All we are saying is build more nuclear power plants! | Hour 2

Here is another example of why the political parties are not the same, and Here's another win for people on the right. I'm going to break through some of this doomerism with some of you folks at some point. I'm not going to stop until I can get one person that says, you know what, Pete? I'm not going to take the black pill this morning along with my vitamins. Okay, so this is the nuclear energy renaissance. Huzzah, huzzah. Nationalreview.com, a piece by Eva Terry, talking about investment in American nuclear energy is surging. Surprise, surprise. Yes, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee, they did a hearing yesterday, and they were focused on technology and public perception surrounding nuclear power. And the witnesses that were called to testify, they say that both the tech and the public perception have, what would Obama say? Hmm. Evolved. They have evolved significantly since the field first faded out of fashion and Congress should act now to help facilitate a new era of nuclear power. So if you would like to see more nuclear power, uh, reliable, safe, doesn't have any CO2 emissions, right? Here's something else that you could call your local lawmaker and lobby for and say, hey, you should really get on board with building more nuclear power. Maybe go to a Democrat's town hall meeting and ask them, where do you stand on building more nuclear power plants? Find out what they have to say about it, if anything at all. My guess would be, and chances are that they probably don't even have any kind of well-thought-out position, mainly because, well, they're Democrats, but also that it's not anything that they've ever had to explore or, you know, think about, right? Through a series of executive orders and federal programs, the Trump administration has attempted to streamline nuclear regulatory processes and help private developers move products towards viability and commercialization. These initiatives have resulted in four. I see she's report, or yeah, Eva Terry is reporting four. I also have another, there's another report that puts it at five. So whether it's four or five, you've got four or five privately built micro reactors that are reaching criticality, okay? Marking the first major advancement in decades. But to keep up the progress, Advanced Nuclear Energy CEOs, academic researchers, and representatives of the Department of Energy are asking Congress to support nuclear power with both funding and legislation. So there's always a funding ask for this stuff. Dr. Stephen Shannon is the head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at North Carolina State University. He was on the panel. He told the congressional panel that a growing number of incoming freshmen are taking an interest in the field. He said enrollment in the introductory nuclear engineering classes has doubled in three years at NC State. Three years, a doubling. It went from one to two. That's no, I'm kidding. It's not. No, he says they're like 100. He says this trend is also evident in other institutions, in peer institutions. He said the enthusiasm is real, but it's fragile. We cannot afford to let the momentum of this moment outrun our capacity to educate and train these students. I recall reading a piece several months ago where there was great concern that a lot of the people who were– part of the original generation of nuclear power plants, that they were all retiring or passing away. And like we're losing the knowledge of how to build and run nuclear plants because everything got just mothballed for 40 years thanks to Soviet propaganda and the left in America claiming that nuclear power is going to destroy us all, which it obviously has not. And that's why like I know immediately if I'm dealing with an honest environmentalist, that's preaching reductions in CO2 and we got to sign on to all of these global climate accords and all of this stuff. If they don't mention nuclear power as part of the solution, then I know I'm not dealing with an honest broker, right? Because any honest assessment includes nuclear power. It in fact is a huge part of the puzzle. And if you're not going to address it or if you're going to block it, then you're not actually serious about it. You're just in it for control. or the politics of it. Now, Shannon said, the professor said, there are 100 sophomore students taking NC State's introductory nuclear engineering class. There are a lot of faculty who have been waiting a long time for this moment, he said. NC State University's nuclear engineering lab spaces, classrooms, and faculty have now hit capacity. He pointed to recent rapid changes in the technology as a driving factor behind the renewed interest in the field. He said, quote, it's been a while since nuclear power from a commercial standpoint has really evolved. Now, all of a sudden, it's like an L-shaped curve. Everything is changing. So this is like the hockey stick. It's like zooming up. Increasing university funding for nuclear engineering will help the U.S. train the next generation to both sustain longstanding tech and build new