Tag: nuclear power

US Lays Groundwork For Approving Offshore Nuclear Power Projects

The U.S. federal government has outlined a preliminary framework to oversee the approval of offshore nuclear power projects, advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda to safely unleash domestic energy production and reestablish the United States as the global leader in nuclear energy.

“While no commercial deployment on the Outer Continental Shelf is planned or approved at this time, it could greatly strengthen America’s energy security in the future,” Matt Giacona, acting director of the Interior Department’s Marine Minerals Administration, said in announcing the initiative on July 22.

The Marine Minerals Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released an agreement on Wednesday that lays the groundwork for a more “detailed cooperative framework” outlining jurisdictional oversight for development of offshore nuclear power projects in “a safe and environmentally responsible way.”

The memorandum of understanding between the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), which oversees energy projects in federal waters of the outer continental shelf, and the federal government’s independent civilian nuclear regulator will “foster cooperation” and “allow shared technical expertise to ensure reviews are efficient and transparent,” the NRC said in a statement.

Director of the NRC’s Office of Advanced Reactors Jeremy Bowen said the agreement “creates a clear framework for how our agencies will work together and ensures our processes remain efficient, transparent, and technically robust.”

“The agreement will also allow MMA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to responsibly respond to industry requests, supporting novel offshore energy production,” the MMA added.

The MMA also oversees offshore development such as seabed mining and space launch infrastructure.

Keep reading

US, Japan, Korea agree to accelerate small modular reactor deployment in Indo-Pacific where data centers are expanding

Nuclear-powered data centers built in certain countries could provide foreign nations access to data and compute via digital embassies: perspective

The United States, Japan, and South Korea sign a trilateral memorandum of cooperation to accelearte small modular reactor (SMR) deployments in other countries, starting with the Indo-Pacific — a region that is rapidly expanding AI  data center construction. 

Today, representatives from the three countries signed the MOC at the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey as a means to “foster fleet deployment models that de-risk project development, achieve economies of scale, catalyze private investment, streamline licensing processes, and optimize supply chains.”

“A coordinated trilateral approach positions American, Japanese, and Korean firms to provide partners in the region with more competitive alternatives to meet their growing energy demands and to uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation as new reactor technology increasingly comes online”US State Department, The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea Sign a Trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation on Small Modular Reactor Deployments in Other Countries, July 2026

Nowhere in the US State Department press release does it mention that the SMRs would be used for powering AI data centers.

However, the Indo-Pacific is a region teeming with data center expansion in countries like Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and of course, China, which dominates the region with approximately 450 facilities.

According to a 2024 report from the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, data centers are “The Indo-Pacific’s Hottest Trend.”

Meanwhile, small Modular Reactors have been put forth as a potential means to generate between 50MW to 300MW of nuclear power, with applications that include data centers, according to the Idaho National Laboratory. 

Keep reading

Trump Greenlights 30-Year U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Cooperation Deal, Positioning American Companies to Lead Saudi Civilian Nuclear Development

President Donald Trump has formally approved a landmark 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, clearing the way for U.S. support of the kingdom’s civilian nuclear energy program and deepening one of Washington’s most important strategic partnerships in the Middle East.

The agreement, valued at tens of billions of dollars, positions American companies as the primary partners in developing Saudi Arabia’s nuclear infrastructure while limiting opportunities for competitors such as China and Russia.

According to U.S. officials and multiple reports, the accord could also allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its own territory under a civilian nuclear framework—a provision that has already sparked debate among lawmakers and nonproliferation experts.

President Trump reportedly approved the agreement late last week. It is expected to be formally signed on Wednesday by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The pact builds on negotiations completed in late 2025 and follows commitments made during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington. It establishes the legal framework for U.S. assistance in constructing nuclear power plants, developing supporting infrastructure, and transferring civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom.

Supporters describe the agreement as a major geopolitical victory that reinforces the U.S.-Saudi alliance while ensuring that American companies—not Chinese or Russian state-backed firms—lead one of the world’s largest emerging nuclear energy projects.

The most controversial aspect of the agreement is its reported allowance for Saudi Arabia to pursue uranium enrichment within its civilian nuclear program.

Previous U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements often required partner nations to permanently renounce uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing—the so-called “gold standard” of nonproliferation. Reports indicate that this agreement adopts a more flexible approach, incorporating safeguards designed to prevent military use while stopping short of requiring the full implementation of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Additional Protocol, which provides the agency with broader inspection authority.

Administration officials maintain that the agreement includes sufficient protections to ensure the program remains exclusively peaceful. Critics, however, argue that relaxing long-standing U.S. standards could weaken global nonproliferation efforts.

Keep reading

Challenging NYT’s Suggestion That We Should Stop Worrying and Love Radiation

Alfred Meyer, long active in Physicians for Social Responsibility and former co-chair of its Radiation and Health Committee, challenged an article in the July 3 New York Times, headlined “US to Overhaul Radiation Safety Rules to Spur Nuclear Expansion.”

In a July 6 letter to the article’s author, Brad Plumer, Meyer wrote:

When I read the New York Times business page, I assume that there is a high level of investigative journalism being presented so that the news I read will present thorough and well-researched information about the topic at hand. This is not the case with this article.

