“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
Feb 20, 2026
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LAW’s Nuclear World News’ Image & Lead Story Today . . .
Constellation Energy’s 1,090-MW Clinton nuclear power plant in Clinton, Illinois. Meta will buy power from the plant under a 20-year power purchase agreement that was announced June 3, 2025. Scott Olson via Getty Images
Opinion
The ghosts of nuclear past, present, and future: Can you tell them apart?
There’s a lot of chatter about nuclear energy these days, but we need to sort the category to make sense of what is feasible, writes University of Oregon Professor of Practice Joshua Skov.
Published Feb. 20, 2026
By Joshua Skov
Listen to the article8 min
Joshua Skov is a professor of practice at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business.
The chatter about nuclear energy is everywhere in the air. Just as the tech boom and AI and electrification generally are pushing us to get more generation on the grid, nuclear is on the tip of every tongue.
But is it more than talk? In fact, “nuclear” has become a muddled set of topics, mixing different technologies, timeframes and deployment realities. It’s time to sort it out.
I propose a simple taxonomy to keep three mostly distinct categories separate in our minds. With a nod to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, I’ve chosen the labels based on the ghosts that visit Ebeneezer Scrooge.
First, the ghost of nuclear past is our legacy fleet — and I will suggest thinking and speaking of it that way, as old infrastructure that still delivers significant benefits but which we don’t build more of.
Second, the ghost of nuclear present is our current ability to build anew, which is … basically zero, with a few narrow exceptions.
Third, the ghost of nuclear future is the most mysterious, notably because — despite the considerable hype — it doesn’t exist yet and probably won’t for longer than you think.
The ghost of nuclear past
The United States has 94 nuclear power plants, far and away the world’s largest fleet, and it generated 18.6% of our electricity in 2024 — more than coal, or more than solar and wind combined (at least for now). The fleet’s capacity factor of over 92% is the envy of the world’s nuclear generators. The marginal cost of operation at these existing plants is highly competitive, and we have no other “firm” power that is low-cost and low-carbon. This legacy fleet is part of our energy backbone, without a doubt.
What’s striking is that we don’t build these plants anymore. Indeed, the last time we started a new nuclear power plant on a new site was 1978; that plant, the Harris Nuclear Plant just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, entered service in 1987. A handful of other reactors came online in the 1990s and 2000s after long delays, but essentially the nuclear building boom in the U.S. tapered out 20 or 30 years ago.
I know what some of you are saying. “But we did build some more! The Vogtle Units 3 and 4!” I will say flatly: those don’t count. They took 15 years and nearly $37 billion, and just for additional reactors at an existing site. It isn’t clear that we would do it all again, and the effort has failed to spark a nuclear renaissance.
The ghost of nuclear present
Here I’m focused on what we can do now with nuclear tech in the U.S. Sadly, the answer is, in essence, almost nothing. How could you be hearing so much nuclear news, you ask? It is a problem of what and when.
The reality of what additional nuclear capacity can happen right now is quite simple: new reactors of the old kind are prohibitively expensive to build. A handful of reactors are ripe for repurposing — Meta’s investment in Illinois, Microsoft’s at Three Mile Island, Google’s similar just-announced deal in Iowa — but those are few and largely spoken for; and everything else is a pilot project.
Don’t get me wrong: the “handful” I’m talking about in that middle category will mean a lot of energy. Meta has agreed to keep the Clinton Power Station open past 2027 (when it was scheduled to close), signing a 20-year agreement for all of the energy from the facility. When one considers the high capacity factor of nuclear plants, this is the equivalent of 3-4 GW of solar or 2-3 GW of wind.
Yet these are truly the exceptions to the rule. Few nuclear power plants in the U.S. have a spare reactor to bring back online, or a viable one that is headed toward decommissioning. Indeed, it isn’t clear that there will be any more deals of this kind.
In theory, we could get new builds at existing plants. But that scenario is extremely expensive and slow to deploy. If only we had new and better nukes!
This hope leads us inexorably to the final ghost.
The ghost of nuclear future
For many readers, this grim picture is at odds with the news. But the hype, you say, the hype! What about all of the investments we’re hearing about? The pilot projects? The enthusiasm from Big Tech? Recent advancements by General Atomics? The permit for TerraPower’s Wyoming site? The avalanche of cash from Bill Gates? The recent announcement from TVA that it wants more SMRs? Those fall into three categories, none of which leads to scalable megawatt-hours until well into the next decade.
First, pure tech with not a single yard of concrete in the ground. Many nuclear power articles pump up “discoveries” and “advances” that are closer to basic science than applications, much less a settled reactor design, much less commercial production.
Second, much high-profile ink has been spilled on announcements of interest, but these get coverage that misleadingly suggests imminent deployment. Amazon wants nuclear! Microsoft wants nuclear! And most recently, the article whose headline on the Tennessee Valley Authority proclaims that the “Largest US public power supplier leads push for small reactors” — only to reveal that the push is for “first-of-a-kind technologies that are not expected to be commercially available until the 2030s.”
