De-regulating nuclear power is dumb, dangerous, and expensive

[Volunteer]

President Donald Trump signed four executive orders on May 23, 2025 that violate the Atomic Energy Act and effectively terminate the independence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its ability to protect the public health and safety in the operation of commercial nuclear facilities. The orders reject settled science on the public health impacts of radiation.

One order will slash the NRC’s staff and subjugate the agency to White House approval of its regulations and licensing decisions. Other orders direct the military and Department of Energy to build commercial nuclear power plants without NRC regulation and oversight. The Pentagon and DOE hardly have a track record of cost-effective contracting and timely production. Multi-billion-dollar cost overruns and years-long delays are the norm, just as they were with nuclear plant construction.

After 60 years of the nuclear power experiment, it is still too expensive and produces radioactive wastes that will be dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. President Trump's executive orders will not and cannot fix those problems. Turning to nuclear reprocessing, as another of his orders would do, will only make those problems worse, as it has every time before in the U.S. and every other country with a reprocessing program.

There are no known costs for nuclear power. That's why no private utility has begun a project since the last century. No insurance company will write a liability policy for this experimental technology. The industry survives only on taxpayer life support.

Nuclear power is neither green, nor practical. In the last two years alone more new wind and solar electricity generation has been brought online than the U.S. nuclear industry currently generates. It is time to move on.

 

[Gordy327]

President Donald Trump signed four executive orders on May 23, 2025 that violate the Atomic Energy Act and effectively terminate the independence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its ability to protect the public health and safety in the operation of commercial nuclear facilities. The orders reject settled science on the public health impacts of radiation.

One order will slash the NRC’s staff and subjugate the agency to White House approval of its regulations and licensing decisions. Other orders direct the military and Department of Energy to build commercial nuclear power plants without NRC regulation and oversight. The Pentagon and DOE hardly have a track record of cost-effective contracting and timely production. Multi-billion-dollar cost overruns and years-long delays are the norm, just as they were with nuclear utilities.

After 60 years of the nuclear power experiment, it is still too expensive and produces radioactive wastes that will be dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. President Trump's executive orders will not and cannot fix those problems. Turning to nuclear reprocessing, as another of his orders would do, will only make those problems worse, as it has every time before in the U.S. and every other country with a reprocessing program.

There are no known costs for nuclear power. That's why no private utility has begun a project since the last century. No insurance company will write a liability policy for this experimental technology. The industry survives only on taxpayer life support.

Nuclear power is neither green, nor practical. In the last two years alone more new wind and solar electricity generation has been brought online than the U.S. nuclear industry generates. It is time to move on.

Nuclear power is far safer, cleaner, and more efficient than fossil fuel power plants. Strong regulations helps keep it that way too. If regulations are weakened, we shouldn't be surprised if something bad happens.

 

[Stealers Wheel]

Perhaps Trump will issue an EO ordering them to build a plant on top of the San Andreas fault in California.

 

[Mycroft]

Those EO's are a necessary step for the creation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR). In fact, Trump was very clear that his push for new reactors is NOT about the behemoth reactors of the past. Instead, it's about small reactors that focus on critical infrastructure and national security systems.

​

POWERING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEMS: President Trump recognizes the need to power and operate critical defense facilities and computing infrastructure for AI capabilities.​

• Military installations, including those in locations that are not well-served by other types of power due to complex supply chains required to reach them, require uninterruptible, dispatchable, high-density power of the type that advanced nuclear reactors can provide because of their unique size and generation capabilities. This is critical for readiness and national security.
• The Federal Government’s advanced computing AI infrastructure will require a substantial increase in scalable power solutions, which advanced nuclear reactors are well-positioned to provide. This will ensure our technological supremacy in the emerging technologies of both AI and nuclear power.
• By empowering the Department of Energy and Department of Defense to expand utilization of advanced nuclear power and instructing each to reduce regulatory red tape hampering use of nuclear power at their sites, this Order enhances our national security and reduces reliance on foreign sources of energy for our military and AI operations.
• 87% of new reactor builds worldwide are based on foreign designs, and the majority of the world’s nuclear fuel comes from foreign sources. By instructing the Department of State and other agencies to aggressively pursue export opportunities, this Order will strengthen our relationships with our allies and disrupt potential industry control by adversaries.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security

DEPLOYING NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to rapidly deploy advanced nuclear

www.whitehouse.gov

SMR's are a viable alternative to the massive reactors of the past for providing power to localized areas like cities and towns. They would also provide safety for the national power grid. When these small reactors are taken out of service for maintenance and such, the power grid isn't crippled in the way it is if the grid depends upon large reactors.

What Are SMRs: What Small Modular Reactors Are And Why They Matter

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are factory-built nuclear fission reactors designed for scalable deployment.

climateinsider.com

 

[longview]

There is a murphy's law called the Boeing principle, that states when the weight of the paperwork
equals the weight of the aircraft, it will fly! I have heard this applies to Nuclear power plants as well,
But they weigh a lot more than a jet!
I suspect there is plenty of room to clean up Nuclear power regulations without compromising public safety.
I would not be surprised to see some big refineries building their own Nuclear power plants, to reduce the cost
of man made fuels.

