More Nuclear Power Is What Both Parties Want
Democrats and Republicans favor building more and smaller plants, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making it hard.
More of these, please, except smaller.
Photographer: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg
Nuclear power is always good for starting an argument on the internet. In real life, however, it’s something the leaders of both parties largely agree on. Unfortunately, neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to have told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Under former President Donald Trump, the US Energy Department actually made a slide show touting its top 11 accomplishments in nuclear power. They include $170 million in research funding, the siting of America’s first small modular reactor in Idaho, and “looking into multiple options to provide small amounts of high assay low-enriched uranium” for testing and demonstration projects. Under President Joe Biden, these initiatives have only intensified. The Inflation Reduction Act features a 15-fold increase in funding for low-enriched uranium, makes nuclear power eligible for clean-energy tax credits and appropriates $150 million for the Idaho project and related activities.