America faces an energy crisis. With skyrocketing energy demand and threats of increased blackouts, we’re left with question after question—but nuclear energy may just offer some answers.

As promised, President Trump has already embarked on his mission to make the U.S. energy-dominant. To do this, he’s begun work on several key initiatives that will drastically improve the energy industry as a whole.

Yet while these initiatives are critical, they’ll take time—time America doesn’t have to waste.

But Trump can accomplish four goals immediately: 1) make energy permitting more efficient, 2) enforce the Russian uranium import ban, 3) reform America’s nuclear waste management program, and 4) improve coordination with allies. Combined, these steps will unleash the potential of American nuclear power as a solution to our energy crisis.

First, Trump must modernize America’s regulatory approach by updating the current nuclear reactor permitting process, which is outdated, slow, expensive, and arduous.

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To do so, the administration can demand compliance with the 2024 bipartisan ADVANCE Act (Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy,” which established a process for bringing efficiency to reactor permitting—one that is currently being overlooked.

Trump’s administration should clarify that it supports the act and will firmly enforce the law, not just adhere to the status quo.

Second, Trump can affirm his administration’s commitment to enforcing the ban on importing Russian uranium (including enforcing transparency in the waiver process) and work to open federal lands to uranium mining.

The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act rightfully banned Russian uranium fuel imports, setting an important parameter for investment.

This act played a key role in minimizing policy shifts in the uranium fuel industry and thereby reducing the instability and market uncertainty that have plagued the industry since its privatization in the 1990s.

Yet the act’s enforcement shows some flaws, with its waiver process (allowing Russian fuel to be imported under certain conditions) being implemented to grant waivers with little transparency.

Because of the critical role the act plays in ensuring market stability, the Trump administration should affirm its support of the ban and its dedication to ensuring the transparency crucial to the ban’s credibility.

Third, President Trump can begin repairing the Energy Department’s broken system for managing nuclear waste.

There should be no more commissions or committees to study the process. The U.S. has had decades to study the problem. It is time to solve it.

Key to this is reestablishing the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (consistent with the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act) and empowering its director to develop a path forward. All nuclear waste-related programs, research, and funding should be consolidated within this office.

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Fourth, Trump must work to increase America’s nuclear energy competitiveness against Russia and China.

Currently, many commercial nuclear power leaders are U.S. allies, including South Korea (which has won several recent international reactor contracts). The U.S. should nurture relationships with these allies, as they may play a key part in countering Russian and Chinese influence.

But America shouldn’t just cooperate with allies. It should also work to develop its own nuclear energy abilities.

Here, the federal government has a legitimate and important role to play. National governments are closely tied to most nations’ energy sectors, and government-to-government talks play an important role in opening markets for U.S. companies.

This is particularly important in Eastern Europe, where there is substantial interest in building new nuclear plants. There, one U.S. team recently lost a bid for a new nuclear project in the Czech Republic to a South Korean team.

The Trump administration should thoroughly review the role that U.S. officials played in those negotiations to determine how the U.S. industry can better compete.

By taking these four steps—updating the regulatory process, enforcing the ban on Russian uranium imports, altering nuclear waste management, and developing U.S. nuclear competitiveness—President Trump can act immediately to boost American nuclear energy.

In doing so, he’ll unleash our nuclear energy infrastructure, and go a long way toward solving our energy crisis.