Good day all. This is going to be a bit different from my usual rantings and ravings against the Deep State and other idiots. Today I am going to write about Nuclear Power of the non-kaboom type. For years, there has been talk of and research into microreactors.
These are very small nuclear reactors not miniaturized versions of the big reactors that the Left loves to protest about. The idea is that they are easy to build, easy to ship and are designed to need minimal interactions with technicians. Here is a detail explanation from the Department of Energy.
When President Trump returned to office, he moved to have the regulatory system rebuilt to promote the development and testing of microreactors. Now there has been a critical milestone reached in the development and eventual deployment of this class of nuclear power reactors. Here are the details from the Associated (With Terrorists) Press:
The Energy Department says a small nuclear reactor under development at a national lab has reached a crucial milestone that could allow it to produce electricity within a few years.
The microreactor being developed by Antares Nuclear Inc. at the Idaho National Lab reached “criticality” on Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. The milestone occurs when a nuclear reactor achieves a self-sustaining chain reaction capable of producing a steady release of energy.
This is a big deal. A reactor able to go critical is usually not an issue. They have been doing this since the first nuclear reactor was built and reached criticality in 1942 in Chicago. (If the same thing were done today, the Envirowhacko’s would go absolutely insane) This is also something that scientists working on Fusion reactors have yet to achieve.
Antares is the first private company to bring an advanced reactor to criticality under a pilot program begun last year by the Trump administration meant to supercharge nuclear energy production in the U.S. The demonstration was conducted in partnership with the Energy Department and other contractors with support from the U.S. Army.
“We are very excited by this news today,” Wright said Friday on a call with reporters. “I think June 4th will be a historic day in the American nuclear renaissance.”
The United States hadn’t built a new commercial reactor in 30 years. (A new one just went online in 2024) The reason is quite simple. Three Mile Island. That reactor had an accident that damaged one of the reactors. There was no meltdown and no radiation released. However, this happened right when the movie, The China Syndrome, was released and that all but killed nuclear power in the United States until recently.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders in May 2025 intended to speed up the development of nuclear power, including steps that grant Wright authority to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects. Trump’s orders limit some authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent safety agency that has regulated the U.S. nuclear industry for five decades.
The NRC was originally set up to help the civilian nuclear power program. After Three Mile Island, it mutated into a department that has obstructed nuclear power in the United States. Part of the problem was, like all bureaucracies, they saw their role as increasing their power and budget. The second issue was a number of militant anti-nuclear activists coming into the commission with the goal of shutting down all nuclear power plants in the United States.
Skeptics warn that nuclear energy poses risks and say microreactors may not be safe or feasible and have not proved they can meet demand for a reasonable price.
And if these moonbats have any say, they will make sure that their views come true. Regarding the safety issue, unlike the big plants, these are being designed with safety in mind.
The reactor — which did not have nuclear fuel — eventually will be able to generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, said Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valar Atomics. The company hopes to start selling power on a test basis next year and become fully commercial in 2028, he said.
Ok, I’m going to demonstrate my ignorance. Don’t you need to have nuclear fuel to have a nuclear reaction? Also, while it sounds like 5 megawatts is not a lot, as I understand the idea behind these reactors, they will be modular and you can just add more capacity as needed.
Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the transport flight, which attracted significant news coverage, was little more than a publicity stunt.
Here we go. The Union of Concerned Communists has a long history of opposing anything regarding the United States and nuclear energy. This includes nuclear weapons. These moonbats were big supporters of the Soviet Union’s Nuclear Freeze movement. Of course, the Soviets liked the idea since it froze everything with them way in the lead and probably able to conduct a successful first strike. As far as I’m concerned, (No pun intended), we can just ignore anything the Union of Concerned Communists has to say.
“This stunt is a rudimentary first step that has absolutely no bearing on whether the Antares reactor will be safe or commercially viable,” Lyman said in an email Friday.
The Energy Department’s statement that the test “confirms that the reactor can operate safely” is false, Lyman said, adding that more testing of the reactor is needed.
How typical of a leftist. He denigrates a major milestone because he doesn’t support nuclear energy in any form. One of the things the engineers working on microreactor designs are looking into is using Thorium for fuel instead of Uranium. As I understand it, using Thorium will actually be a better fuel source. According to Grok:
- Longer fuel life and higher burnup potential in some designs due to thorium’s properties.
- Reduced long-lived transuranic waste compared to pure uranium/plutonium cycles.
- Abundant thorium resources and simpler fuel handling in some forms.
- Good neutron economy in thermal-spectrum reactors (common in many micro designs).
Other things that I’ve read indicate that these small reactors can be loaded onto a truck and taken to wherever they need to go and when the fuel is used up, the entire unit is removed and the waste materials taken care of. Granted, we still need to figure that out, but they are working on it.
This is a first step and there is a lot more testing and development that needs to take place. Still, it’s not beyond the realm of probability that the first microreactor will be deployed and activated in the next 10 years. When they are ready, I’m sure the kooks will be out in force making idiots of themselves while driving their Teslas.
Thatisall
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