US wants states to host nuclear sites as safety rules shrink • The Register

The Division of Power (DOE) is inviting US states to host “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses” to revitalize atomic energy amid stories the company has weakened security guidelines governing the best way nuclear websites function.

The DOE issued a Request for Info (RFI) on Wednesday, in search of responses from states which may be curious about internet hosting the campuses, which can function a “full‑cycle nuclear ecosystem.”

In follow, this implies these websites can be anticipated to offer amenities for atomic waste reprocessing and disposal, along with gas fabrication and enrichment. They might additionally function areas for nuclear reactors and co‑positioned datacenters powered by them.

Information web site Politico reported last week about speak of the Trump administration planning to steer “billions, if not a whole bunch of billions” in funding towards creating a home nuclear gas cycle program to assist fast enlargement of reactor building. The DOE denied this on the time, in response to other sources.

States are invited to point by no later than April 1 their curiosity in internet hosting potential Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, and supply suggestions on the incentives and different assist they require.

In return, the DOE seeks info on approaches that prioritize personal capital and the state’s personal funding, with solely time‑restricted federal assist. It additionally expects “strong monetary assurances” to guard federal taxpayers from open‑ended liabilities – which means Washington does not wish to decide up the tab if all of it goes horribly unsuitable.

Final yr, the DOE named ten firms it’ll work with to check and fast-track advanced atomic reactor projects, outdoors the scope of the company’s nationwide laboratories, consistent with President Trump’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program.

California consultant Mike Levin praised the new scheme, saying it’s a significant and long-overdue step towards coping with spent nuclear gas.

“For states, these campuses might ship vital financial and job-creation advantages. The proposed campuses would assist key capabilities throughout the nuclear gas lifecycle, together with gas fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used nuclear gas, and waste disposal,” he mentioned in an announcement.

However states contemplating the transfer ought to maybe consider carefully. A report from nonprofit media group NPR claims the DOE has secretly rewritten nuclear security directives governing atomic vitality websites, considerably watering down the foundations.

The adjustments had been made to streamline the event of a brand new era of nuclear reactors, which the Trump administration needs constructing to make sure there’s sufficient energy for all of the new-build AI datacenters which are popping up, in addition to rising electrical energy use in different sectors.

A whole bunch of pages of necessities referring to safety at reactors have merely been minimize, in response to NPR, and necessities for conserving information had been trimmed. The extent of radiation a employee may be uncovered to earlier than an official accident investigation will get triggered has been elevated, and protections referring to groundwater and the setting weakened.

For instance, safety of groundwater is now not described as a “should,” changed by wording that claims firms should give “consideration” to “avoiding or minimizing” radioactive contamination.

The Register requested the DOE to remark.

Advocacy group the Union of Involved Scientists (UCS) criticized the transfer.

“This deeply troubling improvement confirms my worst fears in regards to the dire state of nuclear energy security and safety oversight underneath the Trump administration,” UCS director of nuclear energy security Dr Edwin Lyman mentioned in a statement.

“The Power Division has not solely taken a sledgehammer to the essential ideas that underlie efficient nuclear regulation, however it has additionally achieved so within the shadows, conserving the general public at midnight,” he added, stating that rules had been developed over the course of many many years, incorporating classes realized from painful occasions such because the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.

Any new reactor designs must safe licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Fee (NRC) earlier than they’re used to commercially produce energy, the UCS factors out. Nevertheless, the NRC has agreed to limit the scope of its further security and safety critiques for amenities which have obtained DOE authorization. ®