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The Independent
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
DOGE official told nuclear regulators they expect a ‘rubber stamp' approval on new reactors: report
A representative from the Department of Government Efficiency told the chair of the U.S. agency tasked with oversight of nuclear reactors that it expected the agency to provide a 'rubber stamp' approval for new nuclear reactors tested by the departments of Energy and Defense, Politico reported. Three people with knowledge of a May meeting said that Adam Blake, whom DOGE detailed to the Department of Energy, described a new approach for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expedite nuclear safety assessments. 'DOE, DOD would approve stuff, and then NRC would be expected to just kind of rubber-stamp it,' one of the people familiar with the meeting told Politico. The meeting came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 23 to supplant NRC's role as the only agency to ensure that nuclear projects are safe and will not threaten public health. The commission is an independent agency that is tasked with protecting public health when it comes to nuclear power. Two of the three people familiar with the conversation said that Blake specifically used the term 'rubber stamp' in a meeting that included NRC Chairman David Wright, senior staff at NRC and Department of Energy officials. Trump's executive order stipulated that NRC could not revisit issues assessed by the Department of Energy or the Pentagon, but people familiar with the meeting said that Blake and officials from the Department of Energy suggested that NRC's secondary assessment should be a foregone conclusion. The executive order and staff departures have concerned some nuclear experts about the White House asserting control of what should be an independent agency. 'The NRC is working quickly to implement the executive orders reforming the agency and modernizing our regulatory and licensing processes,' NRC spokesperson Maureen Conley said. 'We look forward to continuing to work with the administration, DOE and DOD on future nuclear programs.' Trump has previously said that he wants to quadruple the supply of nuclear power in the United States by 2050. His allies in the technology industry, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and congressional Republicans have all criticized the NRC for what they consider a slow approval process. Since then, the administration dismissed Christopher Hanson, a Democrat on the committee that Trump nominated and whom Joe Biden made chairman. Hanson called the dismissal 'without cause, contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.' David Wright's confirmation through the Environment and Public Works Committee came last week after Democrats criticized a 'hostile takeover' of the NRC by the Trump administration. The NRC was created under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The Trump administration's orders required that the staff at the NRC undergo a 'substantial reorganization' with turnover and assignment changes. This comes as both Democrats and Republicans have expressed interest in nuclear energy.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE told regulator to ‘rubber stamp' nuclear
A DOGE representative told the chair and top staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the agency will be expected to give 'rubber stamp' approval to new reactors tested by the departments of Energy or Defense, according to three people with knowledge of a May meeting where the message was delivered. The three people said Adam Blake, detailed to the NRC by the Department of Government Efficiency, described a new regulatory approach by NRC that would expedite nuclear safety assessments. 'DOE, DOD would approve stuff, and then NRC would be expected to just kind of rubber-stamp it,' said one of the three people, who were all granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The meeting was held after President Donald Trump signed a May 23 executive order that would supplant the NRC's historical role as the sole agency responsible for ensuring commercial nuclear projects are safe and won't threaten public health. Two of the three people said Blake used the term 'rubber stamp' at the meeting that included NRC Chair David Wright, senior agency staff and DOE officials. Under Trump's executive order, the NRC could not revisit issues assessed by DOE or the Pentagon, but the people with knowledge of the meeting said Blake and DOE officials went a step further to suggest the NRC's secondary assessment should be a foregone conclusion. Trump's executive order and staff departures have added to concern at the independent agency and among nuclear experts that the White House is exerting more control over the NRC's mandate under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 than any previous administration. "The NRC is working quickly to implement the executive orders reforming the agency and modernizing our regulatory and licensing processes,' said NRC spokesperson Maureen Conley. 'We look forward to continuing to work with the administration, DOE and DOD on future nuclear programs." The NRC's Wright was not made available for an interview. POLITICO's E&E News also reached out for comment from Blake about the 'rubber stamp' remark and his role at the agency. Blake and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. When asked about the May meeting, a DOE spokesperson referenced Trump's executive order. Trump has said he wants to quadruple the U.S. supply of nuclear power by 2050. Tech industry allies, Republicans in Congress and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright have been sharply critical of the NRC for what they say is an unreasonably slow approval process that has held back the nuclear industry. Defenders of the NRC and former agency officials agree that today's smaller reactor designs require a new approach to licensing nuclear technology. They're also adamant that a political push to build more nuclear reactors, and fast, doesn't change NRC requirements under the law to ensure new reactor designs are safe. Nuclear is now in political vogue again, with bipartisan support lately driven by Silicon Valley and Trump administration plans to use nuclear power to fuel huge artificial intelligence data centers. Some clean energy supporters see new, smaller nuclear reactors as crucial sources of carbon-free power in the 2030s. In the weeks following the 'rubber stamp' comment, the NRC experienced significant upheaval, including the abrupt June 13 firing of Christopher Hanson, a Democratic commissioner originally appointed during Trump's first term and the former chair under President Joe Biden. Hanson took to social media to protest the termination, saying it was done 'without cause, contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.' Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, told POLITICO at the time that 'all organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction,' adding that Trump 'reserves the right to remove employees within his own Executive Branch who exert his executive authority.' Wright's term on the commission expired at the end of June as his reappointment from Trump waited in a Senate committee. Wright's appointment squeaked through the Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday on a party-line vote after Democrats decried what they characterized as the administration's 'hostile takeover' of the NRC. The decision by Trump and top aides to insert DOE into the NRC's statutory licensing process was spelled out in four executive orders Trump signed May 23 — prompting nuclear experts to warn of "serious consequences" if the NRC's loss of independence erodes safety. Trump ordered a 'wholesale review' of the NRC's reactor design and safety regulations, with a nine-month deadline for proposed changes and final action in another nine months. The order said commission reviews of new designs must be completed within 18 months, with shorter deadlines set as appropriate. A committee of at least 20 people would perform the review, including representatives of DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, the architect of Project 2025's conservative blueprint for shrinking the federal government. Leadership at Idaho National Laboratory, which has been one of the centers of DOE's research on nuclear reactors, has said DOE can perform safety evaluations of new reactors, and in doing so move more quickly and efficiently than the NRC. The lab sent a proposal to members of Congress in April. The DOE process is viewed by industry 'as being much shorter and more straightforward than NRC's licensing process,' the INL authors said. Trump directed the creation of an 'expedited pathway to approve reactor designs' that had been tested and certified either by DOE or the Defense Department. Under the Trump order, safety designs for new reactors approved by the two agencies could not be revisited by the NRC unless new issues arose. Former NRC chairs and other experts have noted the agency has accelerated reviews in response to the ADVANCE Act that Congress passed last year. Stephen Burns, former chair of the NRC during the Obama administration, and Emily Hammond, a former DOE deputy general counsel and now a George Washington University law professor, have questioned the necessity and merits of the White House's high level of involvement. Trump's order for a review of NRC rules and regulations was issued to revise processes that evolved over the 70-year regulatory history of the NRC and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission. The White House announced that NRC staff will undergo a 'substantial reorganization' with turnover and assignment changes. The resurgence of nuclear power is rooted not just in bipartisan interest, but in the emergence of companies building small modular reactors, or SMRs. The advanced reactors by developers including TerraPower, X-energy, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy, NuScale Power and Kairos Power are factory-built and meant to bring down the daunting development costs of large, conventional nuclear power plants. Big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta are also signing long-term agreements with utilities that own nuclear reactors and SMR startups for future purchases of electricity to power their AI data centers. The NRC is assessing a plan to reopen a closed unit at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. And last month, the agency received a combined license application from Fermi America, a Texas-based company led by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry that plans to build the nation's largest nuclear power complex. The 'HyperGrid' site is in Amarillo, Texas, near the largest U.S. assembly plant for nuclear weapons known as Pantex. 'The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors today to power the future of AI,' said Perry, the former Texas governor. 'America has none. We're behind, and it's all hands on deck.' One of the three people with knowledge of the May meeting and Blake's 'rubber stamp' remark said the influx of nuclear license applications — and from politically connected people — is adding pressure and scrutiny to the process. 'This is where the rubber hits the road,' the person said. All of this comes amid a shake-up of senior leadership at the NRC. That includes the commission's Executive Director of Operations Mirela Gavrilas, who had worked at the agency for more than 20 years and who was effectively forced out, according to the three people. As the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent Wright's renomination to the full Senate on Wednesday, its top Democrat, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, withdrew his support. '[Wright] came before our committee, however, not just as a nominee but as the present leader of the commission,' Whitehouse said. 'I hoped to see Chairman Wright rise to the occasion, but circumstances right now at the NRC continue to deteriorate.' 'In response to my questions for the record, the chairman acknowledged there is a DOGE staffer at the agency. This individual sits in an office that reports directly to the chairman. However, the staffer is — and I quote the [question for the record] from Mr. Wright — the staffer is 'on detail from the Department of Energy, and as such does not have an NRC supervisor,'' he continued. In written replies to the committee, Wright committed to 'ensure that the NRC's regulatory independence is preserved.'
