OPINION:
Several decades ago, hippies stifled an entire industry by prancing around with cardboard signs reading “No nukes.” They must have melted down Sunday as a trio of U.S. Air Force cargo planes landed in Utah carrying a cutting-edge nuclear reactor that promises to reenergize America’s electrical grid.
Defense Department officials coordinated the 600-mile journey from the factory in Southern California to Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, the state-run research and development complex that will assemble and test the modular dynamo.
President Trump launched the nuclear revival last year with an executive order slashing the red tape that his predecessor used to stymie progress that might reveal how pathetic “renewable” alternatives are by comparison.
“With some rare and arguable exceptions, no advanced reactors have yet been deployed in America,” the president noted as he asked his energy czar to fix that. It didn’t take long for an unfettered private sector to deliver the desired result.
“We’ve built two reactors in 40 or 50 years, yet we’re going to have three reactors critical by July Fourth,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at the delivery ceremony. “I think you can see standing behind me, President Trump was serious.”
Perhaps the industry should consider using a less ominous term than “critical” to describe a stable, safe and self-sustaining reaction. In this instance, the ultra-compact gizmo will generate 5 megawatts, enough to keep the lights on in 5,000 homes, according to the manufacturer, Valar Atomics.
Being able to drop that much power anywhere on the globe at a moment’s notice explains the military’s interest in this enterprise. The U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army are working on directed-energy weapons that once existed only in sci-fi movies.
Japan is also reembracing this “green” power source that doesn’t strip-mine the earth, confuse whales or generate carbon dioxide. Last month, Tokyo Electric Power Co. restarted the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, the world’s second largest.
The 8-gigawatt facility closed because of public pressure after the one-two punch of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 triggered the release of radiation at the Fukushima reactor. Even the United Nations acknowledged this was an overreaction after a 10-year review of the medical evidence.
“No adverse health effects among Fukushima residents have been documented that are directly attributable to radiation exposure from the [reactor] accident. The Committee’s revised estimates of dose are such that future radiation-associated health effects are unlikely to be discernible,” the U.N. investigators determined.
The political left exploits the natural fear of radiation as an unseen killer, but it’s not truly disturbed by such risks. Radicals loathe affordable energy because it fuels the entrepreneurial spirit. They would rather have electricity shortages that foster rationing and dependence.
This is why extremists dress up windmills that once powered medieval farms as if such contraptions were the latest innovation. Liberals are giddy about anything that relies on government subsidies and supplies from the Chinese Communist Party.
These hypocrites shed no tears when cruel turbine blades slice majestic eagles or blight once-pristine countrysides. It’s a feature, not a bug, that cloudy and calm days cripple an electric grid animated by Marxism.
Now that tech industry data centers are gobbling up every available watt, reliability is king. In that respect, nuclear is unequaled. President Trump is right to switch Uncle Sam’s attention toward dependable gadgets that will ensure homes stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, without breaking the bank.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.