Reply To: Competition from the Thorium reactor

[Brian H]

Tulse wrote:

It’s questionable whether the NRC’s mandate even stretches to cover it.

It appears that the NRC plans to regulate fusion reactors, at least “whenever such devices are of significance to the common defense and security, or could affect the health and safety of the public”. I’m not sure if FF would be covered by the first criterion, and public health and safety is extremely little impacted by FF. While I don’t doubt that the NRC would want to extend its mandate as far as it can, I think a strong case can be made that, by their own criteria, FF shouldn’t fall under their jurisdiction.
“The Commission has approved [that] … the Commission asserts (authority over fusion reactors)….” I wonder by what legal authority? A Commission that defines its own reach is essentially omnipotent, and I somehow doubt the enabling legislation contemplates that!