Context matters. Context here is the man was murdered so yeah, I think it's fine for CNN to frame this as murder being bad and tragic. CNN should also do more stories about folks getting denied care. That is an everyday tragedy, but not the story to focus on after a guy gets murdered.
It is such a cool time to be alive. We have the opportunity to achieve incredible things. I hope I can help build an energy system that's powers these things cleanly and sustainably.
This is a reference to permitting reform. It's small, but there is a path to permitting reform that helps clean energy and transmission in addition to fossil fuels.
The most important thing for clean energy in the US for next 4 years is defending the IRA. No Republicans voted for it, but over a dozen seem willing to defend it: garbarino.house.gov/sites/evo-su.... Working with them is important
An excellent and important op-ed by @ArnabDatta321 — very glad to see it in The New York Times.
Things are changing.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/o...
This is why I take issue with END OIL and everyone calling for stopping fossil fuels. Cheap dirty energy is better than no energy. We need to REPLACE cheap dirty energy with cheap (ideally cheaper than fossil) clean energy.
Nonsense, I think we have lots of evidence that many will blame capitalism and push for a complete restructure of society.
Yep, this is why I am so pro-nuclear. Lots of economists assume lots of CCS and natural gas. We need clean, firm energy, and even natural gas with CCS isn't as clean as nuclear. Or geothermal. Or hopefully long-term storage plus renewables.
I'd suggest a tweak to this. We must REPLACE fossil fuels. Ending leans into the anti-progress, anti-humanity crap the environmental movement has used as a crutch since The Population Bomb. The world needs more energy to pull people out of poverty. It just needs to be cleaner, more efficient energy
Of course, I made inroads because I tried to read the 700+ pages of regulations the NRC published. But I wish that more of the folks working on new nuclear showed up to these prepared. The biggest impact you can have is introducing a new perspective NRC hadn't considered.
Something people dont understand about the policy process is that a huge deciding factor is who shows up and speaks up. At the Part 53 meeting this week, I probably provided half the comments, and I feel we made real inroads with the staff. NRC meetings happen all the time! www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg
There is more to be done for microreactors in particular, and the ADVANCE Act helps, but I am far more optimistic today that Part 53 will be used, and innovative reactors will be licensed. I'm glad I get to submit public comments that help make that happen
There will be another public meeting in January. It's a real problem that Regulation is a barrier to licensing anything other than a large, light-water reactor. Part 53, due no later than 2027, will fix this, allowing appropriate flexibility in design, and staffing for SMRs and non-LWRs. #nukesky
Just finished a 2.5 NRC public meeting on Part 53. NRC has done a commendable job developing a technology-inclusive regulatory framework and they were collaborative addressing the remaining technical issues.
Anyone on #nukesky joining me for 3 days of NRC public meeting on Part 53 starting tomorrow? www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=...
As someone who cares about climate policy at the federal level, it's really important we learn the right lessons from 2024. www.vox.com/politics/385...
I'd add to this list that inflation was a top concern for voters are the ARP made that worse. I will however defend the IRA forever
Why is no one talking about how we're about to land on the moon? www.cnn.com/us/live-news...
Xkcd has this fun chart for context. xkcd.com/radiation/ Check out the lowest dose linked to increase cancer risk in red and compare it to accidents like Fukushima that resulted in billions of dollars in safety improvements to plants.
Our regulations are based on the linear no threshold (LNT) model which says no level of radiation is safe so we strive for As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). Calabrese argues a hormesis model that below a certain threshold radiation may damage some cells, but the body will recover and adapt.
For researchers, Ed Calabrese is maybe the biggest advocate that we are drastically overregulating radiation. www.umass.edu/public-healt.... Ed Lyman at Union of concerned scientists is anti nuke but reasonable. The argument comes down to whether or not there is any safe dose of radiation.
This is how a lot of the Nuclear industry feels. High level waste is scary and worth the cost and regulations, but even that you can walk by if it's covered in a few feet of water or sealed in concrete casks. Pro nuke activists like Madi Hilly have made memes of hugging nuclear waste casks.
I'd recommend reaching out to the folks at good energy collective like Jackie Toth or Jessica Lovering. They are pronuclear but progressive, and they take EJ, waste, and fuel cycle very seriously. Katy Huff at DOE also recently put out a video on Twitter talking nuclear waste.
Aviation worries me the most, plus the high temp chemical processes, because I still have my doubts about hydrogen. Given the nuclear navy has operated well for decades, it seems like an obvious shipping solution. I understand how big a political lift that would be be its technologically solved.
I'm arguing that ability to cause a reactor trip is a bad criterion if we want to decarbonize industrial processes. Terrapower in an LTR and EPRI in a report here describe what I believe to be a better alternative www.epri.com/research/pro....
I have in the past, but not recently. My oldest is 3.5 years old, and my activism and a bunch of stuff has become mostly virtual since he was born.
Carbon tax? Or cap and trade?
I'd be interested in what's next for state policy. The Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 was a huge step forward. I'd expect more work needs done on implementation like EV charging infrastructure, building standards, and industrial decarbonization.
Nice to meet you! My house still relies on natural gas for heat/stove, but I'm looking forward to fully electrifying in the future. I look forward to reading your posts on building regs! I post mostly on nuke reg efficiency and am really interested in energy markets.
Pro-nuke MD climate advocate here. Solar on my roof, hybrid car and I strongly believe that MD gets to net zero quicker if advocacy supports keeping Calvert Cliffs open and leaving the option to new nuclear (for our grid CC + Renewables and interconnection is probably fine)
This is a good time to talk reactor types from a regulatory perspective, and that gets to 50.20 to 50.22. 50.11 carves out government reactors as their own thing, that leaves 2 types under Part 50: class 103 and class 104. Class 104 is research, test, or medical reactors. Class 103 is commercial.
