It's five oh five, and welcome into a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk one hundred seven point nine FM WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We are going to be keeping a very close eye on education funding, as we have in the past, and as we flip the calendar over to 2027 and kick off the General Assembly's long session. School finance officers told a state commission on September the 28th that they routinely assign employees to whichever budget the state will pay for, and that even when they send unspent teacher money back to Raleigh, the House's Top K through 12 lawmaker, one of the legislature legislators who serves on the commission in a non-voting role, said that that proves that the funding model is broken here in North Carolina.
The state itself funds teachers, principals, and most other licensed school staff by the position, not the dollar. That is according to the Department of Public Instruction's allotment policy manual. What the positions. Don't cover districts patched together from a mixture of additional state, local, and federal money all year long. The finance officers said.
However, that approach could be due for a change.
However, the new state budget sets aside three hundred thousand dollars for a work group to design a per student formula instead. With a report due to lawmakers by July the fifteenth of twenty twenty seven, the John Locke Foundation, which publishes the Carolina Journal and publishes the Carolina Journal News Hour, has pushed for those changes since twenty twenty four. State Representative David Willis, the Republican from Union County, who chairs the House Education's K through 12 Committee, spoke up as the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education opened questions for the panel. Willis said, "I think our model is broken. Everybody understands that." This shell game that we play every year and moving money from one allotment to another—I mean, all of that comes up over time because of some of the challenges, or us trying to fix the problem, or is it the problem that we're really trying to fix here?
He said that the state should quote go back to the drawing board and figure out what the funding model should look like, rather than keeping making small changes year after year. Willis also responded to a panel of superintendents and finance officers, moderated by Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor. Angie Davis, the chief finance officer of the Mooresville Graded School District, gave the commission an example, noting that if the state pays an employee's salary, it also pays the employees' workers' compensation claims.
So districts put their most injury-prone workers on state money. Longevity pay works the same way. Davis said, "All of it is legal, and every resignation and new hire means recording someone. Saying in part, 'It's just a constant juggling act to make sure that all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together, so that you're doing the best that you can for the tax dollars that you're working with.'" Tony Messer, who is the chief finance officer for the Alamance-Burlington School District, described the other side of it, noting that the state funds each teaching position at an average salary, and his district's teachers earn less than average.
So it uses, so it used every position last year, and still had about six hundred thousand dollars it could not move or spend. He told the committee the dollars are already there in the budget; they're just not being spent by a lot of school districts. Representative Willis did not accept all of the panel's complaints. Several panelists had described the strain of building local budgets before the general assembly passes a state budget. With Willis calling that information calling that quote misinformation, he said, "We always have a state budget.
Now it may be last year's budget, and you may not like that number, but you know that what the number is." Much of the complexity, he says. Comes from the districts themselves, noting the problem that you guys are dealing with are y'all's suggestions. He offered his own example of what a rebuild would have to settle. Union County, for example, has 53 schools and receives state funding for 35 assistant principals. Representative Willis from Union County said that the state and districts should agree position by position on what the formula ought to cover, rather than adding flexibility on top of the formula.
Saying in his words, "Obviously, this." This isn't working. The John Locke Foundation has argued for a different approach in a 2024 study. Dr. Bob Lubeke, who has joined us a plenty of times here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, and Caitlin Shepard counted about 50 state allotments, each with their own formula, and said that the state should replace them with what they call a base amount of money for every student, plus more for students with greater needs. Lubeke.
This month, that position allotments quote restrict flexibility, and that districts should get dollars instead. Luby is also recently written that the state should not promise every district it will keep what it gets now, because a guarantee like that would only ensure that wealthier or lower need districts maintain their funding level. Co-chair of the committee, Don Martin, who is also the chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, closed the meeting by pointing back to the panel, saying, "You do have to shake your head about how we can have a system that requires that level of manipulation to maximize your state resources." The workers' comp one was one that I had never thought of. The commission is set to meet again on October the nineteenth to begin drafting its recommendations on school operations. With the funding workgroup report due to lawmakers coming up in July of next year, this debate over education funding is not a new one here in North Carolina.
For years, many groups, like I just mentioned, the John Locke Foundation and others, have consistently pointed to major. Issues in the complexity of the statewide funding model, also known by many as the per pupil allotment funding model, that the North Carolina uses to fund public education. You take that, you add local supplement, which many of the times is coming from a county commission or a county government. You add federal dollars on top of that as well. It becomes a very complicated formula.
