American leadership in nuclear power is not just about energy security; it's also national security.
[Note: Steve Everley is a Sr. Managing Director at FTI Consulting, and a longtime friend. He published this excellent commentary on LinkedIn, and I thought it deserves highlighting here.]
This is a wakeup call for nuclear power in America. 🇺🇸 ☢️
Since 2017, 52 reactors began construction worldwide. Of those 52 reactors, 48 of them are Chinese or Russian designs.
In 2021, China became the first country to connect a small modular reactor (SMR) to its power grid. The United States has none.
And by the end of this decade, China is on pace to overtake America as the world leader in nuclear power.
The United States currently has more reactors than any other country. But that’s changing fast, and America is quickly falling behind.
The good news? The United States is starting to experience a nuclear rebirth of its own.
Multiple advanced reactors are in development, and the federal government is helping to create a domestic supply chain for uranium. In 2023, Centrus Energy Corp. produced the first U.S. volumes of HALEU, a product whose global market is dominated by Russia.
Public support for nuclear power is also surging. According to Pew, 56% of Americans now support nuclear, an increase of 13 points since 2020.
For the first 70 years of atomic energy in the United States, no nuclear power plant had ever closed and reopened. At least four are now exploring restarts.
Increased power use from AI, data centers, and manufacturing is also sending a clear demand signal for more nuclear, which is the most reliable, baseload source of electricity. Nothing else comes close.
Decades of environmental opposition, a prohibitive regulatory regime, and economic challenges have held back the growth of nuclear in America. Despite all the recent momentum and new investment, the legacy of those barriers continues to slow development.
Meanwhile, our competitors are moving full speed ahead — with the full backing of their national governments.
American leadership in nuclear power is not just about energy security; it's also national security. Global demand for nuclear is surging, and if U.S. technology does not meet it, China and Russia will fill the void.
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Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain on February 9, 2025 at 1:36pm
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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