The Trump administration is dramatically reshaping nuclear energy regulation, driven by demands to power artificial intelligence. Seth Cohen, a 31-year-old lawyer with no nuclear experience, has emerged as a key figure in this transformation, dismissing safety concerns and declaring regulators will follow administration directives.

Since Trump took office, over 400 NRC staff have departed the agency, creating a brain drain in nuclear safety expertise. Silicon Valley figures like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen exert influence as Trump signs executive orders forcing faster reactor approvals and rewritten safety rules, raising alarms among career experts.

Career regulators warn the safety culture is under threat as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission loses independence. The administration frames these changes as necessary to unfreeze what they see as an outdated regulatory system, despite experts cautioning that regulatory capture led directly to disasters like Fukushima.