 

[Mycroft]

btw, the US Navy has used small reactors in ships for decades. I asked Copilot about their safety.

have there ever been nuclear reactor accidents on us naval ships

No, the U.S. Navy has never experienced a nuclear reactor accident that resulted in harm to human health or the environment. U.S. nuclear-powered warships have operated safely for over 50 years, accumulating more than 134 million miles of travel on nuclear power and over 5,700 reactor-years of safe operation​

 

[Helix]

I'm for expanding nuclear power, but it needs to be well regulated.

 

[longview]

Those EO's are a necessary step for the creation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR). In fact, Trump was very clear that his push for new reactors is NOT about the behemoth reactors of the past. Instead, it's about small reactors that focus on critical infrastructure and national security systems.

​

POWERING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEMS: President Trump recognizes the need to power and operate critical defense facilities and computing infrastructure for AI capabilities.​

• Military installations, including those in locations that are not well-served by other types of power due to complex supply chains required to reach them, require uninterruptible, dispatchable, high-density power of the type that advanced nuclear reactors can provide because of their unique size and generation capabilities. This is critical for readiness and national security.
• The Federal Government’s advanced computing AI infrastructure will require a substantial increase in scalable power solutions, which advanced nuclear reactors are well-positioned to provide. This will ensure our technological supremacy in the emerging technologies of both AI and nuclear power.
• By empowering the Department of Energy and Department of Defense to expand utilization of advanced nuclear power and instructing each to reduce regulatory red tape hampering use of nuclear power at their sites, this Order enhances our national security and reduces reliance on foreign sources of energy for our military and AI operations.
• 87% of new reactor builds worldwide are based on foreign designs, and the majority of the world’s nuclear fuel comes from foreign sources. By instructing the Department of State and other agencies to aggressively pursue export opportunities, this Order will strengthen our relationships with our allies and disrupt potential industry control by adversaries.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security

DEPLOYING NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to rapidly deploy advanced nuclear

www.whitehouse.gov

SMR's is a viable alternative to the massive reactors of the past for providing power to localized areas like cities and towns. They would also provide safety for the national power grid. When these small reactors are taken out of service for maintenance and such, the power grid isn't crippled in the way it is if the grid depends upon large reactors.

I could see old coal power plants using several SMR's to replace coal as the heat source.
The plants are already physically where they need to be and are grid connected, just their heat source is dirty.
Almost all coal power plants also have ether rail or a dock to bring in the coal, so heavy lift capability. (To bring in the SMR's).

 

[Stealers Wheel]

I bet the coal miners who voted for Trump are thrilled to hear this. Just another group of rubes who took it in the shorts.

 

[Volunteer]

Perhaps Trump will issue an EO ordering them to build a plant on top of the San Andreas fault in California.

We already have one - Diablo Canyon, PG&E's troubled facility that is one of many nukes on taxpayer life support. Over one billion dollars of Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructue Law is going to keep Diablo Canyon running right on top of that fault. Six billion dollars in new subsidies, total, was approved by Congress for U.S. nuclear power plants.

 

[Stealers Wheel]

Instead of regulations, every question and decision must be run by Trump personally. Nobody knows nuclear better than Trump, believe me.

The lobbyist line starts over here, on the right. Just leave the satchels on the table as you exit.

 

[verrip1]

President Donald Trump signed four executive orders on May 23, 2025 that violate the Atomic Energy Act and effectively terminate the independence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its ability to protect the public health and safety in the operation of commercial nuclear facilities. The orders reject settled science on the public health impacts of radiation.

One order will slash the NRC’s staff and subjugate the agency to White House approval of its regulations and licensing decisions. Other orders direct the military and Department of Energy to build commercial nuclear power plants without NRC regulation and oversight. The Pentagon and DOE hardly have a track record of cost-effective contracting and timely production. Multi-billion-dollar cost overruns and years-long delays are the norm, just as they were with nuclear plant construction.

After 60 years of the nuclear power experiment, it is still too expensive and produces radioactive wastes that will be dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. President Trump's executive orders will not and cannot fix those problems. Turning to nuclear reprocessing, as another of his orders would do, will only make those problems worse, as it has every time before in the U.S. and every other country with a reprocessing program.

There are no known costs for nuclear power. That's why no private utility has begun a project since the last century. No insurance company will write a liability policy for this experimental technology. The industry survives only on taxpayer life support.

Nuclear power is neither green, nor practical. In the last two years alone more new wind and solar electricity generation has been brought online than the U.S. nuclear industry currently generates. It is time to move on.

Climate denier. There's always one, usually a bot.

 

[Volunteer]

Those EO's are a necessary step for the creation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR). In fact, Trump was very clear that his push for new reactors is NOT about the behemoth reactors of the past. Instead, it's about small reactors that focus on critical infrastructure and national security systems.