Plumer began his piece by paraphrasing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposal on July 1 to overhaul its safety rules for radiation exposure at nuclear power plants. As he put it, the commission was concerned by the cost of the regulations and their tendency to “go beyond what is needed to protect human health.”

The NRC’s proposal asserted that current regulations often incur additional costs “without a measurable safety benefit”—for example, Plumer supplied, when regulators install additional equipment at plants in order to push radiation exposure “far below the legal limits.” Maximum dose limits, the agency said, are already set “well below levels associated with known health effects.”

Keep reading

US Nuclear Regulator Seeks Simpler Environmental Reviews To Boost Nuclear Expansion

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on July 8 proposed narrowing environmental reviews for new and renewed nuclear reactor licenses, a move the agency said would reduce costs, as the Trump administration pushes to expand nuclear energy.

The proposal would change how the NRC implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), limiting reviews to environmental effects that fall within the agency’s legal authority.

The NRC described the proposal as the “most comprehensive update to its environmental review regulations in decades,” adding that it would remove outdated requirements and make the licensing process more efficient.

NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the proposal, which is open for public comment until Aug. 21, would better align the agency’s environmental reviews with what Congress intended under NEPA.

He told reporters: “For many, many, many years, NRC did much more than required by law in the National Environmental Policy Act. So this really brings us back to what NEPA demands, nothing more, nothing less.”

Nieh also said, “By concentrating on impacts the NRC can address, we’ll strengthen environmental protection while making licensing reviews more timely and predictable.”

He said that the NRC proposes to limit areas where it does not have authority over effects on the environment, such as the construction of nuclear plants.

“Dust, noise, air impacts, non-radiological water, or non-radiological effects, all of those things are examples of where they’re outside of our regulatory authority, and so we won’t be doing those in the future,” he said.

NRC’s chief environmental review and permitting officer, Kimyata Savoy, said the proposal would save reactor developers and the agency about $135 million in licensing costs for new reactors and license renewals.

Other measures under the proposal include new categorical exclusions, an update of environmental review procedures, and greater flexibility for applicants in providing environmental information.

The proposal follows a series of actions by President Donald Trump aimed at expanding nuclear power in the United States. Trump signed four executive orders on May 23, 2025, directing the NRC to license 10 new reactors by 2030 and supporting a plan to quadruple U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050.

One of them, executive order 14300, directed the NRC to reform its licensing process. The White House said the commission had slowed nuclear development by imposing unnecessary regulatory requirements.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data show that last year, nuclear energy accounted for about 18 percent of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation.

Keep reading

Trump Admin Kicks Off American Nuclear Renaissance With $17.5 Billion Loan Program For Reactor Projects

With hyperscalers set to spend roughly $800 billion on data-center capex this year alone, alongside reshoring and broader grid electrification, baseload power demand is poised to surge.

We have made the case that intermittent solar and wind are no match for the scale and reliability requirements of the modern economy, and that nuclear power is emerging as the clean, always-on power source needed to power the AI era.

The Wall Street Journal reports Tuesday morning that the Trump administration plans to supercharge the deployment of nuclear power with a $17.5 billion low-interest loan program to help utilities finance orders for Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 reactors.

The Energy Department, under Secretary Chris Wright, plans to make five loans available for two-reactor projects, with the goal of expediting equipment orders and cutting up to three years from construction timelines.

More from the report:

Seven utilities have already signed formal letters of intent for the five available project loans, according to the Energy Department, which didn’t name the utilities.

Wright said the plan to accelerate the deployment timeline of ten reactors will “unleash the next American nuclear renaissance.”

Those reactors “will also help accelerate the timeline of building those large-scale reactors by up to three years, lowering construction costs and ensuring the United States is able to deliver on President Trump’s bold and ambitious energy addition agenda,” Wright said.

The AP1000 reactors, which produce about 1,100 megawatts of power, are slated to come online in 2035 and will generate enough electricity to power a midsize city or a large data center.

Keep reading

RADIOACTIVE HOGS: In the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Area, the Mutant Super Pig Population Is Surging Out of Control

Nuclear hogs reproduce faster than they can be culled.

In 2011, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster was hit by a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami, causing one of the worst radioactive disasters in history.

Around 164,000 people were forced to flee from their homes to escape the radiation zone.

The New York Post reported:

“Amid the chaos, domestic pigs escaped into abandoned farmland and began interbreeding with indigenous feral boars — creating a mutant pig population with alarming genes, Popular Science reported.

[…] Researchers from Fukushima and Hirosaki Universities discovered through DNA analysis that the hybrid progeny inherited the maternal domestic pig’s rapid reproductive cycle, allowing populations to quickly multiply, unlike that of the boar, according to findings from the Journal of Forest Research.”Hybrid pigs are also being developed in other parts of the world

Keep reading

Iranian Hostilities Flare Up Again as Drone Strike Sparks Fire Near Abu Dhabi Nuclear Plant

A drone strike sparked a fire near the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, in the latest sign of continued regional hostilities linked to the Iran conflict.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi said the drone struck an electrical generator outside the nuclear facility’s inner perimeter in the Al Dhafra region.

