What Happens When Trump is in Charge of Nuclear Reactor Safety?

In the Trump Era, approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may not mean much.

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its first nuclear construction permit in a decade. It approved an innovative modular nuclear reactor by a company cofounded by Bill Gates. Will the reactor be safe? Hopefully, Gates knows what he’s doing, but it’s hard to give a lot of credence to the NRC these days. The NRC used to be an independent agency relying on its own expertise and judgment. Due to the unitary executive theory, it’s now under Trump’s control.

The problem is that the Commission’s marching orders have been changed, so it no longer prioritizes reactor safety. Last year, Trump issued an executive order “reforming” the NRC. Here are some key features. Trump announced a national policy to make the United States the global leader in nuclear energy and increase deployment of new reactor designs. While he payed lip service to safety, he also made it clear that the NRC had given too much weight to reactor safety and radiation risks in the past. He ordered NRC to make major staff cuts, reduce the functions of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Design to a minimum, impose an 18-month limit on decisions no matter how complex the issues, adopt more lenient radiation limits, and “streamline” the public hearing process.

The NRC followed the new fast-track permitting procedures for the Gates reactor. The agency staff noted “some remaining areas of uncertainty” in the reactor design and analysis. It said that these issues could be decided later in the process, but it’s hard to place much faith in that plan. It’s unrealistic to expect the NRC to require major changes once the $10 billion construction project is underway. Moreover, Trump’s executive order warns the Commission against mandating changes during construction. It requires the NRC to adopt new regulations that “establish stringent thresholds for circumstances in which the NRC may demand changes to reactor design once construction is underway.”

I don’t mean to diss the Commissioners or their staff. I’m sure that they’re trying their best to do their jobs properly. But in the end, it no longer really matters what they think, since the White House is calling the shots.

2 Replies to “What Happens When Trump is in Charge of Nuclear Reactor Safety?”

Hmmm. An nuclear agency that now prioritizes ideology over safety and answers to a old man who runs even wars by what he “feel[s] in my bones.” What could go wrong?

Dans,

I hear you both, regarding the loss of independence of the NRC under the unitary executive drift and so on.

But I think the jury is still out as that Agency’s functioning under Trump II.

First, the E.O. indicated that NRC staff “functions may increase in size consistent with the policies in this order, including those devoted to new reactor licensing.”

So there may still be adequate resources for review, and thus, Bill Gates may not be simply freewheeling in regard to his own decisions concerning safety of design at Kemmerer.

This means that an investigation of the NRC’s performance in overseeing construction of the Gates/ Terrapower reactor could be illuminating.

Second, it would be good to learn the status of the promised revision of the NRC regulations. Is the TerraPower Kemmerer reactor construction proceeding under new regs here and, if so, what are the specific implications of that?

Best,

Dan