advanced reactors, he said. Well, I know where we could find some money. I got some ideas. Go look over in the administrative wing. Go look at some of those equity and inclusion offices and such. Maybe move some of that money. He said the stress point is making sure we have the faculty and the infrastructure so our students are ready to work in these new technologies and still serve the existing technology. The light water reactors that were built decades ago, he said they still play a role, but we have to make sure that we can serve all of those while also doing the new generation, the new tech. they've been shifting towards smaller, mass-manufacturable reactors. And they said this makes the technology, quote, inherently safe and able to be manufactured on a mass scale. This is from Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valor Atomics. They built a reactor, and it reached criticality on June 18th in Utah. And this thing, uses helium as a coolant instead of water. And this actually provides several safety benefits, which is pretty amazing, because the gas, the helium gas, cannot become radioactive. And it cannot undergo sudden phase changes, which are the things that cause the explosions. That's what makes it go boom. So it doesn't do that. So these are safer. Small modular reactors and micro reactors, he said, are our best shot at accelerating energy generation. This is like everything builds off of this energy production. Like so many of these arguments against the data centers and AI and all of that cost of living affordability, like so many of this stuff is of these issues are rooted in energy production, energy policy. Okay. And, If you're not talking about nuclear and you're not recognizing that these things are coming online, these small modular reactors that are mass manufactured, and we've got four or five of them ready to go, then I don't know what else to tell you. You can't really argue those other issues if you're not willing to accept the nuclear component and the energy production component. 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It's totally private. No emails, phone numbers, account setups or hassles. With group travel videos, you'll capture today's moments on your special trip while they're happening. Then after the trip or gathering. They'll professionally turn your shared moments into a beautiful storytelling video that your whole group can stream and download and treasure for years. Check out GroupTravelVideos.com. That's GroupTravelVideos.com. Or call 704-846-7870, extension 206. And when you do that, ask for Katie. But Pete, can I just email? Well, yes, you can. You can email Katie. Katie at GroupTravelVideos.com. Group travel videos from old memories to new adventures, preserving life's moments for a lifetime. All right, so over on the text line about the nuclear, 803 number says, I'm pretty sure the amount of helium we have is finite. The Earth isn't making any more of it. I'm under the impression that, first off, it's according to NPR, It's the second most common element in the cosmos, but it's rarer on planet Earth. However, you can actually, it's a byproduct. You can produce it. So it's a product of something to do with gas. Yeah, a byproduct of natural gas extraction. So you can actually get some more of it. We can produce some more of it. But I'm thinking, you know, We are going back to the moon. I don't know how much helium is up there. But, I mean, look, if you're telling me that we're going to run out of all the helium, now I'm starting to feel bad about sucking down those balloons as a kid. Like, making my voice go really high. Should I have not done that? That's... I'm sorry. I didn't know. Uh, let's see here. Jonathan, always with the, uh, with the trolling. Jonathan, uh, He says, hang on a second. So, Pete, do you not listen to a person's opinion on energy if they refuse to consider wind power, windmills as well? You know, those giant fans that cause cancer. OK, they not sure they cause cancer. No, if see. Here's your binary thinking kind of boxed you in here, Jonathan, is that you have mistaken me for somebody who has opinions that you hate. And so my opinion on energy production is all of the above. I'm going to blow your mind right now. I have solar panels. Ha ha. Yes, I have solar panels. I am an all of the above person. That's why I said anybody that is coming to a conversation with that rejects nuclear, then I know they're not acting in good faith. Now, if somebody comes in and they're like, I don't want windmills, period. And it's like, I'm just opposed to windmills. Okay, well, that's kind of silly because you probably can find places to put windmills where it makes a good amount of sense. Windmills are not great, but they do serve a purpose. Hydro serves a purpose. Solar serves a purpose. Like they all have their uses. But if you're going to come in and you're going to say no to all windmills for whatever reasons, and you're saying they cause cancer and I don't believe that, but maybe there are people who do believe that. Well, then, yeah, then you know that this person cannot engage in a conversation about the