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The technology is changing rapidly with SMR (Small Modular Reactors) and the Trump Administration has cut the licensing interval from years to 90 days (I think)

These SMR reactors, which will be scalable to run a data center for a smaller community, or scaled up to run for a large city are on the way.

They will be manufactured modularly in factories and shipped via truck or rail to the customer.

THIS is the wave of the future, and it is a good thing. Thorium should and I think, will be part of this revolution even if it isn't part of the initial wave. This technology being developed now may play a big role in the leveraging of Thorium.

Here is more information if you are interested. Your question is a fair one, but we shall see how it is dealt with.

Bottom line-these are not your father's nuclear reactors! (this is a post I put up on FR from back in December 2025)

I have personally long been a proponent of the deep exploitation of nuclear power, and watched this video a few months ago from Bill Whittle titled:

LINK: It’s Atom-Splitting Time!

It is a nice high level discussion about what is afoot on this front, and it discusses the first IV Generation Nuclear Power plant scheduled to be built and operated in the United States by 2026...this year! (The link is from late 2025)

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.

Here is a link from April 28, 20206 on the status of their newly installed molten salt reactor:

LINK: Natura Resources Completes 1,000 Hours Operating its Molten Salt Test System to Advance Development of its Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)

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 MSR-1 reactor.
The company's initial project is the 1-megawatt (MW) MSR-1, a research and test reactor built on the campus of Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Texas.
Timeline. Natura Resources is on schedule to begin operating the MSR-1 by 2026, a deployment timeline validated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Regulatory approval. In September 2024, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted a construction permit for the MSR-1. This was the first permit issued by the NRC for a liquid-fueled advanced reactor.
Commercial application. The MSR-1 is intended to pave the way for the larger, commercial-scale Natura MSR-100, a 100-MW system with a modular design.
Project funding. The project has been backed by significant investment, including $120 million in private funding and a $120 million commitment from the state of Texas.

Advantages of Natura's Generation IV reactor-compared to conventional nuclear technology, Natura's MSR design offers several benefits:

Superior safety: The reactor operates at high temperatures but low pressure, which reduces mechanical stress and greatly minimizes the risk of catastrophic failure.
Lower waste: It produces significantly less radioactive waste than traditional nuclear reactors and has the capability to use recycled waste fuel. Multiple applications: Beyond electricity generation, the technology can be used for desalinating water, which is critical in arid regions like the Permian Basin of Texas. The liquid fuel also allows for the harvesting of rare medical isotopes used in cancer treatments. Flexible power generation: The reactor is capable of dynamic load-following and long-duration energy storage. This allows it to more effectively complement intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar.
It is a scaleable, modular design, made to be mass produced and shipped by truck or rail to installation sites.

Again no need for new tech. The Russians have had a fast spectrum reactor running since the 1970s providing not only power but also desalination water on the Caspian Sea. It is a sodium cooled fast reactor they have two more larger ones based on the older proven tech.

We had a fully functional integral fast reactor that had all the reprocessing tech on-site and it did process fuel putting back in spent fuel plus additional U238 and only fission products came out as solid glass in steel tubes.

Proven tech we know it worked and worked well.

They tried to melt it down. They could not by any means they tried. They pulled the rods all out at full power , the negative Doppler coef shut it down on it’s own. They shut the coolant pumps off at full power , it is a pool reactor natural circulation took over and the pool mass plus the guard vessel air cooling didn’t even come close to boiling the liquid sodium again the Doppler effect shut it down. Then they did what would absolutely destroy a PWR they run it up to full power pulled the rods AND cut the pumps. This is deliberate sabotage level event as it could never happen in any foreseeable normal operating mode. Yup natural circulation took over and the Doppler effect shut it down. You simply cannot melt down a properly designed sodium pool reactor.

We had this tech and Clinton that traitor shut it down to save $37 million a year in finding. No it was killed because it worked too well. IFR is forever energy, it unlocks 83 terajoules per kg of uranium ALL uranium not just U235 in the 0.7% isotope vs U238.

The IFR is a energy conversion machine it converts mass into energy at the E=MC^2 level no other machine does this fusion that is still years away can it is the only other way.

1kg of U any Uranium is 83 TJ that’s equal too 14,300 barrels of oil we have hundreds of thousands of tonnes of uranium sitting 700,000+ tonnes every single KG has the energy of 14,000 bbl of oil.

You now see why the commies cannot allow the IFR tech to flourish.

Again Aalo in Austin is doing sodium cooled reactors, they are end running by using solid moderator and enriched U235 but make no mistake the fires , pumps and control rods are designed to take the solid moderator pins out and put Pu239 pins in with U238 blanket pins. It is a fast spectrum core from day one hiding in plain sight as a thermal spectrum sodium cooled snickers ha reactor.