More evidence for a coming nuclear renaissance in America

Introduction

Back in September, I posted the article, AI-driven nuclear renaissance? Microsoft makes a deal to reopen Three Mile Island. At the time, Microsoft and Constellation Energy had announced that the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant would be reopening as the Crane Clean Energy Center, and Microsoft would be purchaasing 100% of their energy.

This week, we had new evidence - in the form of four Executive Orders - that America is on the edge of a nuclear renaissance. Here are the orders:

• Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base
• Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy
• Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security

As I've mentioned before, this topic is particularly interesting to me because my (late) father in law was one of the TMI responders from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the 1979 accident. Coincidentally, I recently happened to notice that he even makes a brief appearance in the current Netflix documentary on the subject. He's the guy in the hardhat.

Before he passed away, we had many dinner table conversations about the accident and about the relative safety of nuclear energy.

So, let's look and see what the Whitehouse said on the topic last week.

The Executive Orders

Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base

This order opens by highlighting the role of the United States in pioneering nuclear energy technologies and the need that AI imposes for powering the economy in the future. But then it moves on to argue that the US has been slower than other developed nations at deploying it and that most deployments after 2017 were based on designs from two other nations. Additionally, it claims that the US nuclear fuel supply chain has atrophied.

Against this backdrop, the order makes this policy statement:

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to expedite and promote to the fullest possible extent the production and operation of nuclear energy to provide affordable, reliable, safe, and secure energy to the American people, to power advanced nuclear reactor technologies, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 16271(b)(1)(A), and to build associated supply chains that secure our global industrial and digital dominance, achieve our energy independence, protect our national security, and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of nuclear fuel through recycling, reprocessing, and reinvigorating the commercial sector.

From there, the order calls for a series of plans, policy recommendations, and reports in the coming 90-240 days. These cover topics regarding the recycling, reuse, transfer, handling, and disposal of spent nuclear fuels. It also calls for the creation of voluntary agreements on these same topics with firms in the nuclear energy industry. These agreements are to be initiated within 30 days. It then goes on to direct planning in support of funding and workforce expansion in these areas. The work force expansion will include apprenticeships, other forms of skills training, and grants to the states.

Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy

Again, the order opens by affirming the early role of the United States in the development of civilian nuclear power, but then goes on to argue that progress has been slowed in modern decades due to "overregulated complacency". It goes so far as to say that, "With some rare and arguable exceptions, no advanced reactors have yet been deployed in America."

Based on these findings, the order goes on to order the Secretary of Energy to update definitions and guidelines within 60-90 days so that new reactor designs will qualify for testing and the regulators will provide expeditious approvals.

Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

This order opens by arguing that ample energy supplies are vital for national and economic security and that America can only be energy independent through the combination of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. It argues that this is important for traditional uses and also for coming uses like quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

It goes on to demonstrate how American adoption of nuclear energy has ground to a halt, saying:

Between 1954 and 1978, the United States authorized the construction of 133 since-completed civilian nuclear reactors at 81 power plants. Since 1978, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has authorized only a fraction of that number; of these, only two reactors have entered into commercial operation.

and it uses the example of the recent power outage in Spain and Portugal to emphasize the importance of dispatchable power generation like nuclear, as opposed to intermittent sources like solar and wind.

One excerpt that particularly caught my attention was this:

The NRC utilizes safety models that posit there is no safe threshold of radiation exposure and that harm is directly proportional to the amount of exposure. Those models lack sound scientific basis and produce irrational results, such as requiring that nuclear plants protect against radiation below naturally occurring levels.

My father in law made this exact point in conversation many many times. It's known as the Linear no-threshold model.

The order goes on to state that the policy of the United States is to: (i) Reestablish the US as a leader in the technology; (ii) facilitate deployment of new reactor technologies; (iii) expand nuclear energy capacity from, "from approximately 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050"; (iv) employ emerging technology for modeling, simulation, testing, and approval; (v) support the nuclear fleet; and (vi) maintain the US reputation for nuclear safety.

In support of that policy, the order argues that the NRC has not fulfilled the congressional mandate that "the NRC shall not unduly restrict the benefits of nuclear power", and it calls for coordinating with DOGE towards reform and restructuring of the NRC in order to align with that mandate.

Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security

Once again, the order opens by arguing for the need of stable, uninterruptible power for national and economic security, and it cites the emerging area of AI and other mission critical capabilities.

In order to supply that need, the order directs rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies such as "Generation III+ reactors, small modular reactors, microreactors, and stationary and mobile reactors", all of which are to be developed in the United States. It also aims to enable private investment in these technologies and to coordinate regulatory frameworks across the departments of defense and energy.

In addition to calling for the expansion of advanced nuclear reactors, the order also directs the Secretary of Energy to designate AI data centers in the continental United States as "defense critical electric infrastructure" and arrange to have them powered by advanced nuclear reactors.

Additionally, the order contains provisions for fuel and waste handling and for interagency coordination. Finally, the order directs the respective agencies to work towards expedited security clearances in this field and to facilitate the export of these technologies to other nations.

Conclusion

These are long orders, and the page format (plus the relentless use of run-on sentences😉) makes reading on the screen difficult. Hopefully I captured the essentials here, though.

The main point is this: Last fall we saw corporate support emerging behind the expansion of nuclear power production in the United States, and this spring we see government support emerging. It would seem that we can reasonably hope for rapid growth of nuclear power production in the United States.

I remember the accidents at TMI, Chernobyl, and Fukishima, but all forms of energy carry risks. On balance, even with the old technologies, I think that nuclear energy is as safe as any other. We have nuclear powered carriers and submarines sailing in and out of ports in densely populated areas all the time without incident, and there are plenty of plants around the globe that haven't had accidents. With the new types of reactors that are coming online, it's only going to get safer. I, for one, am happy to see that nuclear energy may finally be given the opportunity to bring down the cost of energy for American consumers and prove itself in the American economy.

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Thank you for your time and attention.

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^{Steve Palmer is an IT professional with three decades of professional experience in data communications and information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in computer science, and a master's degree in information systems and technology management. He has been awarded 3 US patents.}

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