E&E News
14-07-2025
- Business
- E&E News
DOGE told regulator to ‘rubber stamp' nuclear
A DOGE representative told the chair and top staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the agency will be expected to give 'rubber stamp' approval to new reactors tested by the departments of Energy or Defense, according to three people with knowledge of a May meeting where the message was delivered. The three people said Adam Blake, detailed to the NRC by the Department of Government Efficiency, described a new regulatory approach by NRC that would expedite nuclear safety assessments. 'DOE, DOD would approve stuff, and then NRC would be expected to just kind of rubber-stamp it,' said one of the three people, who were all granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Advertisement The meeting was held after President Donald Trump signed a May 23 executive order that would supplant the NRC's historical role as the sole agency responsible for ensuring commercial nuclear projects are safe and won't threaten public health. Two of the three people said Blake used the term 'rubber stamp' at the meeting that included NRC Chair David Wright, senior agency staff and DOE officials. Under Trump's executive order, the NRC could not revisit issues assessed by DOE or the Pentagon, but the people with knowledge of the meeting said Blake and DOE officials went a step further to suggest the NRC's secondary assessment should be a foregone conclusion. Trump's executive order and staff departures have added to concern at the independent agency and among nuclear experts that the White House is exerting more control over the NRC's mandate under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 than any previous administration. 'The NRC is working quickly to implement the executive orders reforming the agency and modernizing our regulatory and licensing processes,' said NRC spokesperson Maureen Conley. 'We look forward to continuing to work with the administration, DOE and DOD on future nuclear programs.' The NRC's Wright was not made available for an interview. POLITICO's E&E News also reached out for comment from Blake about the 'rubber stamp' remark and his role at the agency. Blake and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. When asked about the May meeting, a DOE spokesperson referenced Trump's executive order. Trump has said he wants to quadruple the U.S. supply of nuclear power by 2050. Tech industry allies, Republicans in Congress and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright have been sharply critical of the NRC for what they say is an unreasonably slow approval process that has held back the nuclear industry. Defenders of the NRC and former agency officials agree that today's smaller reactor designs require a new approach to licensing nuclear technology. They're also adamant that a political push to build more nuclear reactors, and fast, doesn't change NRC requirements under the law to ensure new reactor designs are safe. Nuclear is now in political vogue again, with bipartisan support lately driven by Silicon Valley and Trump administration plans to use nuclear power to fuel huge artificial intelligence data centers. Some clean energy supporters see new, smaller nuclear reactors as crucial sources of carbon-free power in the 2030s. Ongoing shake-up In the weeks following the 'rubber stamp' comment, the NRC experienced significant upheaval, including the abrupt June 13 firing of Christopher Hanson, a Democratic commissioner originally appointed during Trump's first term and the former chair under President Joe Biden. Hanson took to social media to protest the termination, saying it was done 'without cause, contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.' Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, told POLITICO at the time that 'all organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction,' adding that Trump 'reserves the right to remove employees within his own Executive Branch who exert his executive authority.' Wright's term on the commission expired at the end of June as his reappointment from Trump waited in a Senate committee. Wright's appointment squeaked through the Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday on a party-line vote after Democrats decried what they characterized as the administration's 'hostile takeover' of the NRC. The decision by Trump and top aides to insert DOE into the NRC's statutory licensing process was spelled out in four executive orders Trump signed May 23 — prompting nuclear experts to warn of 'serious consequences' if the NRC's loss of independence erodes safety. Trump ordered a 'wholesale review' of the NRC's reactor design and safety regulations, with a nine-month deadline