“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity.” ~llaw
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor incorporates proven components.
Courtesy: GE Vernova
On My Mind Today:
Are we really so ignorantly blind as to accept nuclear power plants springing up and spitting directly in the face of growing threats of nuclear war that, if begun, will likely end human and other life on planet Earth? Whether or not commercial nuclear power plants would play a role in a nuclear World War III, depends on whether they can be built and operational before such a war begins, the fatal end of which will end most likely in a matter of a few days, leaving only isolated remnants of human and animal life.
Nuclear power plants are already involved right now, today, in a faction or opening salvo of likely nuclear war. Russia has continually for nearly three years attacked a Ukraine nuclear power plant — the largest in Europe — and the rest of Europe and potentially the entire world — including Russia itself — are increasingly exposed, directly involved in a potential nuclear war that would span the entire globe once begun.
So why, oh why, is humanity suddenly endorsing the construction and eventual operation of “neighborhood” SMRs near our cities and towns beginning sometime in the next decade if we all make it that far. Foresight is certainly not a thoughtful tool in the preliminary evaluation of such an enterprise.
Oh, yeah, we need it, cannot do without it — evidently not so much to be warm and keep the lights on — but to produce enough nuclear power to allow major social media and technology companies to turn our intelligence and our functional usefulness as human beings into life’s second-string led by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and intelligent robots who would control us in a few years turning us into their slaves or, even more likely, trim us down to a few servants to serve them as needed. ~llaw
Today’s Featured Story:
Nuclear in my backyard? More of America, and the market, seems OK with it
Published Sun, Oct 5 20259:40 AM EDTUpdated 6 Hours Ago
Key Points
- Amazon, Google, and others big tech companies are helping to fuel a nuclear power comeback to feed their data centers.
- The first small modular reactions (SMRs) in the United States could be operable by the end of the decade, but opinions vary on whether it is realistic to expect widespread deployment over the next decade.
- Experts say the nuclear technology has advanced to where risks of failure are low, and Pew polling shows increasing support for nuclear over the last decade, especially among Republicans. The future of energy is subatomic,” Bill Gates wrote in “Power Magazine” this week.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor incorporates proven components.
Courtesy: GE Vernova
Van Buren County is a rural redoubt in southwestern Michigan, a quiet corner of a swing state. Pillow soft sand dunes shift and shape along the shores of Lake Michigan. And the county seat – Paw Paw – is named after a quintessentially Midwestern fruit.
“It is a beautiful natural environment with gorgeous sand dunes that you don’t see in other parts of the world,” says Daywi Cook, whose family has lived in this area for five generations. “A lot of folks like to live here because of the solitude.”
Covert Township’s tranquility seems to belie its place as the vanguard to a potential nuclear transformation. The Van Buren County township has been home to the Palisades Nuclear Plant since 1971. The aging plant was decommissioned in 2022 but is being brought back into service through an over $1 billion loan secured under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, with the first installment provided by the federal government this year. In addition to reactivating the plant, the site is also expected to house the nation’s first small modular reactors (SMRs).
Small modular reactors are factory-built nuclear power plants that are much smaller than traditional reactors (typically 300 megawatts or less). The SMRs are usually designed to be mass-produced and shipped to sites for faster, less costly installation.
The future of energy in the U.S. may be unfolding in this unassuming corner of Michigan where the Holtec Corporation is constructing two SMR-300 units which will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant. The SMRs are planned to be operational by the early 2030s.
“There are still some unknowns but Holtec has been inviting us into the conversation,” said Cook, who is the township supervisor. She says the area’s familiarity with nuclear energy and the plant’s safety record has gone a long way to assuage the county’s residents.
Holtec did not respond to a request for comment.
Cook is hoping the recommissioned legacy plant and the SMRs will give the county some needed economic stability which is guided largely by seasonal swings.
“We are known as the Catskills of Chicago. There are a lot of short-term rentals that boom in the summer,” Cook said, which she explained then sit empty in the winter. “It would be nice to have year-round stability,” Cook added.
Zach Morris, executive director of Market One, a local association of business and government leaders that promotes economic growth in Cass and Van Buren Counties, Michigan, says that the area is uniquely positioned to be the leading edge of the nation’s nuclear renaissance. Because of the existing plant, the nuclear knowledge is ready and in the workforce, and the area has ample power to make power.
Morris says the recommissioned legacy nuclear plant will employ 600 people, and the two SMRs will employ a combined 300 people with salaries averaging $107,000. “That is $32 million in payroll annually, resulting in significant money being spent in groceries, restaurants, and donations to non-profits,” Morris said. And with the area’s nuclear past, there’s been little opposition to the arrival of SMRs, which he pointed out have been around for awhile, used in the military for years in submarines and aircraft carriers. “This is not a new technology, but there has not been a need for it until now,” Morris said.
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Energy Sec. Wright on nuclear capacity: Going to be 2 or 3 years, not months
A Holtec SMR will provide enough power for 300,000 homes or a data center or two, a drop-in-the-bucket in the sating of demand.
“We have a national issue, it is a national crisis that we didn’t anticipate five years ago,” Morris said. “Five years ago nobody saw this coming. Their collective genius didn’t anticipate this,” he said of data centers coming online without enough power and people who don’t want to give up their AI, streaming services, or cameras. “That means we have to adapt to the crisis. SMRs are the future,” Morris said.