Finally, many of the real live “deals” are only one step ahead of TVA, i.e., for first-of-a-kind projects that have “starting as early as” dates that are years away, sometimes many years. Amazon’s multi-reactor deal with Energy Northwest and Bill Gates-funded TerraPower are both publicly aiming for 2030, a suspiciously round number that appears ambitious. Others are farther out, such as Oklo (2032), many targeting “early 2030s” such as Radiant, NuScale, Aalo and Google-backed Kairos Power (2035).
Meta’s widely reported recent announcement for 6.6 GW of advanced nuclear leads with fanfare, but says it will do so by 2035.
Do I sound pessimistic? Consider the most bullish pathway for advanced or next-gen nuclear out there right now, the one articulated in exquisite detail in the Biden DOE’s report Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear. This half-plan, half-wish, all-serious detail-rich trajectory describes a way for all of the pieces to fall into place — initial deployment, additional R&D, aligned policy, complementary investment by the private sector — for the first commercially viable, nth-of-a-kind advanced reactors to enter service … by the late 2030s. And again, the many necessary building blocks and stepping stones in that report are not guaranteed.
LLAW’s Thoughts, Concerns, and Fears about Today’s Nuclear World and Beyond . . .
I will be out of contact for a few days, so I will just say this for today: Please remember that my “LLAW’s Worlds’ personal nuclear and other global concerns, including both nuclear war and nuclear power — which are now more or less partners in our rush to “armageddon” — have never been about me personally, but always about all of you. I see what is happening, not for my own knowledge, but for all of those of you who need to know that “All Things Nuclear” will someday be the death of all of us if we continue along the “nuclear path”, including most all other life on planet Earth!
It CAN be stopped, but doing so would take an effort of humanity almost beyond belief, including the composite of love, peace, cooperation, empathy, and effort to accomplish . . . Over the years I have tried to explain how together we could make it happen . . . ~llaw
LAW’s Nuclear World News Today . . .
About Today’s Nuclear News, Files, Categories, and How it Works . . .
There are 7 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcano 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). If there was no news from a Category today, the Category will not appear. The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Nuclear War
- Yellowstone Caldera
- IAEA News (Friday’s only) (Not Available today)
A 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.
LLAW’s Nuclear World News, Friday, 02/20/2026
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Trump pressures Iran to agree to a nuclear weapons pact or ‘bad things‘ will happen – YouTube
YouTube
The U.S. has sent over 100 cargo planes, refueling tankers and fighter jets headed to Middle East in recent days.
Experts worry about nuclear quid pro quo in Russia-North Korea alliance against Ukraine
Defense News
“You’re basically taking all that previous stuff, and then you’re amplifying it − now it needs to be underwater.” “The actual skill of operating …
‘We were scared’: Man recalls the night he nearly launched a nuclear missile | WLRN
WLRN
All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … ‘We were scared’: Man recalls the night he nearly launched a nuclear …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
The ghosts of nuclear past, present, and future: Can you tell them apart? | Utility Dive
Utility Dive
An aerial view of a nuclear power plant. Constellation Energy’s 1,090-MW Clinton nuclear power plant in Clinton, Illinois. Meta will buy power …
Officials hold public meeting on restart of nuclear power plant – YouTube
YouTube
After years of sitting dormant, one of the reactors on Three Mile Island could be back online by 2027. Federal regulators and Constellation Energy …
Republicans look to speed up small modular nuclear reactor construction in Arizona
Arizona Capitol Times
GOP lawmakers introduce bills to accelerate small modular nuclear reactor development in Arizona, but opponents argue it’s too early for …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
DOE ‘emergency‘ power plant orders help grid reliability: NERC official | Utility Dive
Utility Dive
Overall, the U.S. Department of Energy’s “emergency” orders preventing power plants … An aerial view of a nuclear power plant. Feb. 20, 2026. The …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
The US could strike Iran. Here’s how Tehran is getting prepared | CNN
CNN
… war, including fortifying its nuclear sites and rebuilding missile production facilities … threats,” an outlet affiliated with Iran’s security …
Trump warns Iran to make a nuclear deal or ‘bad things’ will happen | CBC News
CBC
Threat of war. Trump has sent aircraft carriers, warships and jets to the region, raising the prospect of another attack on the Islamic Republic.
Iran deal prospects will be clear within 10 days, Trump says as military buildup grows
The Guardian
… Threats Project, Congressional Research Service. Note: precise location of carrier groups unknown … nuclear sites not targeted in the 12-day war.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Why the U.S. ramped up its military presence near Iran – YouTube
YouTube
‘90% CHANCE’ Of IRAN War As Iraq War Level Mil Equipment Deployed … I’ve studied nuclear war for 15 years – you should be worried. Future of …
The US could strike Iran. Here’s how Tehran is getting prepared | CNN
CNN
… war, including fortifying its nuclear sites and rebuilding missile production facilities … war, including fortifying its nuclear sites and …
Trump warns Iran to make a nuclear deal or ‘bad things’ will happen | CBC News
CBC
Amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East that has fuelled fears of a wider war, Trump said negotiations with Iran were going well but …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
What a Yellowstone mega-eruption would actually do to the US? – MSN
MSN
Yellowstone National Park sits atop one of the most studied volcanic systems on Earth, and the question of what a full-scale caldera-forming …
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