IDAHO FALLS, ID – The Trump administration has eliminated a critical review step for experimental nuclear reactors. Critics say this undermines safety and the environment, especially at test sites such as the Idaho National Laboratory.

The U.S. Department of Energy has posted a notice to the Federal Register that it is excluding advanced nuclear reactors from review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The agency is accepting public comments on the new exclusion through March 4.

“None of these experimental reactors have any operating experience to point to that would be sufficient to justify a claim that you can just turn them on and they’re going to be so safe that you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to even consider the impacts of these reactors on the environment,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “And that’s just fantasy.”

The Idaho National Lab is hosting five projects testing new reactor designs, the most of any state in the country. The Trump administration has jump-started nuclear energy as part of its efforts to fast-track artificial intelligence technology and data centers. The Energy Department has said of the change that the “new categorical exclusion is based on the experience of DOE and other Federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”

The lab has a legacy dating back to the 1950s of testing experimental reactors, and the site was chosen because of its remote location in Idaho Falls. It’s been pushing to become the site for new testing as well. However, the area is no longer as isolated as it once was. The population of Idaho Falls, where the lab is located, has more than tripled since the site opened in 1949.

Lyman said there’s an urgent need for the lab to do more environmental analysis of the area.

“By trying to bypass or avoid the hard look at the potential impacts of these federal actions,” he said, “they could be endangering public health, safety and the environment for the whole region.”

Lyman said even small and low-power nuclear reactors can pose a significant environmental hazard if there’s an accident, or if radioactive materials are released from its core or spent fuel. The Trump administration is pushing to have at least three test nuclear reactors running by July 4.