Very quick. As many of these districts, again, not illegally, but shift around positions to make sure that the state of North Carolina is funding some of the most at-risk positions or the at-risk positions that a school district might have. It appears now, at least according to details that we are tracking, as we heard from State Representative David Willis, who is the chair of the House's K through 12 Education Committee, that there could be. Major changes as we flip the calendar over to 2027, and keep an eye on some of that funding. We'll keep you up to date with those details over on our website carolinajournal dot com, and as always, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Hey guys, this is Joe. It's Nick and Kevin Jonas from Hey Jonas. Sponsored by Edible Arrangements. They are also bringing us our first bowl question. Oh, we're doing the bowl.
We're doing the bowl. All right, let's get into it.
Okay, the question is, what's your chocolate-dipped move to show up for someone's birthday? That's weirdly specific. Feels like there's only really one right answer for this one. Edible. Edible.
I mean, Nick did famously send an arrangement to Bob Iger. Yeah, sure.
So you know it's good. And they've got a lot more than fresh fruit. Birthday arrangements, baked goods, flowers, chocolate-dipped treats. A lot of options. And if somebody's birthday sneaks up on you, they've got delivery today, tomorrow, or even in an hour, which is great because Kevin's birthday's coming up real soon, very soon.
I'm getting an arrangement, aren't I? Yep, we kind of have to. You know, I'm okay with that. All right, we just answered our first ever edible question. We don't typically like puns, Joe, but we'll allow it for edible.
So if you want to show up with something thoughtful this birthday, edible's the move. Order yours today at edible.com. I'm a man. It's five nineteen. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT.
Turning our attention to some economic news this morning. Refrigerated cargo is a growing opportunity for the North Carolina port system, and cold chain cargo has already brought new commodities through the port of Wilmington, according to Brian Clark, who is the executive director. The North Carolina State Ports Authority, also known as the NC Ports, he recently spoke at the 2026 North Carolina World Trade Association Summit in Charlotte. NC Ports oversees the ports in Wilmington and Morehead City, as well as well as the inland port in Charlotte. Is obviously there is a no Atlantic Ocean there.
Clark said during his conversation over the last six years, we've seen unprecedented impacts on the global supply chain. Disruptions like that seem to have become more of the norm. As I've spent 30 years in the industry, in the last six have been completely upside down. Clark continued by saying, "A fiscal year 26 saw flat general cargo volumes across both of our ports, but we saw a 30 percent." Decline in container traffic. We were directly impacted by the dropping of the trans-Pacific trade into small ports.
Those trades continue; they've consolidated their volume and their capacity into larger ports. Obviously, it has had a direct impact on a smaller port like the Port of Wilmington.
However, despite the decline, refrigerated cargo volume grew five percent. Year over year, and now represents almost 15 percent of all of our overall trade. General cargo volume, particularly project cargo, improved significantly year over year, and financial results finished 15 percent ahead of the full year budget, despite the challenges, according to Clark. As of July the first of this year, twenty twenty six, the North Carolina ports entered the first year of a five-year strategic plan to become the southeast's most trusted, preferred, efficient, consumer-centric gateway, according to Clark. All of this while maintaining the diversified business across containers, refrigerated cargo, and bulk cargo.
By 2031, the plan calls for 12 percent compound annual growth in container and refrigerated cargo, 7 percent growth in bulk and break bulk cargo, 70 million dollars in incremental revenue, and 170 million dollars in third party investment. One of the primary areas for growth at the North Carolina port system, again, talking about Morehead City and Wilmington, is refrigerated. Refrigerated cargo and its continued expansion as part of that five-year strategic plan. Clark said, "We've built out a number of other facilities in the port of Wilmington. We've seen consistent growth year-round of bananas, pineapples, and melons.
