Reevaluating Nuclear Regulations in the United States

Since its advent in the 1940s, nuclear power has been viewed by some as the solution to all our energy needs, and for a time this seemed possible. However, through various failings, nuclear energy as a widely deployed energy source has declined. Some of these failings are institutional. Despite initial success, the regulators responsible for its safe deployment have been unable to satisfy both the needs of the industry as well as the concerns of the public, and as a result a level of distrust of the regulators as well as the concept as a whole has developed. Industry misbehavior, particularly in regard to poor management and resultantly poor safety standards have forced massive controversies on the industry that were perhaps otherwise unavoidable. As it stands, nuclear energy in on the precipice of a potential renaissance thanks to innovations in reactor design, but these mistakes of the past are holding it back. Legacy regulatory structures as well as outmoded thinking from the industry needs to be corrected if there is to be a strong future for nuclear power in the United States.