I happened to notice this in my links to the right of the blog posts, and it's worth highlighting. Though the Trump administration and the just passed Big Bad Bill are cutting solar and wind power projects, even at the expense of jobs in Republican districts (which amazes me), they are also improving the environment, which can help the ENVIRONMENT and even climate change, for nuclear energy.
Nuclear Energy Projects Moving Forward Quickly Now
One paragraph in particular drew my attention:
"Also in May, the nation’s largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced it submitted a construction permit application to the NRC for a small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. TVA President and CEO Don Moul hopes that, by being the first, it can show other public utilities a new way to accelerate the development of SMRs. The TVA is already reviewing applications from private companies that want to build these reactors that could begin providing power in the early 2030s."As I have been saying for years, SMRs could be the key to getting to the energy future. If you can build the same thing, over and over again, knowing the design and technology really well, then they can be reproduced and deployed rapidly, and permitting is much faster. AND they produce less nuclear waste products (though we still need a place to put that material).
You could even (drum roll please) build an SMR that is dedicated to providing power for desalination in places that need it, aka Southern California. That would help address the water shortage that is pretty much de rigeur, and potentially take pressure off the Colorado River and the reservoirs. That in turn helps the environment another way.
It all makes sense. In fact, it's one of the 12 points of my "How to Really Save America" treatise that nobody will pay attention to, but which will be very honest about what would really work. Look for that soon. Meanwhile, let's get those SMRs online.
From 2023:
"Instead, the great hope for the future of nuclear power is to go small.
Nearly a dozen companies are developing reactors that are a fraction of the size of those at Vogtle, betting that they will be quicker and cheaper to build. As the United States looks to transition away from fossil fuels that have underpinned its economy for 150 years, nuclear power is getting renewed interest, billions of dollars from the Biden administration and support from Republicans."
(Well, until recently, i.e. this week. But nuclear is still going forward.)
More info:
Visualized: The Four Benefits of Small Modular Reactors
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