Environment & Energy

Minor spat on what used to be called Twitter between Dr Chris Keefer, and Nick Touran (of 'What is Nuclear ?' website), on the one side, and Isaiah Taylor, founder of Valar Atomics. The latter has apparently joined in a lawsuit against the NRC, on the grounds that the small test reactor they want to build, to prove out their prototype, should be exempted from needing NRC licencing as the source term is so low as to be harmless. I think VA only want to run to about 2 megawatt-days; they claim you could hold the resultant used fuel. Drs Touran and Keefer say it would kill you (well, not do you any good), and nuclear apologists shouldn't overstate their case. Taylor's an interesting guy - self educated, but the grandson of an Oak Ridge Manhattan Project scientist who grew up determined to make nuclear great again (so to speak.) He wants to build hundreds of gas-cooled reactors on the same site, to ease permitting , drive down manufacturing costs, and produce zero-fossil hydrocarbons cheaper than they cost to drill. That way grid connection and power purchase agreements are not a constraint, and there's a huge market. I think he has funding, and a contract in the Phillipines, but it's a steep track to climb - Moltex Energy in Canada just went into receivership.