A new federal lawsuit may finally unleash nuclear energy’s potential. On Dec. 30, Texas and Utah, along with the startup company Last Energy, sued to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop breaking the law and start letting small, modular nuclear reactors operate without crushing overregulation. This could be the most consequential legal challenge to America’s nuclear regulatory regime in 70 years, freeing states to expand nuclear power generation as population booms and energy demands soar.
Building any new commercial reactor in the U.S. has become almost impossible. Only three have been built in 28 years, all behind schedule and over budget. The reason isn’t lack of demand or technology but the NRC’s licensing regime, which, as the plaintiffs argue, “does not really regulate new nuclear reactor construction so much as ensure that it almost never happens.”
Read more in the Wall Street Journal here.
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