Jeff Brumfield

McFarlane and other critics of the program told me they're very worried that safety was being sacrificed for speed.

Now, just one thing to note, these are small test reactors, so if there is an accident, it won't be like Chernobyl or anything huge, but it could still hurt workers or the local environment.

It told NPR that it, quote, upholds the highest standards of safety in our work with the nuclear industry.

It also said NRC staff are working with the department to ensure safety and that it's still shooting for that July 4th deadline.

Four companies of the 11 have already presented their preliminary designs and approvals could come early next year.

The Aircraft Impact Assessment Rule requires that nuclear plants be hardened to defend against a 9-11-style attack by a large airplane.

The rule's been in place for over a decade, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission now says it's no longer needed.

According to a posting in the Federal Register, the agency feels that other existing rules provide sufficient safety requirements.

The public has until January 2nd of 2026 to comment on the proposed end to the rule.

The decision to get rid of the aircraft impact requirement comes as the Trump administration seeks a major overhaul of nuclear regulations in the U.S.

Many of those changes are expected to come out early next year.

Jeff Brumfield, NPR News.

The new feature was rolled out late last week.

It allows users on X to see where different accounts are based, and not all is what it seems.

One account calling itself American was based in Pakistan.

Other accounts pushing politically divisive content were in Nigeria and Bangladesh.

Darren Linville is at Clemson University.

He says many of these accounts are stirring up political tensions for likes, follows, and ultimately cash.

X appears to have suspended several accounts linked to such efforts.

For his part, Linville welcomes the newfound transparency, which is increasingly rare to see online.