The Monday VTDigger feed brings us some not terribly surprising news: That Gov. Phil Scott is apparently enamored of an emerging technology as a way to produce more renewable energy in-state.

Well, some would put quotes around “renewable,” because his gizmo of choice is a new generation of small modular nuclear reactors. See, large-scale wind and solar are just too much for our poor Vermont environment to take, but hey, let’s spread a bunch of mini-nukes around the landscape. What could go wrong?

It was a fine piece of reporting by Digger, written by intern Olivia Gieger*, inspired by a March 21 social media post by the governor (that otherwise seems to have gone unnoticed) touting small reactors as a possible solution to our green-energy problems.

*Insert obligatory “counter” joke here. I’m sure she’s never heard it before.

There’s a long way to go before Vermont could host a few dozen of these things. The technology is still “in its infancy,” as Gieger puts it, with only two reactors operating anywhere in the world. Also, the law that established Vermont’s Renewable Energy Standard excludes nuclear from the list of acceptable green energy sources, and you might have a hard time convincing the Legislature to open that particular door in a state whose only direct exposure to nuclear was the trouble-plagued Vermont Yankee power plant.

And considering the kinds of battles we get over almost anything from mid-sized solar arrays to affordable housing to slight changes in traffic circulation, one can only imagine the local opposition that would emerge anywhere a small nuclear reactor threatens to enter the picture.

I’m not necessarily saying it’s a bad idea. Nuclear isn’t my first choice, but it might need to be part of the solution to the climate crisis. But really, Phil Scott’s administration has actively opposed the spread of much greener technologies like solar and wind. It’s put us in a weaker position under Donald Trump, who is putting the brakes on offshore wind and threatening big tariffs on Canadian energy. You know, the stuff that’s a big part of our current portfolio? Partly because development of home-grown renewables has been consistently stymied by Team Scott?

The small-reactor expert quoted in the Digger piece is one Koroush Shirvan of MIT, who sees the potential for these reactors to offer “a valuable complement to renewable energy, like wind and solar, in a broader, low-carbon energy plan.”

Which would be peachy keen if only Phil Scott had a broader, low-carbon energy plan. So far, his only plan is to postpone any real progress on fighting climate change until after he’s safely out of office or possibly dead.

And not to quibble, but Scott’s social media post complained about the high cost of electricity in Vermont. According to a 2023 Financial Post article, these mini-nukes produce power at something like ten times the cost of electricity from solar farms.

He doesn’t like solar. He doesn’t like wind. He seems to have a hankerin’ for an untested technology that poses significant siting and operational challenges, not to mention the perpetually unsolved problem of radioactive waste disposal. But hey, you know what they say about big boys and their toys.

Update! Earlier today, David Blittersdorf’s AllEarth Renewables put out a press release and short video announcing its latest consumer product: the iNuke, a mini-reactor designed for household use. To be clear, AllEarth is decidedly not in the nuclear power business; it’s dedicated to real renewable power. It was an absolutely spot-on April Fools Day prank. And it actually got picked up by PR Newswire, a well-known national distributor of commercial bumpf, as a straight press release. You’d think that today of all days, they’d do some fact-checking. I mean, if they’d simply watched the video, they’d have caught on in a hurry.

Video highly recommended, but if you can’t spare a minute, here’s the iNuke in all its entirely imaginary glory. Cute li’l thing, isn’t it?