Link: https://substack.com/@hancman
Please see link above for source text
Michael A. Hancock, a retired high-tech executive, musician, and composer, explores diverse interests—from religion and arts to politics and philosophy—offering thoughtful insights on the intersections of culture, innovation, and society.
Michael A. Hancock
June 10, 2025
Politics doesn’t power cities—electricity does. And Trump just fired up the most significant energy move we’ve seen in decades. It isn’t about windmills or wishful thinking. It’s about fission. Steel. Jobs. It’s about restoring America’s backbone, one kilowatt at a time.
Welcome to America’s new atomic age.
Trump’s nuclear strategy is not a relic of the Cold War but a blueprint for national revival. At its core is a simple truth: electricity has become intelligence. The race to dominate artificial intelligence—the next frontier of economic and military superiority—will not be won with slogans or solar panels. It will be won with gigawatts. And nuclear energy, safe and scalable, is the only resource up to the task.
China knows this. So does Silicon Valley. And now, finally, so does Washington.
The Grid Is the Battlefield
Artificial intelligence is not just code—it is physical. It resides in massive data centers that must operate continuously, consuming more power than some cities. The AI revolution demands a 24/7 energy backbone that can’t
flicker with clouds or collapse in a blackout. That leaves nuclear.
Small modular reactors, hardened against disruption and capable of being deployed on military bases, are central to Trump’s doctrine of energy dominance. They not only provide reliable power to defense installations— but they also make our national security grid attack-resistant and selfreliant.
Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy, understands this better than most. His company operates a quarter of the nation’s nuclear fleet and is merging with Calpine to become the world’s largest electric producer. Constellation generates enough energy to power the entire state of Mexico. Now, they’re working directly with AI hyperscalers to bring next-generation nuclear plants online.
This is the fusion of industry and innovation, government and private sector, that Trump’s energy plan is designed to unleash.
But even power needs permission. And here’s where Trump is wielding not just vision but a scalpel.
The problem isn’t the technology—it’s the red tape. Since 1978, only two new reactors have come online in the U.S. Why? Because regulation became not a tool of safety but a blockade of progress.
Trump has responded with four executive orders that cut through the inertia with surgical force.
First, he’s streamlining approval for specialized nuclear reactors at defense and AI sites—ensuring they can come online quickly, with fuel stock managed by the Department of Energy and an export strategy to grow American industry abroad.
Second, he’s reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, demanding it align with the objective safety standards of today—not the paranoia of the past. His goal? Quadruple U.S. nuclear output in 25 years.
Third, he’s establishing a Nuclear Reactor Testing Service to fast-track
innovation. Expect three new pilot reactors online by next Independence Day. That’s not a goal. That’s a promise.
Fourth, he’s invoking the Defense Production Act to rebuild the nuclear supply chain—from enriched fuel to workforce development. That means American uranium, American engineers, and American power.
Innovation and the Industrial Renaissance
Private innovators are responding. Jake DeWitt’s Oklo, the first MOD nuclear company to go public, is pioneering miniature reactors with automatic shut offs and ultra-high safety profiles. A golf ball of uranium, as Trump says, can power an entire human life. It’s not a metaphor—it’s physics.
Scott Nolan’s General Matter is rebuilding the domestic enrichment industry—a step that’s been outsourced for far too long. No nation serious about sovereignty outsources its fuel supply. Trump’s orders ensure we won’t again.
And underpinning it all: a new mandate for “gold standard science.” No more policymaking based on junk science or agenda-driven reports. Regulations will now rest on complex data, not ideological daydreams.
The New Atomic Social Contract
This plan isn’t just for generals and technologists. It’s for working Americans. Nuclear energy means shovel-ready jobs, restored industrial pride, and affordable power that doesn’t vanish with the sun or wait for the wind.
Commercial nuclear is America’s unsung hero: safe, clean, and underappreciated. Trump is now giving it its due.
Conclusion: Second to None
Yes, the president has said it plainly: “It’s time for nuclear, and we’re going to do it very big.”
France has built its energy future on fission. We built theirs. Now, we’ll
build ours again.
We are not chasing fantasies—we are fueling freedom. And if America is to remain second to none, it must lead not just in ideas but in power. Actual power. The kind that hums through the wires of a country ready to rise.
Trump’s nuclear strategy is not about revisiting the past. It’s about reclaiming the future. And this time, it runs on American steel, American science, and American will.
Welcome back to the atomic age.