[jillesvangurp]

Well according to the two graphgs for 2018 and 2019, nuclear declined a bit in the US. Not surprising because there were some plant closures and not a whole lot of plant openings. And nothing is on track to be added any time soon. Maybe one or two plants.

New nuclear is a bit like an oil tanker (pun intended, sorry): just very slow to ramp up new capacity. This boom you are talking about is so far not adding up to a lot of capacity being delivered. We're talking a few gw here and there. Solar and wind are being deployed by the tens of gw per year. Same with battery.

I believe we'll see some nuclear plants being approved for the next decade. And maybe these modular reactors start delivering on their promises. I still think they are expensive. But why not? Unless something happens on the cost front, that will remain a minority of useful output.

[fnordpiglet]

The pressure on the NRC to lighten up a bit is immense. I suspect we might see some significant acceleration, especially with the various electrification drives, coupled with the multitude of safe nuclear designs, and a general sense that “why is this so broken?” permeating everywhere that cares.

[pfdietz]

Congress is free to change the law that NRC must operate under. Until that happens, the NRC cannot "lighten up" (if they did so in violation of law, they'd be taken to court.)

[fnordpiglet]

They certainly can under executive privilege, and stuff is taken to court quite often. Waiting for congress to act is futile in this age sadly. In this age it’s a game of executive action with judicial review.

[coryrc]

Solar capacity factor is typically between 10-25%, so "tens of GWs" doesn't go nearly as far.