energy production needs at a larger level because they have this blind spot. And if I'm going to compare a blind spot for windmills versus a blind spot for nuclear, the blind spot on nuclear is way worse and way bigger. And based in nothing. So, yeah, like, if this is your best argument against nuclear is to say, what about windmills? That's just a stupid argument, man. I expected more. I did. I did. Expected more. This is from Ian. Do you want to hear whaling that would make a banshee blush? Propose, as I have data centers being powered by their own nuclear reactors. Yes. Yes. I'm for it. Small modular reactors at these really large facilities, make them generate their own power. Fantastic idea. Send the rest of it back into the grid. DA says nuclear is the future. And we would have built many more by now if not for the regressive left's attacks on nuclear energy starting in the late 60s. And now they and their Chinese collaborators are doing the same thing to data centers. Also, small modular nuclear reactors are going to be a reality very soon. They're not much bigger than a cargo container and very safe. Been using the technology on submarines and aircraft carriers for decades. They will be a massive game changer. Yes, we talked about that earlier in the week about When we were talking about data centers and the drain on the electric grid, and I was making the very same argument. We got these subs. They've been floating around. We got these aircraft carriers that are floating around. They're powered by nuclear, and nobody pays them any mind, much like the data centers that are already located all over the country that nobody cared about until all of a sudden a big propaganda campaign ramps up, and AI is driving a lot of that, concerns about AI. But there's also a propaganda campaign against it. All righty. Last hour, we were talking about the wins that the Trump administration's been racking up on the illegal aliens getting commercial driver's licenses, and Mike called in, and he's been waiting on hold for quite a while to talk about that, so I will revisit this topic. Mike, welcome to the show. Thanks for taking my call, Pete. Sure. I was a veteran, and after I got out of the military, and I was a... An armor officer, I can tell you a background, but that's another story of what this issue in Iran is and why we don't have a choice. But I can also tell you where I think we should calculate another time. What I was going to tell you is I spent 44 years as what you would call a vice president of an operation, a very large, large carrier that I'm not going to mention because it's a good carrier. Okay. But... I worked with people that own their own trucks. We had both company-owned trucks and people that. Yeah, owner-operators, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But because of that unique skill I had, I had been doing it for 30-some-odd years after I got out of the military, and nobody else could handle those guys because, frankly, they put all their rubles in on the... company assets. And lo and behold, they discovered the way they were accounting for the money, they really weren't making a lot of money, but the owner operators were. So they had just real thirst for it. So I had under my wing recruiting, training, and the whole nine yards. And what happens is, the example I'll give you is we had a person in orientation and which is where we bring them on and so on and train them on the work processes and all those things. And we were satellites. We had satellites. The guy couldn't read or speak English. And he had his wife there with him. Nice guy. But what we discovered was a person, they did phone interviews, and they had paid a person... to talk to the recruiter about what his job history was and all these things, which was in fact true, he just couldn't read English. So I got wind of that, and I called recruiting, and I said, I can override him. I'm not going to accept this. We're not going to put this guy on the road. He'll kill somebody. And they went back and forth with me, and I said, well, I'm the one that signed the contract. And so they backed down. The way to fix this, is before you hire anybody, require a documented face-to-face interview. That's the way you've got to fix this, and it needs to be pictures, who did it, date, sign, because what happens, these carriers all do this, and they're in such a demand for drivers, they take shortcuts. Sure. That's how you would fix it. Yeah, well, and I think that's the intent behind Delilah's Law legislation. So, uh, yeah, call, yeah. Call your local Congressman and, uh, and lobby for it. Mike, I appreciate the call. Yes, sir. All right. Thanks. Yeah. Thanks for your service too, to the country. I appreciate that as well. Um, there was, um, I did have, uh, uh, comment here on the text line from Trent. Actually, hang on first. Let me do this one from Tim Mateo because it was regarding the illegal aliens getting truck, CDLs. Tim Mateo says, do not get my significant other started. She is a Chilanga from Mexico City, came here legally 26 years ago, and detests illegal immigration. When she gets started by stories like