for proposed changes and final action in another nine months. The order said commission reviews of new designs must be completed within 18 months, with shorter deadlines set as appropriate. A committee of at least 20 people would perform the review, including representatives of DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, the architect of Project 2025's conservative blueprint for shrinking the federal government. Leadership at Idaho National Laboratory, which has been one of the centers of DOE's research on nuclear reactors, has said the lab can perform safety evaluations of new reactors, and in doing so move more quickly and efficiently than the NRC. The lab sent a proposal to members of Congress in April. Its process is viewed by industry 'as being much shorter and more straightforward than NRC's licensing process,' the INL authors said. Trump directed the creation of an 'expedited pathway to approve reactor designs' that had been tested and certified either by DOE or the Defense Department. Under the Trump order, safety designs for new reactors approved by the two agencies could not be revisited by the NRC unless new issues arose. Former NRC chairs and other experts have noted the agency has accelerated reviews in response to the ADVANCE Act that Congress passed last year. Stephen Burns, former chair of the NRC during the Obama administration, and Emily Hammond, a former DOE deputy general counsel and now a George Washington University law professor, have questioned the necessity and merits of the White House's high level of involvement. 'Where the rubber hits the road' Trump's order for a review of NRC rules and regulations was issued to revise processes that evolved over the 70-year regulatory history of the NRC and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission. The White House announced that NRC staff will undergo a 'substantial reorganization' with turnover and assignment changes. The resurgence of nuclear power is rooted not just in bipartisan interest, but in the emergence of companies building small modular reactors, or SMRs. The advanced reactors by developers including TerraPower, X-energy, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy, NuScale Power and Kairos Power are factory-built and meant to bring down the daunting development costs of large, conventional nuclear power plants. Big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta are also signing long-term agreements with utilities that own nuclear reactors and SMR startups for future purchases of electricity to power their AI data centers. The NRC is assessing a plan to reopen a closed unit at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. And last month, the agency received a combined license application from Fermi America, a Texas-based company led by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry that plans to build the nation's largest nuclear power complex. The 'HyperGrid' site is in Amarillo, Texas, near the largest U.S. assembly plant for nuclear weapons known as Pantex. 'The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors today to power the future of AI,' said Perry, the former Texas governor. 'America has none. We're behind, and it's all hands on deck.' One of the three people with knowledge of the May meeting and Blake's 'rubber stamp' remark said the influx of nuclear license applications — and from politically connected people — is adding pressure and scrutiny to the process. 'This is where the rubber hits the road,' the person said. All of this comes amid a shake-up of senior leadership at the NRC. That includes the commission's Executive Director of Operations Mirela Gavrilas, who had worked at the agency for more than 20 years and who was effectively forced out, according to the three people. As the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent Wright's renomination to the full Senate on Wednesday, its top Democrat, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, withdrew his support. '[Wright] came before our committee, however, not just as a nominee but as the present leader of the commission,' Whitehouse said. 'I hoped to see Chairman Wright rise to the occasion, but circumstances right now at the NRC continue to deteriorate.' 'In response to my questions for the record, the chairman acknowledged there is a DOGE staffer at the agency. This individual sits in an office that reports directly to the chairman. However, the staffer is — and I quote the [question for the record] from Mr. Wright — the staffer is 'on detail from the Department of Energy, and as such does not have an NRC supervisor,'' he continued. In written replies to the committee, Wright committed to 'ensure that the NRC's regulatory independence is preserved.'
