DOGE goes nuclear: How Trump invited Silicon Valley into America’s nuclear power regulator
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The Bottom Line
A 31-year-old lawyer with no nuclear policy experience is influencing U.S. nuclear power regulation through the Trump administration.
How This Affects You
Nuclear safety standards may be weakened if non-expert officials downplay health and radiation exposure risks in reactor licensing decisions, potentially affecting communities near nuclear facilities.
AI Summary
Seth Cohen, a 31-year-old lawyer with no significant nuclear law or policy experience who joined the Trump administration through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team, led a Department of Energy meeting last summer at Idaho National Laboratory to discuss nuclear energy policy. During the technical discussion on licensing reactor designs, Cohen repeatedly downplayed health and safety concerns, including radiation exposure risks from nuclear test sites. The meeting at the 890-square-mile Idaho facility—where the US government built its first nuclear power plant in 1951—illustrates how Silicon Valley figures with limited regulatory expertise are influencing decisions at federal agencies overseeing critical infrastructure.
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