this, she goes off to a point that it scares me. It's like being at a Klan rally with mariachis. I will tell you, it has been my experience over the years talking to legal immigrants. They are some of the most hardline anti-illegal immigration advocates. They do not like the ones who did not do the process like they did. because if they had to go through it, you should go through it. All right, now this is back onto the energy production topic here, which kind of touches a little bit on the data centers, and that's what Trent says here. I am for the data centers, but I think their true problem is they don't really work on their PR side. If there really is a larger amount of kids going to college for nuclear power, then publicly come out and start a large grant for those kids. Well, they, well, So to your PR comment, Trent, the data centers are actually training people. They need so many of these specialized kind of workers that they are, in fact, doing some of those programs. On the nuclear side, yeah, they could definitely throw some grants at these colleges to create a pipeline, basically. Repurpose also is another idea. Repurpose or purpose, beautiful buildings, not drab looking warehouses. Look at parks and rec areas, enhance those, help the public schools, etc. I know that's greasing the palms of the community. But if you show people immediately that building a center will have a positive effect on their community, maybe some walls will come down. I've already covered a couple of towns, their stories. I've got another one in the prep pile that I haven't read through. I think it's Quincy. The town's called Quincy. But I've talked about a couple of these towns. that were dying and they brought in a data center and their budget, like one of the towns, their budget went from like $ 400, 000 a year in, in tax revenue to like two and a half million dollars. They, they've been able to build a school. They've been able to pay for teachers. They, you know, did like library improvements, road repaving and all of this stuff. Yeah. And, and so the data centers are doing things like that. They are. They just don't do a good job of publicizing it. And part of the reason was I think they got caught flat-footed by the anti-data center campaign. It just kind of blew up out of nowhere. And as I have talked about a lot on the show, that is because of the social media-driven propaganda efforts by our geopolitical foes, namely China. I keep hammering this away they are paying for groups that go out and protest data centers. China is. This money is coming from, you know, particularly the People's Forum, Neville Roy Singham's network. They fund the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the PSL. They were all packed into the Charlotte Chamber, City Council Chamber, to oppose the data centers. That's where they get their money from, and one of the sources. And meanwhile, back in China, like they have an entire city of data centers. They're like, they're going full steam ahead. So you have to ask yourself, why are the CHICOMs interested in opposing data centers here, but building them at breakneck speed there, right? Why would they do that? They don't want us to build data centers because they view us as their geopolitical foe. And they talk about that. They call this the smokeless battlefield. It's like an all-of-government approach, all-of-society approach to defeating the external enemy. Because Marxism, Maoism requires there to be an enemy. There always is an enemy. Always. Because there has to be an oppressor. That's why leftist movements always burn out after they eat their own, because there always has to be an oppressor, because that's the whole lens of Marxism. As for making the buildings beautiful, I think that should be something that everyone should do. I would prefer that we build beautiful buildings again. Build beautiful building. So BBBA. And it doesn't quite have the MAGA ring to it, but. A couple more text messages, and then I'm going to move on So this is Bob G who says, how about repurposing shopping malls with data centers? Yeah, no bad ideas under the cone of creativity, as I say. We actually discussed this, that idea came up the other day too. Yeah, I mean, that's why I said, like, if you're talking to somebody who is anti-data center and they're talking about, you know, getting, oh, they're tearing down farmland and forests and that sort of thing. It's like, okay, how about, replacing old industrial facilities, right? That are empty, right? These massive hulking structures or how about a super fund Brownfield redevelopment on like these sites that people can't build on because they're polluted and it costs too much money to, you know, scrape off all of the layers of dirt and, and then, you know, replenish the dirt and then build on top of that. Like, how about that? Or, and then somebody else suggested shopping malls. Yeah. Why not? Bill says, I worked in nuclear industry quite a while. Reactors on submarines and other ships is highly enriched, a very expensive fuel. It's made that way so it can produce a lot of power in a small area and not need to be refueled every