Posted on 03/01/2026 9:17:34 AM PST by zeestephen
For the past half century, successive Presidential administrations and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have thwarted the development of advanced reactor designs...That all changed last May, when President Trump issued four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating the U.S. nuclear energy industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at wattsupwiththat.com ...
The Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, which is fast-tracking the testing of advanced reactor designs, selected 10 companies to compete to reach criticality (a state where nuclear fission reactions become stable and self-sustaining) by the nation’s 250th birthday celebration on July 4. The hope is that at least three of the 11 projects will meet that milestone.
Nuclear opponents remain well organized, but its actual (rather than perceived) safety record and its increasing versatility and reliability make nuclear an increasingly attractive option.
That’s why this well-funded race is on.
These “modular” reactors are the way to go. This is as much for “regulatory”, as for practical considerations. The radical left figured out how to stop every nuclear power plant and power plant project with years of delays and increasing expenses in the name of “safety”. The key advantages to modular designs are regulatory which means a new installation would take approximately 4 years vs 15 to 20 for a conventional nuclear power plant, with $Billions being spent on legal fees alone, along with a 10 yearlong application process.
Put the first 5 on military reservations where the AEC has no jurisdiction.
High time. Distributed and redundant power generation is where it’s at. A 3ft high pressure gas main feeding a city is a tempting target for terrorists.
that tipped me off to what is afoot on this front, and it is the first IV Generation Nuclear Power plant scheduled to be built and operated in the United States by 2026...next year!
I would like to hear opinions here on Free Republic from our members who have experience in the field, are interested, or simply wish to comment, since I believe this is our path forward. I don't advocate this for "green" purposes (though nuclear power is indeed that) and we have been neglecting this for decades. I thought this has the potential for excellent discourse on the subject. Personally, I have had no direct participation in the industry, though I did work in Nuclear Medicine for years, so I understand the nature, handling, and safety of radioactivity better than most, as well as the truths and largely spread lies about it.
The Trump Administration publicly stated its goals in an Executive Order signed in May 2025 to: Reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): In May 2025, the administration signed executive orders to significantly speed up nuclear reactor licensing, including establishing an 18-month deadline for the construction and operation of new reactors. It also aims to modernize regulatory standards and reconsider license terms to enable longer operation for existing plants.
(NOTE: The other components of this Trump EO address expansion of nuclear capacity, prioritizing federal loans and guarantees to restart closed plants and complete unfinished construction projects, facilitating power uprates for existing reactors, supporting the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), domestic fuel production and waste management, national security and AI infrastructure, workforce development, and last (but not least) the promotion of exports to compete for commercial projects worldwide.)
Basically, it is fast tracking nuclear power.
The bureaucracy was so slow from the NRC, EPA, DOE, etc. that the byzantine nature of it, in conjunction with the environmentalists and legal system roadblocks, that it made exploitation of nuclear power, all but impossible, with permits taking decades and environmental and other legal challenges designed solely to kill nuclear power.
Here are some specifics about the Natura Resources project mentioned above by Bill Whittle, full disclosure, I asked AI to summarize it for me to make it easier, and from what I see it is relatively accurate, so if anyone sees errors or inconsistencies, feel free to offer corrections or clarifications. Here is a link to the Natura Resources website article about this project: LINK: Natura Resources Advancing Nation’s First Gen IV Nuclear Reactor.
They discuss aspects of the operational pilot, the MSR-1 (I assume it stands for "Molten Salt Reactor") and is very small, only 1 MW capacity, but it is a pilot. (NOTE: This is in contrast with Communist China (which AI apparently considers the "world leader" which is using gas-cooled units already in production. But as far as I know, safety of these is unknown, and they are not designed as the Natura Resources project is, to be safer, scaleable, and modularly produced which is what we should be aiming for.)
Here is the AI Summary, which I have edited mostly for readability:
Summary
Natura Resources is an advanced nuclear developer leading the deployment of the first Generation IV (Gen IV) reactor in the United States. The project centers on a liquid-fueled molten salt reactor (MSR) designed for enhanced safety, efficiency, and waste reduction. Some key facts about the project:
The treehuggers are as entrenched as Somalies in any fraud scheme.
