Whether the United States will be able to harness nuclear power is not just about energy dominance — the future of freedom hangs in the balance.
The harnessing of electricity is perhaps the second-most-important factor in uplifting the human condition, second only to the establishment of representative government “for the people and by the people.” America’s founders birthed a republic that brought forth freedom and innovation unlike anything seen in the preceding 5,000 years of recorded human history. The invention of electricity put that innovation into overdrive, making it possible for Americans to extend their life expectancy from 54 to 79 years in just a century. For the sake of human freedom and prosperity, America must lead again — in nuclear power.
Losing the Electricity Race Could Mean Losing Freedom
Free enterprise in the United States nurtured our ability to lead the world in developing nuclear technology. However, over the last four decades, we have been ceding this leadership to other world powers. Most prominently, leadership has switched to China, especially in terms of the construction and operation of new nuclear reactors. Russia is the leader in exporting nuclear power technology to other countries. These nations are governed by leaders and systems that oppress their people and seek America’s demise. Yet they are now providing their people and their industries with much more reliable electricity.
For example, the United States is operating with a reserve capacity of about 15 percent, while China enjoys a reserve capacity of 80-100 percent. This means that America is at a massive disadvantage in terms of economic strength and military power projection. Scarce electricity hinders the reshoring of heavy manufacturing needed for everything from industrial products to naval vessels, and it severely handicaps the United States in data management and AI. Communist China’s global expansion and the United States’ retreat mean a win for totalitarianism and a loss for freedom.
Recognizing this, President Trump wisely set a goal of quadrupling US nuclear energy production by 2050 as a part of his wider “energy dominance” agenda. There are three key steps that can help America achieve this ambitious goal.
Bringing “the Power to the People” Through Deregulation
Government policies set by previous administrations have created economic conditions where “we the people” are at great economic risk. The widespread subsidizing of wind and solar not only created conditions to enrich communist China, but it also virtually ensures future blackouts. It also prohibited private industry from competing on a fair and levelized economic playing field, materially disadvantaging the nuclear industry while creating monopolies in the utility industry. Monopolies often have no desire to innovate, especially when subsidized by government. Predictably, America’s power bills have been soaring. Fortunately, the Trump-led “Big Beautiful Bill” “stopped the bleeding” with respect to electric grid reliability.
The next important step in bringing “the power to the people” is to further deregulate the electricity market in order to allow entrepreneurs to compete for citizens’ electricity dollars. Monopolies create “ratepayers,” whereas free enterprise creates “customers” and liberty. For example, the deregulation of the AT&T monopoly in 1982 and the divestiture of Standard Oil in 1911 have now enabled Americans to make long-distance phone calls at extremely low prices and to have many companies competing for their gasoline purchases, keeping prices low for the consumer. The same approach needs to be taken to the electricity market.
Limiting Government to Promote Innovation
One of the greatest obstacles to innovation in America’s nuclear enterprise is our government’s regulatory agency — the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The nuclear power industry is America’s safest industry. No person has been hurt by the normal operation of commercial reactors during the nearly seven decades of their operations in the United States. Next-generation fast reactor technology is even safer. Yet the NRC has made life extremely difficult for this industry by withholding licenses for commercial reactors.
There are at least four dozen small, start-up nuclear reactor businesses in the United States. Examples include Oklo, Radiant, Exodys, and Idaho Nuclear Inc. and Micro Nuclear, and the Nuclear Energy Agency has compiled detailed information on companies producing “small modular reactors” (SMRs). All these companies are privately capitalized and are being unfairly restricted from competition by government policies, especially by the NRC.
The NRC should be replaced by a “Nuclear Power Standards Commission” chartered to develop common-sense standards that can be met by all entities producing electricity in the United States. The United States government then should be responsible only for oversight to ensure these standards are being implemented. It makes no sense to have the safest industry in the country be burdened with expensive scrutiny at every stage of reactor design and production.
Stewarding Our Resources and Helping Our Allies by Recycling Spent Nuclear Fuel
One of the largest stumbling blocks to the widespread adoption and deployment of nuclear energy is “nuclear waste,” which is better known as “slightly used nuclear fuel” (SUNF). Fortunately, there are innovators who are working on the concept of recycling SUNF, and it is this process that is the true key to America’s nuclear renaissance. Curio is a leader in the concept of recycling and radioisotope marketing, and General Atomics is producing its “Energy Multiplier Module” to be able to use SUNF as a fuel. There are at least 10 other private companies with designs to either reprocess or recycle SUNF.
If America innovates in its fast reactor technology, using only our nation’s existing stockpiles of SUNF as fuel for these reactors as envisioned by General Atomics, we can produce 270 years of the United States’ current annual power demand in clean, carbon-free electricity. This is not fantasy; it is the result of existing advances in science and engineering, and this concept was proposed by numerous groups to Biden’s Secretary of Energy but not implemented.
Fast reactor recycling of SUNF can eventually produce “pennies per kWh” power and not only ensure America’s energy dominance but also that of our allies. Europe is exploding in new reactor development, and other allies like South Korea, Japan, and India are currently successful in rekindling nuclear power both at home and throughout the world. All of these nations have SUNF and are trying to bury it. Much like America showed the world the virtues of freedom and representative government, we must show the world the benefits of recycling SUNF in fast reactors. Any reactor that is not using SUNF is creating SUNF, so it is truly a “renewable” form of energy.
We are at a crossroads in terms of electricity production in the United States, as demand is poised to explode and supply is at best stagnant. By eliminating the regulatory burdens on the nuclear power industry and by using the existing stockpiles of SUNF in fast reactor recycling, the dozens of companies already privately capitalized will quickly respond, creating future conditions where America, and freedom, will prosper.
About the Authors: Lt. Col. Tommy Waller and Steven Curtis
Lt. Col. Tommy Waller is the President & CEO of the nonprofit Center for Security Policy. Waller retired from the U.S. Marines after two decades of service in both active duty and the reserves as an Infantry and Expeditionary Ground Reconnaissance Officer with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, and South America and with cross-assigned service to the U.S. Air Force’s Electromagnetic Defense Task Force (EDTF). His formal education includes numerous military schools and colleges, a B.A. in International Relations from Tulane University, and executive education from the Wharton School. In addition to running the Center for Security Policy, he also manages the nationwide bipartisan Secure the Grid Coalition. [NOTE: The Center for Security Policy exists for the public interest and receives no funding from government, foreign sources, or any industry that can profit from its policy work.]
Steven Curtis has been a nuclear science professional for more than 30 years. He spent 15 years as a member of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team for DOE in Nevada as a technical team leader for nuclear material deployments. He was also involved in business development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for about 10 years. He was materially involved in the spent nuclear material issue in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain Project for 30 years as a civilian advocate and expert. He has a total of 11 years as an Active Duty and Nevada National Guard Army officer. Steve has spent the last 10 years focusing on the issue of clean nuclear energy and fast reactor recycling as a grassroots advocate, writing and speaking in support of nuclear power’s implementation in the U.S.
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