For the first time in over 40 years, the United States will be seriously expanding its energy production in two major ways. [some emphasis, links added]
On Tuesday, it was announced that a new oil refinery and a new nuclear reactor would begin construction shortly.
America First Refining is set to open the first new U.S. oil refinery in 50 years, in a deal President Donald Trump says is worth a historic $300 billion.
The project will be opened at the Port of Brownsville, deep in the southern tip of Texas. The area has seen an increase in industry as of late, as SpaceX created its Starbase in Texas, just miles down the highway.
The Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) has also made history, with the Department of Energy (DOE) announcing that the body had issued a construction permit for a first-of-its-kind reactor in Wyoming.
“This is the first construction permit ever issued by the NRC for a commercial non-light-water power reactor and represents a historic step toward deployment of a new generation of advanced reactors in the United States,” the DOE said in a press release.
Nonnuclear construction on the site began in 2024, and construction is now slated to begin on the reactor itself, which would be the first nuclear reactor constructed in Wyoming.
Energy affordability and security continue to be priorities for the Trump administration, and they have shown sweeping success on this front.
Read more at Townhall
This plant is not the first non-light water commercial reactor approved by the NRC (actually its predecessor the Atomic Energy Commission). That honor belongs to Fort St Vrain Nuclear Plant that was located outside Platteville, CO. It used high-temperature gas (helium) as the coolant with graphite as the moderator for slowing neutrons. It was also the first commercial plant to use “fertile Thorium-232” to create additional fissile material (U-233) proving the viability of the Thorium Fuel Cycle to reduce the need for enriching U-235 from mined Uranium. It produced 330 MW electricity. I had a friend/former Navy Reactor Operator who worked at the plant until its shutdown.
Hi Steve, you had me excited until you said the CO reactor had closed.
Thanks for your obvious expert comment.
Yeah, it closed but not due to anything to do with the reactor. It had a fire in some of the electrical wiring and the utility decided it was too expensive to repair the problems. That was unfortunate.