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Nuclear sucks because the regulatory environment is totally insane.

If the NRC went over the regulations with a bit of common sense, reactors would be dramatically less expensive.





People say that, but which regulations are the problem? Nobody ever suggests what exact changes need to be made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxDd3Whl_9s

I also don't want to give the impression that I watched this one video and know ride around on a high horse.

My company has a nuclear division, and while I am not part of it, I am totally aware of the struggles they have.


The president's executive order requires what appears to be a completely overhaul of the NRC by November of next year. I guess we'll see how that goes.

Solar, wind, and battery tech are getting so cheap so fast, it's hard to know whether this will be enough to make nuclear economical.


Perhaps they'd like another Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima instead.

It's ignorant people who complain about "regulations" as a monolithic, monochromatic evil MacGuffin that exist merely to stop progress rather than encompassing health and safety regulations written in blood and graves.

I remember my coworker who had to destructively flame test half of the wire nuts he sold to a nuclear energy concern by verifying they self-extinguished within X seconds. Rigor might be expensive, but lives, health, and peace of mind are worth more even if techbros and billionaires don't think so.




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