America’s energy future will rely in large part on nuclear power. As I’ve written many times, any major leap forward in technology has been accompanied by an increase in energy density of the society’s primary fuel source, from wood to charcoal to coal to oil and natural gas and, now, to nuclear power.
So it’s good to see the Trump administration embracing that nuclear-powered future. Last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave us a compelling look at his vision for the “nuclear renaissance.” But before talking about energy, he spoke of renewing our nuclear arsenal:
In a wide-ranging interview last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright discussed how the U.S. can bring nuclear power to the fore for both energy and defense purposes, starting with rebooting otherwise dormant “pit” production.
Under the first Trump administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sought to meet the Pentagon’s goal of manufacturing 80 such pits – spherical hulls of plutonium sized from a grapefruit to a bowling ball – according to the UK Guardian.
Wright suggested he wants to see the plan realized, as the same Energy Department laboratory in New Mexico where J. Robert Oppenheimer helped develop the atom bomb is reportedly working to return to earnest pit production.
The U.S. has never imported plutonium pits but also hasn’t done any such major manufacturing since the end of the Cold War.
Our nuclear deterrent is aging and probably needs looked after, but it’s energy that most people are more concerned about, and Mr. Wright has plans there as well:
Wright said he is working to reopen the shuttered Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, which closed a few years ago.
Another major plant, Indian Point on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw, N.Y., that had helped power New York City was notably closed under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. There has been little effort there, however, to see a reopening.
In addition to the large-scale plants, Wright said the Energy Department seeks to forward SMR or Small Modular Reactor technology, which he said could be groundbreaking in terms of powering underserved communities and important or sensitive sites that may be far from established large-scale plants.