Top energy officials in the Trump administration said they have positioned the United States to deploy small nuclear reactors this decade and enabled companies to compete in export markets dominated by China and Russia.

Rita Baranwal, who leads the Energy Department’s nuclear energy office, and Ted Garrish, the agency’s top international affairs official, say the U.S. nuclear industry, plagued recently by cost overruns and early plant retirements, is in a better place than four years ago.