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Wright, at Idaho National Laboratory, Says Three Next-Generation Reactors Will Go Critical by July 4

June 25, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:07:59

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined CNBC’s Pippa Stevens at Idaho National Laboratory, where the first new reactor had been switched on earlier in the month as part of the Energy Department’s reactor pilot program, according to the Department of Energy’s upload of the interview. Wright noted that the civilian nuclear age began at Idaho in 1951 and called the moment the beginning of a new nuclear era, as he described it.

Wright said two next-generation reactors had already gone critical — one on June 4, which he described as the first non-light-water reactor to go critical in the United States in over 40 years, and Valar Atomics on June 18 — and that Allo Atomics, which he had approved that day to turn on, would be the third, all before the July 4 deadline the President had set, as he stated the timeline. He said all three are different Generation IV designs. On commercialization, Wright said Nuclear Regulatory Commission personnel had worked alongside the Energy Department on the test-mode authorizations, and he predicted electricity from a small modular reactor perhaps before the end of the following year and definitely within 2028, as he stated the outlook.

Wright also said the department had announced a loan arrangement through its energy dominance financing office to partner on building ten AP1000 reactors of 1.1 gigawatts each — 11 gigawatts total — with long-lead parts to be ordered in the next few months and construction starting within 12 to 36 months, as he described the plan. Turning to Iran, Wright said broadened sanctions relief would let Iran export roughly the volumes it shipped during the Biden administration — production and export capacity of 1.5 to 2 million barrels a day, sold mainly to China — and characterized the change as limited freedom rather than a major concession, as he stated his assessment.

Why it matters

The Idaho interview ties the administration’s nuclear claims to specific hardware and dates — three pilot reactors critical by July 4 and an 11-gigawatt AP1000 pipeline — making it one of the most checkable energy statements of the summer.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: Wright’s June 25, 2026 statements that three Generation IV pilot reactors would reach criticality before July 4, 2026, and that ten AP1000 reactors totaling 11 gigawatts would enter construction within 12 to 36 months — dated, checkable claims flagged for the scoreboard editor; no verdict is entered here.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins CNBC’s Pippa Stevens - June 25, 2026”, 2026-06-25 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-06-25). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.