According to UAE officials, no injuries were reported, radiation levels remained normal, and the plant’s core systems were unaffected.

The UAE Defense Ministry said three drones were launched from the country’s western border.

Two were intercepted, but a third struck the site, causing the fire.

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation said the plant continued operating normally, while the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Emirati authorities had informed it that radiation levels remained stable.

“The IAEA is following the situation closely and is in constant contact with the UAE authorities, ready to provide assistance if needed,” the UN nuclear watchdog said.

Footage of such incidents is notoriously scarce because of the UAE’s aggressive crackdown on posting photos or videos that could damage the country’s image as a “safe haven.”

Keep reading

Trump DOE Removes Highly Enriched Uranium From Venezuela in Major Nuclear Security Win!

The Trump administration has completed the removal of all remaining enriched uranium from a legacy research reactor in Venezuela, marking a major nuclear security victory for the United States, South America, and the world.

According to a post from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the DOE/NNSA worked with international partners to remove all enriched uranium from Venezuela’s RV-1 research reactor.

The agency described the operation as a major nonproliferation success that reduced risk to both South America and the U.S. homeland.

“The safe removal of all enriched uranium from Venezuela sends another signal to the world of a restored and renewed Venezuela,” NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said, according to the Department of Energy post. 

“Thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership, the dedicated teams on the ground completed in months what would have normally taken years.”

The uranium came from the RV-1 reactor, which had supported physics and nuclear research for decades. According to DOE/NNSA, once that work ended in 1991, the uranium became surplus material. 

The material was enriched above the crucial 20% threshold, making its removal a serious national security matter.

The operation moved quickly after Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Venezuela in February. 

In the weeks that followed, NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation worked with State Department personnel in Washington and Caracas, experts from the United Kingdom, the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology, and the International Atomic Energy Agency to prepare the removal.

Less than six weeks after the initial site visit, the team safely removed 13.5 kilograms, or roughly 30 pounds, of uranium from the RV-1 reactor.

The material was securely packaged into a spent fuel cask before being escorted about 100 miles overland to a Venezuelan port. From there, the cargo was transferred to a specialized carrier supplied by the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Transport Solutions.

The vessel then transported the uranium to the United States, where it arrived on U.S. shores in early May.

Upon arrival, American teams unloaded the casks and transported the material to the Savannah River Site for processing and reuse.

Keep reading

Germany’s Nuclear Confession Is a Crack in Net‑Zero Pretense

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called the nuclear phaseout a “serious strategic mistake” that left Germany short of firm power that turned the Energiewende into the most expensive energy transition on the planet. This is an early marker for a developing worldwide retreat from policies that sidelined nuclear power and demonized coal, oil, and natural gas.

German and Japanese Nuclear Embarrassment

Germany stubbornly closed its last three functioning nuclear reactors in April 2023 right in the middle of a crippling energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. As pragmatists predicted, German citizens now suffer under punishingly high electricity prices and remain heavily dependent on imported energy.

The green dream was sold as a route to “cheap” renewables, yet the reality for German households and factories has been record‑high electricity prices, complex subsidies for favored businesses and individuals who conform to the climate narrative, and a grid that struggles on windless days or under gray skies. 

Japan made a remarkably similar error but is finally correcting course. After the Fukushima disaster, the government panicked and shut down all 54 of its nuclear reactors. Today, Japan is slowly restarting those idle units.

The pattern is plain to see. Countries abandon dependable power sources under political pressure, then spend years rebuilding what they had demonized and dismantled.

Regret Over Abandoning Fossil Fuels

This is why I anticipate a cascade of similar reversals by national leaders who participated in a destructive campaign that stripped grids of dependable, affordable, and abundant coal, oil, and natural gas.

Politicians are already quietly hitting the brakes on their aggressive fossil fuel phaseouts when reality bites. The massive Groningen gas field was scheduled for permanent closure due to localized earthquake risks. Yet in 2024, the Dutch Senate delayed the final shutdown vote when lawmakers demanded guarantees that abandoning the domestic resource would not jeopardize energy security.

Within a week of the German chancellor’s admission of a nuclear energy fiasco, the country’s energy minister lamented at an oil and gas conference the push of net zero policies, indirectly referencing the abandonment of fossil fuels.

In the United States, President Donald Trump took executive actions aimed at preventing some coal plants from closing, including orders that kept aging facilities like the J.H. Campbell plant in Michigan running to “avoid summer blackouts.”

South Africa’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe consistently fights international pressure to quickly abandon coal. “You don’t destroy what you have on the basis of hope that something better is coming,” he says. Mantashe rightly insists that protecting the ability of the state to supply energy must remain a priority.

India offers the most powerful example of this energy pragmatism. The country has signaled that coal will remain the backbone of the economy for decades, even as its diplomats make empty promises about reaching net-zero by 2070. Deputy Power Minister Shripad Naik recently revealed that India had added a massive 7.2 gigawatts of new coal capacity in the 2025–26 fiscal year alone and would add 307 gigawatts of total coal capacity by 2035.

Keep reading