The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 23, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Monday, September 23rd, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Abilene Christian University a construction permit for its Molten Salt Research Reactor Facility, which will be located on the university's campus in Abilene, Texas. Andrea Vail, director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, said, quote, This is the first research reactor project we've approved for construction in decades, and the staff successfully worked with ACU to resolve several technical issues with this novel design. Going forward, we'll have inspectors on the ACU campus when construction gets started. In March 2020, ACU submitted a

Starting point is 00:00:58 letter of intent to the NRC to apply for a construction permit for a non-power molten salt reactor. In 2022, ACU submitted a regulatory engagement plan related to the project. The proposed reactor will have a capacity of up to 1 megawatt thermal, utilizing graphite moderation and fluoride salt liquid with the fuel dissolved in the salt. Molten salt reactors utilize a liquid molten salt measure as both the coolant and the fuel, aiming to provide advantages in safety and efficiency compared to traditional nuclear reactors, which use water as a coolant and solid rods for fuel. The Natura MSR-1 is the first liquid salt-fueled reactor ever licensed by the NRC in U.S. history,

Starting point is 00:01:43 as well as the first university research reactor in the U.S. to be approved in over 30 years. Next, a new poll from the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation shows that while former President Donald Trump is leading Vice President Kamala Harris by six points in Texas, Harris is leading Trump by 6 points among Hispanic voters in the state. The same poll also showed that incumbent Senator Ted Cruz is leading his challenger, U.S. Representative Colin Allred, by 3 points, but that Allred is leading Cruz by 11 points among Hispanic voters. In other news, the contentious idea of banning cell phones in Texas classrooms was recently endorsed by Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Marath during a Senate Education Committee hearing. Marath stated,

Starting point is 00:02:32 quote, at least from my perspective, cell phones are extremely harmful for student learning, and if it were in my power, I would have already banned them in all schools in the state. So I would encourage you to consider that as a matter of public policy going forward Marath also mentioned that there are many schools across Texas which have already taken steps to ban cell phones. He continued, a very doable thing from the school perspective. In society, that's a different question. I will stop at the boundary of the school for my recommendations. Senators Paul Betancourt and Donna Campbell both commented positively about the prospect of banning cell phones in Texas schools, with Campbell noting that, quote, some superintendents independently have just called for a ban of cell phones during school, and it works. Last but not least, Railroad Commissioner Christy Craddock sat down with the Texans'

Starting point is 00:03:30 senior reporter Brad Johnson to discuss how her office fights to regulate the oil and gas industry while keeping endangered species safe. Craddock said that when taking a look at the portion of the work she oversees, quote, When you look at us, we regulate oil and gas. We also do pipelines and pipeline safety in the state. We have about 480,000 miles of interstate and intrastate pipe in the state, which is to the moon and back. Visit thetexan.news or wherever you get podcasts to listen. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - September 23, 2024

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