now have a crystal clear roadmap for it to fulfill its potential.

So that's the significance of these EOs to Aalo. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come.

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_{(*) While the AEC’s approach enabled rapid innovation, incidents at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) like the 1955 EBR-I meltdown, 1959 ICPP criticality accident (exposing workers to 500 mSv), 1962 SPERT-I destructive test, and minor radiation releases (1950s–1960s) revealed risks, but didn’t directly lead to the NRC’s creation due to their early timing or experimental nature. The 1961 SL-1 accident indirectly shaped safety reforms, while the 1966 Fermi-1 partial meltdown in Michigan, a civilian reactor incident, and advocacy from Ralph Nader’s Critical Mass directly drove public and political pressure. These concerns prompted the Energy Reorganization Act, signed October 11, 1974, creating the NRC, which began operations January 19, 1975.}

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