Officials in the Trump administration are drawing up executive orders to speed up the approval and construction of nuclear power plants across the US, press reports have said.

The effort, described by an administration official and other people familiar with the deliberations, is still a work in progress. The president has not signed off on a course of action, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because no announcement has been made. US news site Axios and the New York Times have both reported the discussions.

Trump and administration officials have repeatedly emphasised the importance of abundant, inexpensive electricity to power the energy-hungry artificial intelligence industry, helping the US win a global race to dominate the nascent technology.