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States and Startups Are Suing the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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Summary
Nutrition label

79% Informative

The US has historically been the global powerhouse of nuclear energy, yet only three reactors have come online over the past 25 years .

Some nuclear advocates say that the US 's regulation system is largely to blame for this delay.

But others have concerns about potential attempts to bypass the country’s nuclear regulations for specific designs.

The lawsuit posits that individual states “are more than capable of regulating” smaller reactors.

Thirty-nine states are already licensed by the NRC to handle and inspect nuclear material.

The only deadly nuclear accident on US soil occurred at a tiny reactor in Idaho in the early 1960s .

After decades of battling public fear of nuclear plants, nuclear acceptance has reached a pivotal moment.

Nuclear energy might be overregulated, but it is also expensive to build, even for smaller reactors.

NuScale did lose valuable time and money on a cumbersome regulatory process.

But its energy was also competing in price against gas and renewables, which are cheaper than nuclear power.

VR Score

78

Informative language

74

Neutral language

60

Article tone

semi-formal

Language

English

Language complexity

55

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

20

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/what-are-small-modular-reactors-smrshttps://www.nuscalepower.com/press-releases/2020/nuscale-power-makes-history-as-the-first-ever-smr-to-receive-us-nrc-design-approvalhttps://www.wsj.com/opinion/let-states-run-small-nuclear-reactors-energy-policy-f92488aehttps://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/governing-laws/advance-act.htmlhttps://x.com/isaiah_p_taylor/status/1909670570603725108https://whatisnuclear.com/https://www.nei.org/news/2019/president-signs-bill-to-modernize-nuclearhttps://x.com/FissionableFrog/status/1909792567320797186https://www.nrc.gov/agreement-states.htmlhttps://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61963https://inl.gov/trending-topics/microreactors/#:~:text=A%20microreactor%20is%20a%20small,provide%20heat%20for%20industrial%20applications.https://ieefa.org/resources/eye-popping-new-cost-estimates-released-nuscale-small-modular-reactorhttps://hsph.harvard.edu/climate-health-c-change/news/fossil-fuel-air-pollution-responsible-for-1-in-5-deaths-worldwide/https://www.valaratomics.com/docs/Valar-Atomics-is-Suing-the-NRChttps://x.com/whatisnuclear/status/1909644637708464307https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69506239/state-of-texas-v-us-nuclear-regulatory-commission/https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2025/2/private-equity-flows-to-advanced-nuclear-companies-hit-record-high-in-2024-87302728https://ifp.org/nuclear-power-plant-construction-costs/https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/assumptions/pdf/table_8.2.pdfhttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1630/pdf/COMPS-1630.pdf

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