(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lt. Gov. Deidra Henderson and Gov. Spencer Cox gather in north central Tooele County for a news event with state and local leaders to announce plans related to Utah’s ongoing work to develop long-term strategic opportunities in nuclear energy, on Friday, March 27, 2026.
Trump has put federal government muscle behind the tech industry’s demands for a “revival” of nuclear power to meet the demands of their AI data centers. And if there ever was a president who had command of such a scientifically complex issue, an issue where getting it wrong has the proven capability of spreading deadly nuclear radiation across the entire globe, it would be Donald Trump. But Donald will put this in the hands of capable people right?
Last summer, Trump’s DOGE bros met to rewrite the rules on nuclear power licensing to speed up nuclear power plant construction. As reported by ProPublica, the meeting was run by a 31 year old attorney, Seth Cohen, with no expertise in nuclear power, nuclear fission or the health consequences of radiation. Cohen repeatedly dismissed health and safety precautions. When someone in the group brought up the history of nuclear weapons testing in the West, Cohen interrupted, “They are testing in Utah. … I don’t know, like 70 people live there.” “But … there’s lots of babies,” one staffer countered. “They’ve been downwind before,” another staffer joked. “This is why we don’t use AI transcription in meetings,” another offered with gut busting hilarity.
Trump and Gov. Cox have anointed 27-year-old Isiah Taylor, founder of Valar Atomics, to spearhead a nuclear nirvana in Utah. Taylor, is a high school drop-out. His prior business experience is running an auto repair shop. Taylor’s hubris and lack of expertise were startlingly revealed by an April 2025 post on his company’s website where he stated Valar’s spent fuel was so safe that holding it in one’s bare hands for five minutes would emit a radiation dose equivalent to only one CT scan. In reality you would be dead within seconds.
So sleep well Utahns, your nuclear powered future is in good hands.
Brian Moench, Salt Lake City