In times like these, even time itself feels compressed. When big moments come one on top of the other, there is no time to tease out the significance of each thing. Is it a history-altering event or a splash-and-fade? Sometimes, it feels more like being in a house full of Overton windows during an earthquake.
Now, I know many ANS members spend their days doing real nuclear work: reactor design, plant operations, basic research, teaching, training, and so forth, and are not constantly plugged into the feverish hive mind of Washington and Wall Street. But for those who are, a deep breath and some context is in order here.
Sure, DeepSeek may blow the froth off U.S. electricity demand projections, but America’s need for power will still surge. It’s being driven by more durable forces: the reshoring of U.S. manufacturing due to regionalization of trade and the threat of tariffs, cryptocurrency generation, and electrification of vehicles and appliances, to name a few. We’ve already hit the inflection point and are up.
Likewise, there’s little evidence at this writing that the “heightened circumstances” in Washington will harm the U.S. nuclear enterprise in any meaningful way. Nuclear enjoys a certain “cloak of bipartisanship” that helps protect federal funding supporting nuclear research, education, development, and deployment. The DOE is not USAID. Yes, President Trump has vowed to repeal the tax credits enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act, including those incentivizing the construction and operation of new and existing nuclear plants, but doing so requires successfully navigating an arduous, two-step legislative process called “budget reconciliation” in a Congress with thin partisan majorities. I’m not saying the credits are safe, but if there is any danger, the nuclear industry will see it coming and will have plenty of time to respond.
I write none of this to imply that things can’t go wrong—only that as things stand now, despite all the tumult, our safety harness feels pretty tight. Like a roller coaster ride, we may be startled by sudden changes of direction, but our ultimate destination—extended life for existing plants, a commercial scale-up of new fission technology in the 2030s, with fusion hot on its heels—has not changed.
So, if you can, if just for a second, take your hands off the bar and enjoy the ride.
