America's energy future will rely in large part on nuclear power. As I've written many times, any major leap forward in technology has been accompanied by an increase in energy density of the society's primary fuel source, from wood to charcoal to coal to oil and natural gas and, now, to nuclear power. 

So it's good to see the Trump administration embracing that nuclear-powered future. Last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave us a compelling look at his vision for the "nuclear renaissance." But before talking about energy, he spoke of renewing our nuclear arsenal:

In a wide-ranging interview last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright discussed how the U.S. can bring nuclear power to the fore for both energy and defense purposes, starting with rebooting otherwise dormant "pit" production.

Under the first Trump administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sought to meet the Pentagon’s goal of manufacturing 80 such pits – spherical hulls of plutonium sized from a grapefruit to a bowling ball – according to the UK Guardian.

Wright suggested he wants to see the plan realized, as the same Energy Department laboratory in New Mexico where J. Robert Oppenheimer helped develop the atom bomb is reportedly working to return to earnest pit production.

The U.S. has never imported plutonium pits but also hasn’t done any such major manufacturing since the end of the Cold War.

Our nuclear deterrent is aging and probably needs looked after, but it's energy that most people are more concerned about, and Mr. Wright has plans there as well:

Wright said he is working to reopen the shuttered Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, which closed a few years ago.

Another major plant, Indian Point on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw, N.Y., that had helped power New York City was notably closed under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. There has been little effort there, however, to see a reopening.

In addition to the large-scale plants, Wright said the Energy Department seeks to forward SMR or Small Modular Reactor technology, which he said could be groundbreaking in terms of powering underserved communities and important or sensitive sites that may be far from established large-scale plants.

This is a matter that could have a great impact on America's energy policy. President Trump, in his first term, followed an "all of the above" energy policy, promoting oil, gas, coal and nuclear power, and he is following suit now. It's an interesting time to do that, as some great new technologies are coming online to power some of the new technologies, like energy-demanding AI installations.

See Also: Clean Energy: Two New 'Microreactor' Designs Could Be Game Changers

Want Clean, 'Green' Electricity? New Modular Reactor Project in Tennessee Is the Answer.

And, if we are to on-shore manufacturing again - another goal of the Trump administration - we'll need power, and a reliable, preferably decentralized, grid. Mr. Wright spoke on that as well.

"Part of our goal is to bring this to make it more efficient to build things in America again. But one thing with nuclear technology is things that you have to build on-location have become slower to build, and therefore way more expensive to build."

SMRs alleviate that pressure, as materials needed to build the plants can be shipped and assembled on-site on a much smaller scale, but with a potential for per-capita greater power output.

Nuclear power is everything both sides of the energy debate want, even if one side - the left - won't admit it. It is clean, reliable, emissions-free, high energy density, and with modern recycling of fuels, produces very little waste per the amount of energy produced. The new small modular reactors are even more versatile in that they can be delivered intact, obviating the need for a decades-long construction project with all of the endless permitting and red tape involved.

Those small modular reactors also have huge potential in rural and remote communities that may now depend on grid power generated many miles away.

If we can manage to keep the political opposition from sticking their oar in the water, we may well see not only the nuclear renaissance that Secretary Wright speaks of, but an explosion in technology that goes along with an increase in energy density. Who knows what we might see in the next twenty years?

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