year. Commercial utility reactors are fueled every year by removing a third of the fuel because it's a low enrichment fuel. It's a lot less expensive and more cost effective than what is used in ships. Okay. A small modular reactor... are not going to be using this highly enriched fuel from the subs. I think what you're going to see is an outbreak of utility size power plans in the not too distant future. SMRs do not make a lot of sense from a dollar per kilowatt basis. Their only advantage is a quicker licensing and more government sponsorship. But there are some loan guarantees, et cetera, for utility size reactors at the Trump administration, Trump administration has approved. Yeah, they they have been streamlining the approval process to get them done in 18 months rather than the, you know, five to 10 years or whatever. Yeah. Again, I'm an all of the above kind of guy. Like I want to I want all of the different energy production methods. Yeah. J.C. mentions the ratepayers protection pledge. That was a Trump executive order. right, where it laid out these things for data centers, like you guys, you know, you got to pay your own freight, you got to make your own energy, whatever, and like gave them this pledge, basically. It's voluntary, I believe. And that's what local governments should be looking at and incorporating into their regulatory frameworks as well. And this gets to the Charlotte moratorium. Once again, I keep saying this, but I don't want people to, as Vince Coakley would say, don't hear what I'm not saying, right? If the moratorium that Charlotte implemented or any place is implementing, if the moratorium is to give time for local officials to create the regulatory framework for approving data centers, then that's fine. If you're using the moratorium to try to kill data centers, well, now I am opposed, right? And we will see what our local task force comes up with and what the city council does. decides to do. So one other thing, I thought this was interesting, the charlotteledger.com, it's a website and newsletter. Charlotte Ledger had an interesting story. Consumer spending in Mecklenburg County appears to be flattening. Consumer spending in Mecklenburg, flattening. The county government told the ledger that it expects its share of sales tax collected in Mecklenburg to be $ 414. 3 million for the fiscal year that ended in June. 12 months, right? $ 414. 3. The previous fiscal year, it was $ 414. 8. So a loss of like half a million dollars in in sales tax revenue collected, half a million. Now, a ledger analysis of the North Carolina Department of Revenue data shows that taxable sales in Mecklenburg were $ 37 billion in the year ending in June, which was up 3% from a year earlier or about equal to the rate of inflation in that period. Mecklenburg's increase is lower, though, than the state average, which is 4.7. See, so Mecklenburg did see an increase in but it's not keeping pace with the state average increase. And Mecklenburg is slower growth than all of our surrounding counties where spending is growing at a faster clip. Okay, now, that is all I know about this data from what I read in the Charlotte Ledger. But I have a theory. I have a theory about... why the revenue is flattening. And this theory is rooted in my lived experience. You see, I live near the county border. And the sales tax in Mecklenburg County, particularly after the one cent transportation sales tax got approved, our sales tax is higher than the surrounding counties. So I go across the county line and I buy stuff in the neighboring county, and I avoid the sales taxes in Mecklenburg that are quite a bit higher. I suspect that I am not the only person in Mecklenburg County who has keyed into this life hack. I suspect that other people have noticed that the sales tax is more expensive, is higher here than right across the border. And so they will go across the border and buy their stuff, like I'm doing. And so when you keep raising the sales taxes, people keep making this same sort of decision. There seems to be, okay, now that's just a theory, okay? I have no idea if that's actually what's going on here. Could be, you know, people who spend more money, maybe they have moved out as well. I mean, that's another component of the theory that I can cite some evidence that indicates people of higher net worth, people of higher household median income and such, that they are moving out of Mecklenburg County. I can point to some evidence for that occurring. That would also drive down the number of sales and the value of the purchases, right? Because when wealthier people leave, They spend more money on sales taxes because they buy more stuff and it's more expensive. And when they leave, then you don't have as much to tax. And so your revenue kind of flatlines. Again, this is all just a theory, but I'm just throwing it out there in case maybe some of the local elected leaders might want to, I don't know, take an econ 101 class. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support. and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalinershow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.