The new US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, has issued his first executive outlining the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) plans which include the rapid deployment of next-generation nuclear technology, and a review R&D. Wright previously served as CEO of Liberty Energy, a natural gas fracking company. He was also on the board of Oklo, a small nuclear plant developer. Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte said: “His expertise in energy and technology has been instrumental in shaping our vision, and we look forward to his leadership in the Department of Energy.”
“President Trump has outlined a bold and ambitious agenda to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore energy dominance,” Wright says in is executive order, Unleashing the Golden Era of American Energy Dominance. To compete globally, the USA must expand energy production, reduce energy costs, lead the world in innovation and technology, he said. We must also permit and build energy infrastructure and remove barriers to progress, including federal policies that make it too easy to stop projects and far too difficult to complete projects.”
The DOE’s R&D efforts will prioritise “affordable, reliable, and secure energy technologies, including fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower”, he said, alongside “true technological breakthroughs” including fusion, high-performance computing, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. DOE will “comprehensively review its R&D portfolio” and will “rigorously enforce project milestones to ensure that taxpayer resources are allocated appropriately and cost-effectively consistent with the law”.
According to the executive order: “The long-awaited American nuclear renaissance must launch during President Trump’s administration.… America must lead the commercialisation of affordable and abundant nuclear energy.” DOE “will work diligently and creatively to enable the rapid deployment and export of next-generation nuclear technology”.
He is sceptical of net zero targets. “Great attention has been paid to the pursuing of a net-zero carbon future. Net-zero policies raise energy costs for American families and businesses, threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security. They have also achieved precious little in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The fact is that energy matters, and we need more of it, not less.”
Wright says; “We must pursue a culture of transparency, performance, and common sense to succeed. Accordingly, the Department will take the following initial actions:
1. Advance Energy Addition, Not Subtraction:
2. Unleash American Energy Innovation:
3. Return to Regular Order on LNG Exports:
4. Promote Affordability and Consumer Choice in Home Appliances:
5. Refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):
6. Modernize America’s nuclear stockpile:
7. Unleash Commercial Nuclear Power in the United States:
8. Strengthen Grid Reliability and Security:
9. Streamline Permitting and Identify Undue Burdens on American Energy: “To that end, the Department will identify and exercise its legal authorities to expedite the approval and construction of reliable energy infrastructure.”
Doe is also facing scrutiny from President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk’s. DOGE has been granted access to DOE’s information technology systems, despite objections from the agency’s general counsel and chief information offices, Bloomberg reported.
DOGE member Luke Farritor has been dispatched to review DOE’s data, Bloomberg noted citing a person who requested anonymity. Chris Wright said members of Musk’s team had been given access to agency data, but dismissed concerns about their ability to view employees’ proprietary data and nuclear weapons information.
“The government is old and maybe a little bit stodgy, and we’ve got some young kids – think young gun management consultants – coming in to take a critical look at how things are run,” he told CNBC. “Can we do things a little bit more efficiently? Are our systems as efficient as they should be?”
Wright said three DOGE employees were at DOE and had been “checked by our security”. He added that they were not granted access to “nuclear secrets”. DOE’s nuclear arm is responsible for maintaining the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
“They’re part of a team assembled by DOGE friends in Elon’s broader circle that are very good at IT and very good at systems,” Wright said. “And they’re just doing a critical evaluation of how do we do things today, and come up with some ideas about maybe how we can do things better.”
American Nuclear Society CEO Craig Piercy suggested in a letter that Wright focus on securing congressional appropriations to fulfil his promises about advancing the nuclear power industry and supporting innovative reactors.
“Many in the industry think additional government support will be needed to reach nth-of-a-kind nuclear plant construction costs, while others believe rising electricity demand alone will take care of that in time,” the letter reads. “Either way, as secretary of energy, you will need appropriations to engineer any kind of nuclear ‘win.’ You will spend more time than you think preparing budgets, arguing with the Office of Management and Budget over what’s included, and then defending said budgets on Capitol Hill. Don’t let the bean counters steal from you!”
In any event, the DOE website has already had a makeover and redesign although for now much of the content is the same but just reorganised. However, one new addition is a large interactive detailed map showing the locations of all the national laboratories.
