On this episode of Breaking Green, we speak with Peter Jones. Peter Jones is trained as a physicist and as a lawyer, and he is director of nuclear waste policy at the Samuel Lawrence Foundation.

Repealing Safety Regulations

In the face of new studies showing increased dangers of exposure to radiation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing the repeal of a 50 year old safety regulation known  “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” or Alara. This is being done to fast track small modular reactors (SMR). 

Concern over Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are a new nuclear technology seen as a possible answer to the energy bottleneck for the expansion of data centers that feed artificial intelligence. SMRs would be smaller but spread out in more communities. They would be less efficient and use a more dangerous nuclear fuel. All of this is being greenwash under the banner of a so-called nuclear renaissance by big tech corporations and some supporters, who claim that it is an answer to climate change. 

On This Episode 

We track how the NRC’s push to weaken long-standing radiation safeguards lines up with the rush to license small modular reactors marketed as climate solutions. We connect new research on low dose radiation risk to the unresolved nuclear waste crisis and the growing demand for electricity from AI data centers. 

• Why a “nuclear renaissance” narrative is gaining traction
• How San Onofre illustrates the problem of stranded nuclear waste
• The missing federal repository problem and the Yucca Mountain dead end
• How NRC staffing pressure and rushed rulemaking change the regulatory landscape
• Why data centers and AI are reshaping energy investment and political incentives
• What recent studies suggest about low dose ionizing radiation and cancer risk
• Why repealing Alara shifts risk onto workers and nearby communities
• How SMRs can be less efficient and generate more waste per unit of energy
• Liability limits, the Price Anderson Act, and gaps for newer reactor categories
• HALEU fuel, higher enrichment, and increased non-proliferation concerns
• The danger of reducing security requirements while using hotter fuel
• Why nuclear contamination is difficult to contain, clean up, and reverse