To illustrate how much the world of power generation has been upended in short order, Morris offers a stark comparison. “Five years ago we were worried about how we were going to put up with the demand from a 20 megawatt marijuana farm,” he said, referring to a planned cannabis operation, and adding, “that is a fraction of what the data centers are asking for.”
Big Tech’s role in nuclear comeback
People are using AI for everything from identifying the animal tracks in their backyard to analyzing 10 years of sales data for corporate reports. And this torrent of requests for AI is leading to a torrent of demand for data centers to do the complex computing needed for instant answers. And the demand for data centers — constructed by tech titans Google, Amazon, and others — has led to a torrent of demand for electricity.
While the industry works on smaller, scalable nuclear solutions, big tech is taking decommissioned legacy plants out of mothballs. Constellation Energy plans to restart the 835-MW Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear generating station in Pennsylvania in 2028, with Microsoft agreeing to buy electricity from the reactivated power plant to power their data centers. And Google recently entered into an agreement with Kairos Power and the TVA for a new nuclear plant.
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AWS CEO on Amazon’s $500 million small modular reactors investment
Bill Gates has been among the tech titans leading the charge, investing $1 billion in the technology and co-founding TerraPower, which is building a next generation nuclear plant in Wyoming. Gate’s company also announced plans recently to explore building a nuclear facility in Kansas.
“Both fission and fusion are fundamental technologies for humanity to power everything we do. We’re on the cusp of massive breakthroughs, and it’s clearer now than even before: The future of energy is subatomic,” Gates wrote in Power Magazine this week.
Oklo, which OpenAI’s Sam Altman helped to take public before stepping back from his role as chairman in April, remains a highly speculative public stock market play on the nuclear potential, with no revenue or power purchase agreements, and is at least several years away from commercial operations. But its shares have boomed since its 2024 IPO.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” & RELATED MEDIA:
There are 7 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in the survival of human and other life.
The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Nuclear War
- Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
- IAEA News (Friday’s only)
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS, Sunday, (10/05/2025)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Nuclear in my backyard? More of America, and market, seems OK with it – CNBC
CNBC
Big Tech’s role in nuclear comeback. People are using AI for everything from identifying the animal tracks in their backyard to analyzing 10 years of …
Pop culture’s toxic effect on nuclear power – Morning Brew
Morning Brew
… Things The Simpsons Got Wrong About Nuclear. … Morning Brew delivers quick and insightful updates about the business world every day of the week from …
Pumpkin Spice Everything: Fall’s Favorite Flavor Returns in Full Force – Royal Examiner
Royal Examiner
It’s officially pumpkin spice season—and this year, the beloved fall flavor is back and bolder than ever. From coffee to cheese (yes, cheese), …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
‘Nuclear in my backyard?’ More of America, and the market, seems OK with it – CNBC
CNBC
The future of energy is subatomic,” Bill Gates wrote in “Power Magazine” this week. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor …
US Department of Energy makes surprising announcement about nuclear power – Yahoo
Yahoo
Nuclear power plants use the heat generated by this process to create electricity. Nuclear fission doesn’t pollute as much as coal does. It’s …
The world is going nuclear again – Morning Brew
Morning Brew
Meanwhile, tech giants have started bankrolling reactors to power the AI boom. America united around splitting atoms. In the US, the embrace of …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Lunchtime Tour of the Incident and Emergency Centre | International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
… nuclear or radiological emergencies. The tour will provide participants with an overview of the IEC’s response roles and emergency preparedness …
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Faces Record Blackout Amid War – Evrim Ağacı
Evrim Ağacı
As emergency generators keep Europe’s largest nuclear plant running, political deadlock and military threats stall urgent repairs, raising fears …
Brits urged to stock up on £4 emergency item as Russia sends threat to strike 23 UK areas
The Mirror
A security expert who specialises in preparing for nuclear attacks has named a key item that all Brits need in their cupboards in the event of a …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Presidential bunker Cheyenne Mountain Complex: Is World War III coming? Inside the …
The Economic Times
Nuclear War
NEWS
The nuclear war of shutdowns targets federal jobs, grants – USA Today
USA Today
While budget showdowns have headed off this fiscal cliff before, today’s version is the nuclear war of shutdowns – with more explosive impact on …
Safest areas if WW3 broke out as Russia sends eerie threat to strike 23 locations in UK
The Mirror
However, some experts fear that modern nuclear weapons could penetrate much further than the bombs of World War II, meaning even the 58-metre-deep …
Nuclear war expert revealed safest part of the world to live in case of end of the world – LADbible
LADbible
Should a nuclear war ever kick off then an expert knows the safest part of the world to live, should you be thinking about that when you move.
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Defusing the Yellowstone time bomb: How new research challenges sleeping-giant theories
The Missoulian
What started as routine mapping has turned into a fundamental reexamination of the volcano’s behavior. Yellowstone eruption. A hand-sample photo of …
While global tensions fuel such fears, the U.S. government has long prepared for nuclear threats. Synopsis. World War III fears are rising. People …
Safest areas if WW3 broke out as Russia threatens to strike NATO nation – World News
Daily Express US
… War Three with a fresh barrage of threats aimed at the UK. Dmitry Rogozin, a senator and war combatant, formerly deputy premier and space agency …
Brits urged to stock up on £4 emergency item as Russia sends threat to strike 23 UK areas
The Mirror
… nuclear attack on home soil. Article continues below. The advice comes as a string of recent threats … War Three breaking out. . Dmitry Rogozin, a …