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE staffer takes on Trump reform role at independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission
A staffer with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has now taken on a key role at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which President Trump has sought to reduce and reform despite its independent status. David Wright, whom Trump has renominated for a spot on the commission, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that 'there is currently one staff member detailed to the NRC from [the Department of Energy].' Wright, in written responses to questions from the Senate panel viewed by The Hill this week, said that the staffer is detailed to the Office of the Executive Director for Operations and is in charge of implementing Trump's executive order to reform the commission. A source familiar told The Hill the DOGE lead at NRC is named Adam Blake and that he is in charge of implementing Trump's orders, adding that part of this responsibility includes handling reductions in force at the agency. The source said in a Signal message this appointment is 'not normal' and that nothing similar has happened in the commission's history. The NRC is an independent agency that regulates the safety of nuclear energy reactors. Presidents can nominate commissioners to the panel, but it does not answer directly to the president the way other administrative agencies do. Energy Department spokesperson Andrea Woods noted that Trump's executive order 'directs the NRC to work with DOGE to reform the organization's structure and accelerate permitting.' The order states that the NRC 'shall, in consultation with the NRC's DOGE Team … reorganize the NRC to promote the expeditious processing of license applications and the adoption of innovative technology.' DOGE staffers have infiltrated various federal agencies in the first six months of Trump's term. Many of those agencies answer to the president, unlike the NRC, which is independent. DOGE staffers have reportedly been spotted at least one other independent agency, the Federal Trade Commission. NRC spokesperson Maureen Conley said in a written statement the agency is 'working quickly to implement the Executive Orders reforming the agency' but declined to provide specifics on DOGE. 'We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration, DOE, and DOD on future nuclear programs,' Conley said. The Trump administration has been broadly supportive of advancing nuclear energy — including by minimizing safeguards such as environmental review in order to get more nuclear power on the grid. Trump's executive order seeks to further that goal. It also calls for layoffs at the agency. It additionally says that personnel at the NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, which provides advice on hazards and radiation protection, 'shall be reduced to the minimum necessary' to comply with law. The NRC, meanwhile, has had a tumultuous few weeks as the White House recently fired Democratic Commissioner Christopher Hanson last month. In his written responses, Wright told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the DOGE staffer has met with senior staff but that he himself was 'not present for any conversations between the one staff member and senior staff related to reassignment.' He also said that as a detailee from the Department of Energy, the staffer does not report to anyone within the NRC. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) blasted what he described as 'a Department of Energy hostile takeover of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission' during a meeting this week when Wright's nomination was advanced to the full Senate. Whitehouse also questioned whether there is anyone who holds the staffer to account. 'So who, then, supervises this DOGE staffer? Who holds this staffer to account? Is this staffer above the Chairman?' Whitehouse said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Skating helps Maxim Naumov cope after death of his parents in January plane crash
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Time moving slowly, I'm bouncing my head off the wall Advertisement I know nobody that knows where we're going at all. 'My choreographer Adam Blake and I are always discussing plans and thoughts and songs to skate to,' said the Norwood-based Naumov. 'I relate to [the song], and I feel really deeply and emotionally what he's talking about. It's been really helpful for me to almost get my emotions out in that way.' Maxim Naumov took a moment to remember his late parents after his performance at the World Figure Skating Championships gala Sunday at TD Garden. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff It's been two months since the crash, and Naumov is learning where he is going. Skating is still his life's center: he has returned to the ice, performed twice, and started coaching some of his parents' students. But, as anyone who has experienced grief knows, no two days are the same. The days crawl by, you question your own thoughts and wonder if anyone truly understands what you are going through. Naumov is going through that now, and that's why 'That's on Me' spoke to him. 'I have a lot of emotions right now, and it's hard to even put a name to what I'm feeling,' said Naumov. Naumov has taken over his parents' introductory skating program at Advertisement 'That program is my parents' legacy,' said Naumov. 'We have the class three times a week, and I leave laughing and smiling every time I work with them. They're the sweetest little bunch and progressing so rapidly I can't even wrap my mind around it. They also help me get through each day.' Besides coaching, Naumov plans on performing and possibly competing again. In the immediate future, he is scheduled to be a guest skater at the Boston stop of the Stars on Ice tour on May 24. As part of a segment of the show honoring the victims of Flight 5342, Naumov will be introduced by Canadian Elvis Stojko, a contemporary of Shishkova and Naumov. 'His parents and I won our first World Championships the same year and we toured together for years,' said Stojko via phone. 'It was pretty heart-wrenching when we lost them in the plane crash, and we want to support Maxim however we can.' Returning to competition is another path Naumov is considering. Naumov finished fourth at January's US Championships, and had been named the second alternate for the World Championships before the crash. The US has three men's spots for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and besides But what does competing look like without his parents, who have coached him for entire senior career? He's not sure, but he will keep getting on the ice. Advertisement 'Skating doesn't feel like a list of things to do,' said Naumov. 'It feels almost more freeing. I'm able to tune out the craziness and busy-ness of my day. I'm getting more and more comfortable with it, and I just want to keep moving in that direction and see where it goes.' Related : The biggest reason for Naumov to keep skating? Because the ice will always be where his parents are. 'I have this internal dialog,' said Naumov. 'I'm able to be calm and just be in my heart. They're always there, too. It really helps me get through.' After his performance at the World Championships gala, Naumov first looked up, but instead of at the sold-out crowd that was giving him a standing ovation his gaze pierced the TD Garden's roof while he spoke to his parents in their native Russian. 'This is for you guys,' said Naumov. 'You guys are with me. I love you both.'
