WASHINGTON—Americans invented nuclear power, were the first to commercialize it for electric generation, and are spearheading global innovation in small modular reactors and other emerging technologies that will revolutionize 21st-century energy and economies.
But according to Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the United States is a regulatory “dinosaur” and without dramatic revisions in licensing and permitting—and federal subsidies for pioneering “first movers"—the nation will “surrender this leadership” in nuclear energy development to Russia and China within a decade and never regain its edge.
