Energy
Can Florida Revolutionize the Nuclear Energy Sector?
A new bill in the Sunshine State’s legislature seeks to streamline the approval process for constructing nuclear reactors.
The archive
Issue: Nuclear Energy
Energy
NRC Finishes TerraPower’s Construction Permit Ahead of Schedule
In a welcoming milestone, TerraPower received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction permit for its advanced nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The review, completed ahead of schedule, provides a hopeful signal that the United States is finally turning the corner on one of the biggest barriers to clean energy innovation: an outdated, slow, and unpredictable licensing and permitting system.
Energy
DOE Takes Important Step to Modernize Nuclear Permitting
The Department of Energy recently announced that certain advanced nuclear reactor projects can qualify for a categorical exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) full review process. The move is a practical step forward to accelerate innovation, reduce unnecessary cost and delay, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness in nuclear energy.
Energy
The Department of Energy Takes on ALARA
Last fall, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the audience at Senator John Curtis’ conservative climate summit that “nuclear is going to become sexy again.” For policy wonks and proponents of modernizing outdated nuclear regulation, there may be nothing sexier than reforming ALARA.
Tech
What Can States Do to Embrace Advanced Nuclear?
At a recent hearing in Tallahassee, Florida, I testified on the advantages and promise of advanced nuclear technologies, as well as the policies needed to reduce costs and bring small modular reactors online more efficiently.
Science & Tech
America is Set To Restart a Retired Nuclear Plant for the First Time
The Palisades Nuclear Plant is located on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, a short two-hour drive from Chicago. It came online in 1971 and was retired in 2022, ranked at the time as the eighth-oldest nuclear plant in the country. Now, the plant is set to restart and make history as the first American nuclear plant to do so.
Energy
Could AI Make Nuclear Permitting Faster?
Implementing artificial intelligence may help make nuclear permitting faster, even with existing bureaucratic hurdles.
Energy
Wisconsin Cuts Red Tape To Speed Up Nuclear Siting
One of the most significant barriers to building more nuclear power plants is the prolonged timeline. The average time to construct a conventional nuclear plant is seven years;…
Science & Tech
U.S. Delivers Critical Superconducting Magnet to Kickstart Completion of World’s Largest Nuclear Fusion Device
The United States has delivered the final component critical to the completion of the world’s largest nuclear fusion device: the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
Culture
Just the Facts on Nuclear Energy
Far too often, we get caught up in emotion and fiction. Take, for instance, the Three Mile Island nuclear energy generation facility incident that occurred in the early morning hours of March 28, 1979.