We've successfully completed our first season hauling of Chilean grapes, and are anticipating a significant increase in year two." He told the group, "Over the last month, we've started receiving weekly shipments of imported Brazilian beef, and we're seeing." Regular imports and export flows in support of North Carolina's pharmaceutical industry, which in many cases have to be refrigerated as well. By 2031, we forecast we'll be handling over 54,000 TEUs, which are 20-foot equivalent units of refrigerated cargo, essentially double of what we're handling today. To manage every aspect of the refrigerated trade business, the North Carolina Ports Authority works with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, as well as the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and numerous external stakeholders. Clark said, "We have invested in our port on T four chillers to ensure that we have the proper facilities to support." USDA inspections, as well as support customers' requirements for value add services like cargo mixing.
We've worked closely with customers and shippers to develop programs and specific solutions that meet the needs of perishable imports. A great example: Chilean grapes need to be fumigated, and they must be fumigated in bulk. The industry continues to invest in and support the cold chain storage efforts, according to Clark. With the Port of Wilmington's cold storage facility currently 85,000 square feet on port in the middle of the yard, which opened in 2016, the facility focuses on handling and exporting things like frozen pork and poultry, and is currently operating at about 85 percent capacity. City.
Cold Summit Development is a three hundred thousand square foot storage facility that does operate on the port's property. It's about a mile from the gate, but is not owned or operated by the state of North Carolina. The facility, part of an approximately sixty acre inland parcel which is owned by NC Ports, was put into production in September of 2024. With Clark saying he had hoped an announcement about its first. Would come soon.
Frontier Scientific Solutions has also constructed a 500,000 square foot cold storage facility, which is focused on the pharmaceutical industry at the end of the runway at the Wilmington International Airport. Additionally, a group called One Banana has built a 20,000 square foot ripening room and distribution center using the port of Wilmington to distribute to local grocery stores. North Carolina. Ports also plans to expand infrastructure for bulk breakhead and project cargo, and attract 170 million dollars in projects to modernize bulk facilities by the end of the five year plan. Sylvie Sylvie Kemens is is constructing a seventy million dollar bulk import facility currently at the port of Moorhead City, with two one hundred thousand tudge storage domes, twenty four seven truck loading capabilities, and a direct rail loadout, which is very important for getting things out of the port.
NC Ports is also preparing to break ground on an approximately nineteen million dollar reconstruction of barge berths at the port of Moorhead City, supported by a nearly fifteen million dollar grant, according to Clark. The investment is part of a broader focus on improving infrastructure and expanding general cargo capacity. The port's new 75,000 square foot warehouse has been fully utilized since it opened, and plans are already underway to design another warehouse in Moorhead City. Clark told the group, "We are fully capable of handling the most challenging cargo sets to accommodate." Projected growth in general cargo and projected cargo tonnage. A new general cargo gate at the port of Wilmington is underway and currently under construction.
This 45 million dollar project will introduce a streamlined cargo entrance, a new badging office, security gates, and a new cargo control processing facility, mostly automated, similar to the Southern Container Gate. Clark emphasized that while there is a plan for growth over the next five years, disruptions must remain part of the plan. If anything has been learned from the past five or six years, he says, it is that the increased disruption should be expected. While the ports that we have here in North Carolina, in both Wilmington and Morehead City, are not the massive East Coast ports that we see in some of our neighboring cities, they do provide a lot. North Carolina's economy.
They are a major economic driver, not only for the areas in which the ports operate, but for the entirety of the state of North Carolina, especially with our very large agricultural industry. Growers having access to get their products to either Wilmington or Morehead City and get those products quickly loaded onto loaded into containers and onto ships for distribution, not only across. The east, the hemisphere, but across the rest of the globe is pivotally important to North Carolina's continued agriculture and many other industries. As we mentioned in the article, the pharmaceutical industry as well. We'll be keeping an eye on the ports here in North Carolina.
You can read some more quotes from this story and from this gathering that took place in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, the 2026 North Carolina World Trade Association. Summit. Those details at carolinajournal dot com. Look for the story with the headline: NC Ports Targets Refrigerated Cargo in Five Year Growth Plan. Hey guys, this is Joe.
It's Nick and Kevin Jonas from Hey Jonas. Sponsored by Edible Arrangements. They are also bringing us our first bowl question. Oh, we're doing the bowl. We're doing the bowl.
All right, let's get into it.
Okay, the question is: What's your chocolate dipped move to show up for someone's birthday? That's weirdly specific. Feels like there's only really one right answer for this one. Edible, edible. I mean, Nick did famously send an arrangement to Bob Iger.
Yeah, sure.
