The Department of Energy (DOE) announced last month that it would add a dozen companies and thirteen projects to its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad. The Launch Pad initiative is intended to provide “streamlined pathways for developers wanting to demonstrate advanced nuclear energy technology and accelerate commercial deployment.” That is great news for developers who have spent years in regulatory processes and for the grid, which needs firm baseload generation as demand rises.
The program came from Executive Order 14301, signed in May 2025, which directed DOE to authorize and test reactors without the bureaucracy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The first phase of this project, the Reactor Pilot Program, set an Independence Day goal for the first units to reach criticality—a milestone that proves the technology behaves as expected. Antares Nuclear got there first, on June 4th, and will continue on that foundation with an electricity-producing prototype in the Launch Pad initiative. Its CEO said the company is on track to deliver commercial units to customers in 2028.
However, only 7 of the 12 companies in the Launch Pad initiative are reactor developers, three of which had achieved criticality before July 4 in the DOE’s prior program. The five other companies are innovating across the rest of the supply chain, including fuel fabrication, processing, and recycling.
The Nuclear Energy Launch Pad provides expertise, capabilities, and facilities to the pilot projects. It explicitly does not provide funding through either the DOE or NRIC, which protects taxpayers from potential risks. Developers that stall or fail will absorb the loss themselves, and the public does not.
The Launch Pad is one piece of a broader optimism for nuclear power. Twenty-six states lined up to help manage nuclear fuel and potentially host advanced reactors, with five states being actively considered to host Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. However, to sell power, these reactors will still have to clear the NRC, though its new advanced reactor rules should streamline the process.
America is supercharging its nuclear renaissance by recognizing that it needs to step out of the way and let innovators innovate.