The Trump administration just rewrote the nuclear safety playbook, and startups racing to build reactors on federal property are the biggest winners. The Department of Energy quietly gutted a third of its safety rulebook, turning mandatory protections for workers and groundwater into voluntary suggestions. The timing isn't coincidental - nuclear startups have raised over $1 billion in recent months, and several are rushing to meet a July 4, 2026 deadline for demonstration reactors on DOE land.
The Department of Energy just handed nuclear startups a regulatory shortcut that could reshape the industry's timeline, but at what cost? In a move that bypassed public comment entirely, the Trump administration slashed roughly a third of the safety requirements governing nuclear reactors built on federal property. The changes are already raising alarms among safety experts while giving startups a clearer path to their ambitious deadlines.
The revised rulebook transforms what were once mandatory safety protocols into optional guidelines. Environmental contamination limits for groundwater? Now just suggestions. Radiation exposure thresholds for workers? Loosened significantly. Security protocols that were once federally mandated? Largely left to company discretion, according to NPR's report that first broke the story.
The timing tells its own story. Nuclear startups have been on an unprecedented fundraising tear, pulling in well over $1 billion in recent months as data center operators scramble for reliable power sources. Standard Nuclear just closed a $140 million round, while Radiant Nuclear secured $300 million for its microreactor design. These companies aren't just building reactors anywhere - several are developing demonstration plants specifically on DOE property, where these new relaxed rules apply.