​

POWERING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEMS: President Trump recognizes the need to power and operate critical defense facilities and computing infrastructure for AI capabilities.​

• Military installations, including those in locations that are not well-served by other types of power due to complex supply chains required to reach them, require uninterruptible, dispatchable, high-density power of the type that advanced nuclear reactors can provide because of their unique size and generation capabilities. This is critical for readiness and national security.
• The Federal Government’s advanced computing AI infrastructure will require a substantial increase in scalable power solutions, which advanced nuclear reactors are well-positioned to provide. This will ensure our technological supremacy in the emerging technologies of both AI and nuclear power.
• By empowering the Department of Energy and Department of Defense to expand utilization of advanced nuclear power and instructing each to reduce regulatory red tape hampering use of nuclear power at their sites, this Order enhances our national security and reduces reliance on foreign sources of energy for our military and AI operations.
• 87% of new reactor builds worldwide are based on foreign designs, and the majority of the world’s nuclear fuel comes from foreign sources. By instructing the Department of State and other agencies to aggressively pursue export opportunities, this Order will strengthen our relationships with our allies and disrupt potential industry control by adversaries.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security

DEPLOYING NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to rapidly deploy advanced nuclear

www.whitehouse.gov

SMR's are a viable alternative to the massive reactors of the past for providing power to localized areas like cities and towns. They would also provide safety for the national power grid. When these small reactors are taken out of service for maintenance and such, the power grid isn't crippled in the way it is if the grid depends upon large reactors.

What Are SMRs: What Small Modular Reactors Are And Why They Matter

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are factory-built nuclear fission reactors designed for scalable deployment.

climateinsider.com

Trump probably supports the Biden-Harris-Newsome scheme to subsidize PG&E's Diablo Canyon with billions of taxpayer dollars - plus Power Charge Indifference Assessment increases to consumer rates.

I wonder if Joe understands the radiological embrittlement, due to metallurgical design flaws in the Unit 1 reactor vessel, that risks millions of people.

 

[Mycroft]

Trump probably supports the Biden-Harris-Newsome scheme to subsidize PG&E's Diablo Canyon with billions of taxpayer dollars - plus Power Charge Indifference Assessment increases to consumer rates.

I wonder if Joe understands the radiological embrittlement, due to metallurgical design flaws in the Unit 1 reactor vessel, that risks millions of people.

shrug...

I wouldn't know.

 

[Gordy327]

I could see old coal power plants using several SMR's to replace coal as the heat source.
The plants are already physically where they need to be and are grid connected, just their heat source is dirty.
Almost all coal power plants also have ether rail or a dock to bring in the coal, so heavy lift capability. (To bring in the SMR's).

Wyoming is building the next generation plant, a natrium reactor, which is supposed to be safer, more efficient, and more cost effective than traditional nuclear plants. It will replace an old coal plant being decommissioned.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

We pioneered thorium power and abandoned it.
China has now taken the lead in safe clean thorium reactors.
Congratulations Trump, for giving away the store....AGAIN.

 

[Lord of Planar]

We pioneered thorium power and abandoned it.
China has now taken the lead in safe clean thorium reactors.
Congratulations Trump, for giving away the store....AGAIN.

Nobody yet has been able to make a functioning thorium reactor for power. You are whining about nothing.

 

[Lord of Planar]

Wyoming is building the next generation plant, a natrium reactor, which is supposed to be safer, more efficient, and more cost effective than traditional nuclear plants. It will replace an old coal plant being decommissioned.

It appears this is a good safe design.

 

[Volunteer]

It appears this is a good safe design.

How would we know this?

 

[Gordy327]

Nobody yet has been able to make a functioning thorium reactor for power. You are whining about nothing.

China has built an experimental thorium reactor and is constructing a larger, more functional reactor. So it is coming and is an improvement over uranium reactors.

 

[longview]

How would we know this?

The Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) have some inherent safety features, if the reaction overheats,
the liquid salt melts a safety plug and the liquid causing the reaction flows out, stopping the reaction.
I suspect there are still many details to work out, but China has a small one working.

 

[Lord of Planar]

China has built an experimental thorium reactor and is constructing a larger, more functional reactor. So it is coming and is an improvement over uranium reactors.

I will believe it when I see it. they have done what? 20 megawatts.... I will believe it when i see them scale it to the usable values or 500 megawatts and higher.

BTW... they are using a high content of highly enriched uranium, U235 for their process. The Thorium reactors that are desired use no U235.

What's in a name...

 

[Lord of Planar]

How would we know this?

It is a molten salt reactor and does not have the issue with pressurized water exchange.

 

[Gordy327]

I will believe it when I see it. they have done what? 20 megawatts.... I will believe it when i see them scale it to the usable values or 500 megawatts and higher.

BTW... they are using a high content of highly enriched uranium, U235 for their process. The Thorium reactors that are desired use no U235.

The first reactor is experimental and only puts out 2 MW. As the tech improves, the need for uranium will likely become less necessary. Give it time. I want to see how well the Natrium reactor will operate. Whats really needed is a functioning fusion plant. But that will probably take longer.

 

[Lord of Planar]

The first reactor is experimental and only puts out 2 MW. As the tech improves, the need for uranium will likely become less necessary. Give it time. I want to see how well the Natrium reactor will operate. Whats really needed is a functioning fusion plant. But that will probably take longer.

Fusion has been 10 years away since the 70's.