These directives streamline licensing, mandate microreactor deployment for AI infrastructure and military bases, and reactivate fuel reprocessing. The message is clear: Nuclear power will be embraced with speed, security and industrial intent, not caution or consensus.

Days later, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry announced Indonesia’s target: 500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear energy capacity by 2034 as outlined in the 2025-2034 electricity supply business plan (RUPTL). Energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the country’s first nuclear power plant, a 250 MW facility, would be operational by 2032, followed by a second in 2033.

These plants, planned for development on Sumatra and in Kalimantan, have reportedly been reviewed and regulatory preparations are underway.

The US and Indonesian announcements appear synchronous: both involve small-scale nuclear power plants, target timelines within a decade and cite 250 MW as a baseline. However, this alignment is superficial. The fundamental difference lies in authorship: the US is an author, while Indonesia remains a host.

Trump’s orders demonstrate internal authorship by mandating deadlines, reassigning legal authority and directly linking nuclear energy to national defense and digital infrastructure. Conversely, Indonesia’s plan merely states a target using vendor-driven language and lacks binding regulation, credible testing or clarity on the fuel chain.

Despite never having operated a research reactor beyond an experimental scale, the government is committing, on paper, to build a 250 MW reactor by 2032 based on unproven platforms, even in the vendor's country of origin.