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Shawn Connors's avatar

Another top proponent of nuclear energy is Representative Byron Donalds of Florida’s 19th District (R) and a close friend of President Trump. I have argued that the NRC should be reformed not abolished, but it seems unable to gain any serious momentum in that direction. As I witness continued lack of urgency and intense effort from the NRC leadership, Ted Nordhaus’s call to abolish the NRC are starting to appear more pragmatic. We are now at a point the advanced reactors are coming up so fast the NRC will not be able to process applications. And in some cases the regulatory process promises to cost more than the reactor being proposed, on timelines that delay for years. An NRC innovation wall awaits. Plus we need to site new AP-1000, GW scale reactors now, and it is still extremely difficult to expedite the process against effective intervenors that have basically weaponized the NRC and EPA via lawfare. One thing valuable about the NRC is the amount of information that is digitized and available. Atomic Canyon has already accessed some of this information, using AI to streamline applications for advanced reactors. They did this using AI powered by Oak Ridge National Labs supercomputer called Frontier. Atomic Canyon should be a foundational part of any NRC reform. There are also many highly qualified and experienced engineers, physicist, and nuclear operators within the ranks of the NRC. I have come to know a number of them and they are top quality people that are passionate about their work. It seems the NRC, set up as a department headed by an appointed Secretary (it needs ONE empowered leader), and re-located in a State interested in championing nuclear energy, with a mandate to reinvent itself would have the personnel and resources to do so. Maybe Ted Nordhaus should be its first Secretary? Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are you listening?

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SmithFS's avatar

Note that Vivek Ramaswamy has stated that he wants to abolish the NRC and divest its function into other existing agencies. Since he is with Musk in charge of the Government Efficiency plan, DOGE, I would say that sounds like a plan.

The DOE could directly manage that function with likely 1/10th the staff. Other countries regulators work just fine with far less staff. And it is stupid & idiotic all these duplicate regulations & regulators.

Just as has been done with aircraft, divest a lot of the function internationally. After all, that is what the IAEA is for. One reactor gets IAEA certification than that should be automatic in all IAEA member countries.

When the EU certifies a giant aircraft, like the Airbus A380, which are vastly more dangerous and difficult to operate safely than a NPP, FAA approval is just a rubber stamp.

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