So you know it's good. And they've got a lot more than fresh fruit. Birthday arrangements, baked goods, flowers, chocolate dip treats. A lot of options. And if somebody's birthday sneaks up on you, they've got delivery today, tomorrow, or even in an hour, which is great because Kevin's birthday's coming up real soon, very soon.
I'm getting an arrangement, aren't I? Yep, we kind of have to. You know, I'm okay with that. All right, we just answered our first ever edible question. We don't typically like puns, Joe, but we'll allow it.
For edible, so if you want to show up with something thoughtful this birthday, edible is the move. Order yours today at edible. dot com. It's five thirty seven. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT.
I'm Nick Craig. Good Thursday morning to you. Over the past few years, here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, we've discussed a variety of different things as it relates to certificate of need legislation that has been introduced. A lot of legal challenges and lawsuits that have been filed across the state of North Carolina. Long story short, if you are in the healthcare industry, you need to go to the state of North Carolina and obtain a certificate of need if you'd like to expand your practice, purchase things like MRIs, or add additional beds to a hospital.
System North Carolina, one of the few states that still has that anywhere across the nation. Our latest update this morning includes State Treasurer Brad Briner and the State Employees Association of North Carolina, also known as CENAC, to walk through some of those details. And Mitch Koci from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, are we still chiseling away slowly but surely on some of these absurd certificate of need regulations here in North Carolina? That's certainly happening.
We saw that in the last round of legislative action, there was some reduction in the types of services that needed to be covered by certificate of need. North Carolina has one of the broadest certificate of need set of certificate of need restrictions across the country among the states that still force healthcare providers to to go through this process. The interesting development that we're talking about today is the. That you and I have discussed before, the lawsuit that started in 2020 by Dr. Jay Singleton, a Newbern eye surgeon who is challenging certificate of need as it applies to him, basically to perform most eye surgeries in his Singleton Vision Center in Newbern.
He would need a certificate of need. He doesn't have one, and he says he wouldn't be able to get one. It would be incredibly costly to try to go through the process, and then he probably wouldn't win. The only. Healthcare provider in the area that has a certificate of need to provide this type of service is his competitor, a hospital down the road called Caroline East.
So most of his patients he has to send there, even if he performs the surgery, has to perform the surgery there, and it ends up costing much more than it would if he were able to serve his customers and patients in his own facility.
So he's been challenging this. The case got all the way to the state. Supreme Court, which said that the challenge could go forward, it went back to a trial court, which threw the case out.
So now it's back at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and the latest development is that State Treasurer Brad Briner and the State Employees Association of North Carolina want to be able to file a friend of the court brief supporting Singleton.
So the Treasurer and the State Employees Association support this challenge against Certificate of Need because they. See, like anyone, pretty much who's ever really studied this and looked into the details, that this is the type of restriction that raises the cost of healthcare, reduces supply, makes it harder for people to get the type of healthcare that they they need in North Carolina, raises costs, causes all kinds of problems for no apparent good reason. And the interesting development here is that. The treasurer's office and scenic have been involved in this before. They have filed briefs at the trial court level.
They have filed brief a brief at the state supreme court before. In this case, they're having to ask the state court of appeals for permission because they missed the deadline to file a brief. Basically, when this brief was due, the state treasurer's office was having some turnover in its counsel's office, and so basically, someone just missed the. About filing a brief supporting Doctor Singleton in his case, so now they've filed some paperwork saying, "Look, we've been involved in this process. We've been involved in this case since 2022.
We'd like to submit this brief. We just missed the deadline, but we hope that you'll allow us to submit the brief." Doctor Singleton consents to the idea of allowing the treasurer and the state employees association to take part, and the state, which is defending. The the law has not objected to it, so it's likely that the state court of appeals will allow the treasurer and state employees association to take part. And for those who are wondering, why does the treasurer really care? Why does the state employees association care?
It's because of the state health plan. the The treasurer's office oversees the state health plan, and the treasurer, going back to Brad Briner's predecessor Dale Falwell, has recognized that certificate of need. Is the type of thing that raises costs for the state health plan and makes it harder to provide coverage, which is a reason why the state employees' association is also interested in this because they want to get the best health care that they can for their employees who are part of the state health plan, and so that's why the state treasurer and the state employees' association are united on this, saying if we get rid of certificate of need, it should make it easier. For the people who are covered by the state health plan, including members of the state employees association, to get more access to health care and at a more competitive cost. Yeah, no question about that.
