ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Teruaki Ohnishi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 524-528
Overview/Energy Policy | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946894
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A world model to estimate the energy fraction supplied by nuclear power was developed. The world was divided into ten local regions, within each of which the interactions between economy, society, and technology were considered. Inter-regional interactions taking place through the markets of food and energies and through economic aids were also considered along with the interaction with global environment. Both the relational forms between global variables and the values of various coefficients were determined by the use of available data bases. The time-dependent factors for the policies to be taken and for the technological development in the future were introduced. Some example calculations are given.