A “Gold Standard of Science”: Revisiting the Complex Ties Between Federal Power and Science Policy

This paper examines the Trump administration’s 2025 executive orders aimed at reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to accelerate the expansion of nuclear power in the United States. Framed as a strategy to bolster national energy independence and meet the growing demands of data centers and artificial intelligence, the reforms revive longstanding debates about radiation safety standards, particularly the linear no-threshold model. While the administration claims to uphold scientific rigor, critics argue that the orders politicize science by favoring contested threshold-based models and sidelining concerns about low-dose radiation exposure. Such policies, they warn, could have direct consequences for public health and radiation safety, affecting not only the nuclear industry but society at large. The paper contextualizes these developments within the broader historical evolution of radiation protection standards. It argues that debates over radiation protection have always extended well beyond academic circles. They have carried profound implications for public health policy, regulatory standards, and environmental justice, while have often been historically shaped by the priorities of the nuclear industry. In addition, President Trump’s recent executive orders exercise power through nuclear science and technology in ways that fall short of democratic ideals—particularly the aspiration for meaningful public participation in decision-making processes that directly influence human health and shape radiation protection policies.