Aggregator

Despite a rapid response and aerial support, all three hikers were dead by the time first responders reached them, the park service said.

He had been on the FBI's Most Wanted list of fugitives.

Dear Abby gives advice to a reader who is thinking about breaking up with his husband.

A forensic review of Laughton and Groves’ cellphones uncovered more than 10,000 text messages sent between the two.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire in Lebanon on Friday after escalating fighting cast doubt over US-Iran talks critical to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and stabilizing oil supplies.

After leading by three runs early, then trailing by two entering the ninth, the Dodgers stormed back for a wild 6-5 walk-off win over the Orioles.

The chaotic moment broke out when two hooded men entered the Starbucks location near the campus of St. Louis University in Midtown in December 2023.

Bevan — serving a life sentence for the murder of his 2-year-old stepdaughter — was found dead after suffering more than 25 stab and slash wounds.

Russell Crowe is opening up about his career-defining role and why he thinks efforts to replicate the magic of the film with a sequel failed.

Russell Crowe is opening up about his career-defining role and why he thinks efforts to replicate the magic of the film with a sequel failed.

"I’m not in love with him, and I’m not in love with this administration."

The best way to not get hit where Jazz Chisholm Jr. did Thursday night is by hitting the baseball like he did on Friday. 

A massive, out-of-control inferno tore through the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in the Dominican Republic on Friday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,700 guests and staff.

NBA champion Knicks guard Josh Hart has fully embraced the Cam Schlittler hype train.

A North Carolina furniture manufacturer allegedly shot and killed his business partner this week after a court ruled against him in a contract dispute.

The winner of the U.S. Open in 2018 — the last time the tournament was held at Shinnecock Hills — did not make the cut.

Matt Fitzpatrick will spend part of his Saturday with one eye on the course and one eye on the leaderboard. 

A heartbroken Southern California family is speaking out after their beloved daughter and sister was gunned down inside a Pomona apartment complex — only realizing she was the victim while watching a live police chase on television.

Two of LIV Golf's biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, found themselves leaving the east end of Long Island earlier than expected.

America's Military Readiness Depends On Deployable Nuclear Power

Authored by James Durso via RealClearDefense.,com,

For decades, energy policy in Washington was debated on the basis of economics, climate change, and domestic politics. That era is over. The United States is entering a period where energy security must be recognized as a core pillar of national security and military readiness.

The global competition underway with China is not just about trade or tariffs. It is about industrial capacity, technological dominance, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, and defense production – all of which depend on a foundational requirement: abundant and reliable electric power.

America’s future military superiority will rely in part by whether the nation can generate enough resilient, secure baseload electricity to support its defense industrial base and rapidly expanding digital infrastructure.

That is why deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) must be a top national priority.

The United States faces a convergence of unprecedented energy demand and an electric grid that is at capacity and is vulnerable to cyberattacks, physical sabotage, transmission bottlenecks, and extreme weather events.

Intermittent energy sources alone will not meet the scale or reliability requirements necessary to sustain America’s strategic position. The nation requires dependable, 24/7 baseload power capable of supporting critical infrastructure under all conditions – including during natural disasters, geopolitical crises, or military conflicts.

Advanced nuclear energy, delivered by SMRs, is rapidly emerging as one of the few realistic solutions capable of meeting those demands on a shorter timeline than legacy power systems.

Unlike traditional large-scale nuclear plants, SMRs are designed to be smaller, factory manufactured, and more flexible in deployment. They can be built to support specific industrial facilities, defense installations, AI infrastructure, and in remote or constrained environments where grid reliability is a concern.

The national security implications are significant.

Modern military operations are increasingly energy intensive. Defense installations, logistics hubs, shipyards, semiconductor fabrication plants, weapons production facilities, and command and control infrastructure all depend on uninterrupted electricity. Yet many of these facilities remain dependent on centralized transmission systems vulnerable to disruption.

One of the most strategically important developments in the SMR sector is the growing focus on “behind-the-meter” deployment capability — the ability to place reactors adjacent to mission-critical facilities rather than relying exclusively on long-distance transmission infrastructure.

This approach could fundamentally reshape military and industrial resilience in the United States.

Distributed advanced nuclear generation could provide secure dedicated power to defense installations, industrial corridors, AI campuses, and manufacturing hubs while reducing dependence on vulnerable grid infrastructure without competing for electric power with civilian communities. It could also improve survivability during cyberattacks, physical sabotage, or grid instability scenarios.

Equally important is the question of fuel security.

One of the least discussed but most consequential challenges facing the advanced nuclear industry is fuel availability. Several next-generation reactor concepts depend on High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), a fuel source that lacks large-scale commercial availability in North America and is tied in part to Russian-controlled enrichment capacity.

That presents a strategic vulnerability the United States cannot afford to ignore.

Energy independence cannot exist if critical fuel supply chains remain dependent on geopolitical competitors or unstable foreign markets. Any serious national nuclear strategy must prioritize technologies capable of operating with commercially available fuel supported by secure supply chains.

This is where deployment readiness becomes critically important.

For years, much of the advanced nuclear conversation has focused on future concepts, demonstration projects, and theoretical deployment timelines. But America’s strategic competitors are not waiting. China is rapidly expanding its nuclear footprint domestically and internationally as part of a broader geopolitical strategy tied to industrial influence and infrastructure dominance. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that from 2014 to 2023 China increased installed net nuclear capacity almost three times, and that domestic experience is the basis for Beijing’s push to export 30 nuclear reactors by 2030 to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The United States must move with urgency, and the technology exists to do it now.

Today, NuScale Power is the only SMR developer with full U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission standard design approval under the modern Part 52 licensing framework and the only company currently positioned with a commercially deployable, regulator-approved SMR technology transitioning to manufacturing.

That distinction matters because licensing is the hurdle that will determine which technologies are deployed in the next decade.

Most competing SMR and Generation IV reactor companies, to include Westinghouse, Oklo, TerraPower, and X-Energy are years away from NRC approval, rely on unproven fuel supply chains, or continue operating within demonstration programs without commercially deployable designs. Many experts acknowledge that several competing technologies may not achieve meaningful commercial deployment for another decade or longer.

NuScale’s position does not simply reflect a business milestone but the reality that the United States currently has NRC-approved SMR technology with a near-term pathway toward commercial deployment at scale.

The recent collaboration involving the Tennessee Valley Authority, ENTRA1 Energy, and NuScale is important not simply because of the companies involved, but because it signals a broader shift from discussion to deployment.

The proposed initiative, potentially involving up to six gigawatts of SMR capacity, reflects growing recognition that advanced nuclear energy may soon become indispensable to supporting America’s industrial expansion, digital economy, and national security infrastructure.

This is an exciting development that underscores a reality policymakers must confront: deployment timelines matter.

The United States does not have the luxury of waiting another decade for energy technologies trapped in prolonged licensing processes, uncertain fuel pathways, or unresolved manufacturing challenges. Strategic competition is accelerating now.

This is not an argument for abandoning other energy sources. It is an argument for recognizing that advanced nuclear power is increasingly becoming an essential component of America’s long-term energy resilience strategy alongside fossil fuels and renewables.

The debate over SMRs should not be framed as solely an energy issue.

It is fundamentally about whether the United States can maintain military readiness, secure critical infrastructure, support advanced manufacturing, power the AI revolution, and preserve geopolitical leadership in an increasingly unstable world.

Energy dominance is no longer simply economic policy. It is national defense policy. Small Modular Reactors allow America to maintain its strategic advantage.

Tyler Durden Fri, 06/19/2026 - 23:00