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Notes -
Possible Nuclear Power Push in Texas
Today, the state government's commission on nuclear power expansion released a report(https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/TANRWG_Advanced_Nuclear_Report_v11.17.24c_.pdf) pushing for Texas to invest in nuclear energy. Not normally a huge deal, but the report was specifically requested by Greg Abbott and is released at the traditional time for Texas to set policy goals. There are seven policy recommendations:
Create a state agency for coordinating, enacting, and funding the nuclear industry.
Create a unified point of contact for permitting nuclear projects, to simplify bureaucratic requirements.
Expand related programs in state run trade schools(and Texas public technical education is generally acknowledged as a thing the state does well at in general), with substantial industry input.
Foster necessary manufacturing capabilities locally.
Public outreach about the benefits of nuclear power.
State fund to mitigate the risk of project cancellation.
State fund to mitigate the capital costs of nuclear plant construction.
Now I legitimately find this all interesting, and I'm curious for motteizean feedback on the helpfulness/practicability of those seven items and the further considerations listed afterwards in the document. I'm particularly interested in if fancy economic structures are helpful.
As to why this is an even bigger deal 1) the document explicitly calls for requesting a delegation of federal authority by an act of congress and 2) the GOP is going to need something to run on after Trump. The 'red state model' is already the most likely and Abbott has presidential ambitions. Plus, the timeline is about right for it to become a national level issue in 2028. Particularly if the Trump administration doesn't have a particularly good four years, the GOP is just going to need to start running on copying what successful red states do on the national level, and Texas is the biggest wealthiest and most successful red state. Even partial success can have major implications.
This is DoA just like all other nuclear efforts in the US. The nuclear establishment is completely controlled by the feds (specifically the NRC and a tiny bit by the EPA as well). The incentives these agencies have are positively perverse. The NRC derives no benefit whatsoever from new nuclear power hitting the market. And of course, they're completely exposed (PR-wise at least) if there are problems with said plant. Rather, they are paid licensing fees during the approval process. I.e. the longer they drag out commissioning and constructing the plant, the more they get paid. And boy do they have the tools to do this! It starts with blatantly ridiculous radiation limits and goes all the way up to changing standards in the middle of construction and forcing completed assemblies to be ripped out and re-built. It's a miracle Vogtle cost only a few multiples of its initial budget.
Until the US removes idiotic regulation like LNT and abolishes/significantly reforms the NRC, I'm an infinite seller of nuclear power in this country.
A really quick intro to this problem: https://www.construction-physics.com/p/why-are-nuclear-power-construction
A far more detailed look into the problems: https://gordianknotbook.com/
The author of the above book also has a good substack. This is a good place to start: https://jackdevanney.substack.com/p/the-two-lies-that-killed-nuclear
And this one is just fun: https://jackdevanney.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-two-ships
(Aside: I have an ongoing bet with my friends that not a single new nuclear plant is going to get built out of all the current hype about major tech companies pushing for nuclear, not even a SMR. You're welcome to join it in spirit.)
Has there been any talk from Trump cabinet side about changing the perverse incentives? Seeing as SV donated a lot, and SV would like reactors for datacenters..
Honestly, I haven't been keeping track. Judging from Trump's first presidency, he's big on talk and short on action so I just haven't bothered. Bureaucracies tend to be permanent barring jarring events so my prior is that nothing will be done.
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