--- title: "The Trump Administration Is Doing Something Horrifying to Workers at Nuclear Facilities" description: "Donald Trump's Department of Energy has stripped back regulations that had previously kept nuclear energy workers safe." date: "2026-04-01" modified: "2026-04-01" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/nuclear-workers-trump" categories: - "Energy" - "Nuclear Fusion" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" --- # The Trump Administration Is Doing Something Horrifying to Workers at Nuclear Facilities ![Three yellow barrels with black radioactive hazard symbols stacked in a pyramid formation against an orange background with large blue stars.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* It isn't just the guys handling plutonium who need to worry about radiation — every US nuclear worker, from the plumbers patching leaks to the janitors mopping floors, has a reason to be on guard. New [reporting by *High Country News*]() detailed the startling impact the Trump administration is having on the safety of nuclear energy workers. As part of the administration's "nuclear renaissance," the US Department of Energy (DOE) has begun stripping back [effective safety regulations]() that had previously limited workers' exposure to deadly radiation. "They're pulling away from what's kept us safe all these years," Bradley Clawson, a former nuclear energy worker at Idaho National Laboratory, told *HCN*. "In the long run it helped us as workers. It was keeping us from getting a higher dose." Following four executive orders aimed at nuclear deregulation, both the DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have taken an increasingly lax view of safety at both federal nuclear projects like labs and cleanup sites, as well as commercial energy facilities. Under Trump, these agencies no longer seem to operate on the long-held assumption that even a small amount of radiation exposure is bad for human health. Instead, speed is the name of the game. The language in one [May 2025 executive order]() makes its deregulatory intent clear in no uncertain terms: "In particular, the NRC shall reconsider reliance on the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure and the 'as low as reasonably achievable' standard, which is predicated on LNT," the order read. At Los Alamos National Laboratory, for example, non-nuclear workers like plumbers and metalworkers are exposed to some amount of radiation, but as *HCN* notes, the Trump administration has forced the site to double its annual output of nuclear cores. In a [scathing letter]() to various government administrators, a group of organizations made up of doctors, environmental activists, and researchers called the safety rollbacks a "deliberate subversion of science and public health in favor of corporate interests." "Accepting weaker radiation protections amounts to accepting an ever-increasing level of avoidable human disease and suffering," the letter continues. The deregulations come as nuclear facilities across the US face a [growing shortage]() of trained and experienced staff — an issue Trump admin [energy department layoffs]() hasn't exactly helped, and which is in direct contradiction with the White House's stated goal of [jumpstarting]() America's nuclear energy capacity. Facing lagging staff numbers but a rapidly changing nuclear energy landscape, many facilities have to turned to third-party contractors in order to keep up. The result, critics say, is a breakdown in long-term safety culture as contractors move from site to site. One prime example of this came in October, when a contractor at Michigan's Palisade Power Plant [fell into a reactor cavity](). Whether Trumps deregulation caused that specific incident is arguable. However, it's hard to dispute that it came at a time of increasing pressure, under an administration that shows no signs of slowing down. **More on nuclear energy:** *[NASA Announces Nuclear Mission to Mars by 2028]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()