One of the cleanest forms of energy production for decades has been nuclear power, but after the U.S. built nearly 100 plants over 30 years ending in the 2000s, the far left essentially shut further production with lawfare.
The excuse was always the same: Nuclear power is a ‘threat,’ somehow, to the health of all Americans, even though the nuclear power industry is one of the safest and most reliable, putting zero emissions into the atmosphere.
The Trump administration understands that the country needs more power generation, especially as new AI data centers are being built, and some states are stepping up to help make new nuclear power plants a reality.
One of them is Missouri, which is taking a new step toward expanding nuclear energy and advancing other major infrastructure projects through a new partnership with the federal government.
Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed a memorandum of understanding last week with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council during a ceremony at AmerenUE’s Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center near Steedman.
The agreement is intended to improve coordination between state and federal agencies, streamline permitting reviews, reduce delays and increase transparency for large-scale infrastructure projects.
Kehoe said the partnership will help position Missouri to move more quickly on future energy initiatives, with a particular emphasis on expanding nuclear power.
“Missouri is proud to join four other states in signing the MOU, and we appreciate the Trump administration for helping us out to get to this goal, which, if you’ve been around me at all, you understand we don’t work at bureaucratic speed. We like business speed,” Kehoe said, per MissouriNet.
Under the agreement, Missouri will work with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council to identify priority infrastructure projects and better align state and federal review schedules.
Federal officials said the collaboration is intended to streamline the permitting process while reducing unnecessary duplication among agencies.
The partnership comes as Missouri continues to evaluate an expanded role for nuclear energy.
In May, Kehoe established a nuclear energy task force to study how nuclear power could strengthen the state’s long-term energy reliability while supporting economic development.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Kurt Schaefer (R) said the state is well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity and advance future energy projects.
“We’re right at this culmination of having the right people in the state of Missouri and having the right people in Washington, D.C. to really try and bring not only Missouri, but the country really up to speed on everything from energy development, particularly nuclear, to critical mineral development that really have been kind of languishing for a lot of years,” Schaefer told the outlet.
He added that the agreement should help alleviate many delays that have hampered similar projects in the past.
“With the Department of Natural Resources, the speed of business gets T-boned by the speed of the federal government,” Schaefer told MissouriNet.
“So, this couldn’t have come at a better time to get these reports out of how we can advance both nuclear energy and critical minerals and then work with the federal government to make sure that we don’t have any bureaucratic slowdowns on that end,” he added.
The United States entered the nuclear power era in the 1950s as part of the federal government’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative, which promoted the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania became the nation’s first full-scale commercial nuclear power plant, marking the beginning of civilian nuclear energy production.
During the 1960s and 1970s, utilities across the country rapidly expanded nuclear generation as demand for electricity grew. Dozens of reactors were built, with many beginning operation during that period.
By the late 1970s, however, rising construction costs, regulatory changes and public concern following the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania slowed the industry’s growth.
No new nuclear reactors were ordered for decades after Three Mile Island, although existing plants continued operating and safety standards were strengthened.
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