It appears that even naming your #nuclear reactors after Donald J. Trump is not a guarantee of success these days. Quite possibly the opposite.
constructionreviewonline.com/60-billion-p...
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Talk about a Good Friday news dump: the NRC has quietly voted to phase out the crucial, force-on-force security inspections that have helped ensure #nuclear plants remain protected against terrorist attacks since the aftermath of 9/11. Worst NRC ever.
www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2609/...
Yes, they could have given the critics more airtime to explain. For instance, the tritium problem the Hermes reactors have.
Is it a #nuclear reactor? Is it a test well? Is it a dessert topping? Is it a floor wax? lawrencekstimes.com/2026/03/25/k...
Nothing screams "efficiency" more than a process mandating an open-ended review of highly technical rules by know-nothing political flunkies in the White House.
And they thought we wouldn't notice ... The Nuclear RegulatoryCommission has quietly delayed the publication date for the Part 57 proposed rule for "high-volume" licensing of #nuclear microreactors from yesterday to April 7. www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/go...
Thank you so much! We greatly appreciate it!
John Wagner, director of Idaho National Lab, is asking Congress to expand Energy Department authority to license #nuclear power reactors. Which is, I believe, an admission that the current Reactor Pilot Program is likely illegal. www.energy.senate.gov/services/fil...
It's der Fuehrer, but essentially, yes.
And all it will do is to turn the public off even more from #nuclear power and drive workers--who are much smarter about protecting their own health than the dingbats in charge are--from the industry in droves.
It will also harm patients who receive diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures.
Let's be clear: this reckless and irresponsible move is completely driven by ideology and a handful of #nuclear nutcases who have been waging conspiracy theories for decades, and has nothing to do with the underlying science. www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2519/...
Politico got hold of a draft reg from the @NRCgov to eliminate use of the linear no-threshold model for ionizing radiation exposure and use of the "as low as reasonably achievable" principle, and raise allowable dose limits for workers and the public. www.eenews.net/articles/nrc...
UCS comments filed
www.nrc.gov/sites/defaul.... The Cowboy #Chernobyl sets off on its black horse. But not to worry, there's no danger it will operate any time soon. It needs around 14 MT of HALEU for the first core. And will Bill Gates fork over the billions in cost overruns that the project will incur?
To further reduce dose rates to minimally acceptable levels only requires less than a meter of additional concrete thickness. Sure, you could save some bucks by shaving a few tens of centimeters of wall thickness. Hard to believe that would have any significant cost impact.
And who is spreading the absurd idea that ALARA provisions have "forced operators to incorporate concrete shields into their reactor designs"? It takes several meters of shielding to reduce doses just so that workers don't start dropping dead from acute radiation sickness.
Second, the NRC never "forced changes" to the AP1000 design. That's historical revisionism. Southern Company's Congressional testimony from January admits that detailed engineering and design work was not complete at the time it submitted its application. www.congress.gov/119/meeting/...
First, it says, referring to the AP1000 projects at Vogtle and Summer, that "regulators have even forced changes to designs mid-construction, as happened in 2009 ..." But reactor construction (pouring of the basemat concrete) did not begin at either of those sites until 2013.
The abysmal @washingtonpost.com editorial page hit a new nadir today with its piece on "America's #nuclear future." It's not just that its policy pronouncements are wrong-headed. It is undermined by errors that betray an utter lack of interest in basic fact-checking.
A terrifying #fridaythethirteenth surprise from @NRCgov: it has issued a license for the X-energy TRISO-X #nuclear fuel fabrication facility 3 months ahead of schedule. Looks like a lot of exemptions were hastily granted to make this happen.
Local opposition in Texas had a big win last week when the NRC agreed to examine financial concerns about Dow/X-energy.
But the 'containment-free' reactor push isn't going away.
"a direct threat to the health and safety " - @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social
nuclearcosts.org/dow-chemical...
Excellent story by Rachel Frazin as the U.S. system for #nuclear power safety and security regulation is about to fall off a cliff.
thehill.com/policy/energ...
Russia's attacks on Ukraine's power grid and the substations that serve its #nuclear plants have got to stop. The situation is very unstable.
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
The nuclear industry has long complained about security rules @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social told me. "They don't know why they have to pay so much money to protect against something they think is never going to happen."
He thinks the new order lets these companies "write their own ticket" on security.
You don't know?