The only way this can be forced to work is by assembling a working nuke that only needs to be attached to the coolant and leccy pipes and delivering it to a site that already has nukes.
Treehuggers will never allow another site to open. Never.
Any attempt for some “advanced” design will be destroyed if at a new site. The monies for such efforts are virtue signaling and money laundering. Don’t forget Solyndra.
I worked in all aspects of the civilian nuke program for 25+ years, you are fighting uphill.
LINK: Valar Atomics Ward250 Nuclear Reactor arrives at Hill Air Force Base
-PJ
I disagree with your overall assessment. You are spot on in your observation that the treehuggers are entrenched, but there are a lot of people on the other side of this equation now who WANT nuclear power.
The government. The Tech industry. And they have more money and incentive behind them to push this. And they are beginning to roll out.
There will absolutely be one on the moon. No doubt in my mind.
small nuclear reactor design:
Westinghouse AP300™ Small Modular Reactor
And FR is REALLY slow rn in North Central Florida
“Put the first 5 on military reservations where the AEC has no jurisdiction.”
The AEC was decommissioned 52 years ago.
Back to the future or something very close to it. We had a small reactor at Camp Century in Greenland back in the late 50’s and early 60’s until 1967. The reactor operated for three years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Century
The precursor or perhaps contemporary to the Camp Century reactor was a test unit at Arco, Idaho that suffered an accident late one night. That accident appears owing to operator error and lack of knowledgeable supervision. That period was another time when we got very serious about protecting the Arctic and our northern approaches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1
We have also operated relatively small and conventional reactors for more than half a century without apparent incident in our nuclear Navy as have some others.
If these SNR’s are a step to LiFTR they are an even better move. Uranium is not so plentiful and Thorium is and LiFTR is long over due.
I think the selling point of integration with variable power supplied by wind and solar is fading into insignificance and that would be a great thing since both are without merit and especially more-so with the prospect of SNR. None-the-less, variable power is a nice feature.
I feel, even as currently plentiful as natural gas appears, it is not an answer to our needs for power, it is a necessary bridge though to replace the prematurely and irrationally shuttered considerable number of base power load coal plants. Your rising power bills and natural gas heating bills will serve again to emphasize my position. We have been at what I think is a coming point before. I was involved in it during the time when we shuttered natural gas fired plants in favor of coal because natural gas was not only climbing in price but declining in availability. Building large coal plants was all the go in the 70’s almost like building data centers today but much less expensive and maybe more useful. Natural gas eventually reached $9.00 an MCF in 1982 when you could get it. Horizontal drilling and new shale sources I think are not likely to avoid that situation coming again. On top of that, chemical engineers weep at the thought of merely burning such a valuable feed stock merely for heat. I hate to see weeping chemical engineers.
The prospect of SNR and distributed base load power is very exciting. I look forward to it unfolding with keen anticipation. The operation at Hill AFB this year to commission the Ward250 reactor and power plant is one to watch with great interest and anticipation.
Strangely enough, in the meanwhile, I plan to install 12KW of now reduced cost solar power as a hedge against coming inflation and as much as that, a novelty of a project that i am interested in operating.
I attempted to become a member of our local electric cooperative on the basis of installing rural internet and distributed small nuclear power. The structure of the various REC entities strongly favors such types of investment. Alas, I am not a Mason or a former screwl superintendent or one of their good ‘ol boy lackeys and so my attempt to “give back” in my retirement failed, bitterness intended.
My thoughts for whatever they are worth.
Think how much more advanced the development could be on micro-reactors (and potentially fusion research) if all the money wasted in the last half century on wind and solar had insstead been invested in nukes.
Solar and wind can be great for small-scale supplemental electricity, but only in places that have uncommonly high levels of either. And neither one produces regularly enough to power a stable grid, nor with the energy density to power 21st Century superpower’s industrial base.
I’ve been waiting for the basement nuclear reactor that provides free power sing I was about 7 years old.
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