When President Donald Trump signed executive orders in May 2025 to accelerate nuclear energy development, the message was clear: the United States needs to move faster.
Faster to secure domestic supply chains. Faster to deploy reliable energy. And faster to bring next-generation technologies to life.
Across the country, innovators are answering that call, working to bring reactors to criticality, a key milestone where a system achieves a self-sustaining reaction and begins to demonstrate real-world potential. In Texas, that progress is taking shape in a meaningful way.
Oklo Inc. is advancing its Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Caldwell County, an important step toward strengthening U.S. capabilities in nuclear technology, medical isotope production, and advanced fuel recycling. This is not just another energy project, it is a strategic investment in American resilience.
This effort comes at a moment when one of the most important challenges in healthcare remains largely invisible.
Millions of cancer treatments depend on something most people have never heard of, and that supply is fragile.
More than 50 million nuclear medicine procedures take place each year, and demand is rising quickly. Roughly half of all cancer patients will receive radiation therapy at some point, with many of those treatments relying on medical isotopes.
For decades, the United States has depended heavily on foreign sources for many of these materials, with a small number of aging reactors overseas supplying much of the global market. When those facilities go offline, the effects ripple across the globe, delaying care and creating uncertainty for providers and patients.
These medicines cannot be stockpiled. Many isotopes decay within hours, requiring production, transport, and delivery on tight timelines. When supply is disrupted, treatment is delayed because cancer does not wait.
This is not a theoretical risk. Past outages at foreign reactors have led to real shortages, forcing hospitals to delay diagnostic scans and ration care. It is a fragile system that leaves American patients exposed to disruptions far beyond our control.
Projects like Groves are designed to strengthen this system by expanding domestic production and reducing dependence on vulnerable foreign supply chains. Bringing that capability back to the United States is not just a healthcare priority, it is a matter of national security.
For families in communities like Lockhart and Luling, that work connects directly to more timely, precise care. It also represents something larger: rebuilding U.S. leadership in technologies at the intersection of healthcare, energy, and national security.
The benefits extend well beyond medicine.
Advanced nuclear technologies make more efficient use of fuel while providing steady, around-the-clock power that supports grid reliability. Unlike weather-dependent sources, nuclear energy delivers consistent output aligned with real-world demand.
That reliability matters for Texas. When energy is dependable and costs are stable, businesses can invest, manufacturers can expand, and families are better insulated from volatility. Reliable power is not a luxury, it is the foundation of economic growth and modern life.
Nuclear energy delivers this output with a small physical footprint, preserving land while producing significant energy close to where it is needed. Advanced designs like Oklo’s also improve fuel efficiency and extend the lifecycle of nuclear materials, extracting more value from existing resources.
The progress underway in Caldwell County reflects what happens when policy and innovation align. Recent executive actions to modernize the regulatory environment have helped remove barriers that slowed nuclear development for decades, while other nations moved forward.
For too long, the United States allowed overregulation and political opposition to stall one of its most promising energy technologies. That is beginning to change as policymakers recognize the need to restore American leadership in nuclear innovation.
Today, that trajectory is changing. Advanced reactor developers are moving from design to deployment, from concept to capability.
Milestones like criticality mark that shift, when years of engineering begin to translate into real, measurable progress.
Texas has long led in energy innovation, from oil and natural gas to LNG exports, and is now positioning itself at the forefront of next-generation nuclear technology.
Caldwell County is part of that story, and its role will only grow as these technologies move from testing to deployment.
This is what American innovation looks like when it is allowed to move.
And Texas is showing the country how it is done.
Jason Isaac served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019 and is now CEO of the American Energy Institute.