As it relates to the cost, Mitch, and we've seen over the last year and a half, State Treasurer Brad Briner, in his work leading the state health plan, having to make some very tough financial decisions, including raising premiums for state employees, changing what services are available. All of this due to the fact that the state health plan was looking at major deficits—not 10 or 15 years down the road, but within the next 12 to 24 months.
So, I guess it shouldn't be, as you noted. Major surprise that the state treasurer's office has a huge vested interest in trying to chip away at as much as they can as it relates to rising healthcare costs. Because at the end of the day, it's the state and the general assembly that's paying for this stuff. That's right, and taxpayers ultimately. And the the thing that that is of interest to me in this is that this is a policy issue, and this is the type of thing where the treasurer wouldn't necessarily have to get involved, but this is something that strikes Brad Briner and before him it was it struck Dale Falwell as such a no brainer that if you're going to have to cut costs, you don't want to have to cut valuable service.
I mean, if you have to do that, you may have to do it, but you don't want to have to do that. What you'd rather do is cut out some of the unnecessary expenses. And I think everyone who has studied how certificate of need operates realizes that this is an unnecessary expense. If you got rid of certificate of need, healthcare providers would be free to provide the services they want to do. They would compete for services.
You would see in a a major Market like a Wake County, like Mecklenburg County, like a New Hanover County. That all of the various healthcare providers who think they might be able to make it in that area would would make their plans accordingly. They would probably have several competing entities in there, and that would end up leading to better access, more supply, lower prices for all healthcare consumers. What you have now is a situation where Basically, the monopoly interest in a particular area gets a certificate of need, and then blocks anyone else from coming in. And if there are more than one providers, they're happy to fight it out among themselves, but don't want any new entrants to come in.
They'll say, "You know, we're we're we're going to fight each other tooth and nail for each certificate of need, but we'll band together to keep everyone else out." And that's not something that's good in any sector of the economy, including healthcare. Yeah, I mean this is as simple as it gets, Mitch, in terms of supply and demand, and also as you noted about these certificate of needs and some little bit, maybe more of a blanket statement. But in a lot of these stories that we followed, these are these major healthcare systems that we're all familiar with here across North Carolina that do have these monopolies in many of our large areas across the state. I know we ran an op-ed over at Carolina Journal, probably a little bit more than a year ago now, of folks in Mecklenburg. County in and around the Charlotte area that are going over to South Carolina.
They're making day trips to get MRIs and things like that done. They're going out to lunch, spending the day in South Carolina, shopping, getting an MRI, coming back to North Carolina. Mitch, and it's still cheaper to travel to shop, to eat, and get an MRI in South Carolina than it would be to just get that same service provided here, at least across the Mecklenburg County and Greater Charlotte area. And for people who are interested in boosting the North Carolina economy, that's something for them to keep in mind as well. If you can keep that business inside of North Carolina, these people are going to be shopping and doing their other activities here in North Carolina while they're getting those services.
Now that is isn't necessarily item number one on the list of why to get rid of certificate of need, but it is a factor. And in addition to having the Greater access to supply, the lower costs, the competition that will end up improving services. You'll get that the economic ripple effects. If people are going to a particular place for a healthcare service, any other business that are that's around there is likely to benefit from the spillover. It's whether it's shopping or restaurants.
If you have that healthy healthcare sector, you're also going to have spillover effects throughout. The rest of your economy, and you won't see people either going to South Carolina, as in the case of the the folks in the Charlotte area, or go to Virginia or Tennessee or Georgia, depending on where where your border border community is. Yeah, Mitch. Final question for you. Dale Falwell, the previous state treasurer, was a Republican.
Current state treasurer Brad Briner is also a Republican. The North Carolina General Assembly has been controlled by Republicans now for the last 16 years. It's no surprise that we see debates between the two political parties. But this is a case where we've got Republican leadership, Council of State members, a state treasurer, and a very strong Republican majority in Raleigh, where they're different and they have a major difference on this issue. That's not.
Not something that we see necessarily all the time. That's certainly true, and there's been major division within the General Assembly among Republicans on this issue. The state senate has, on several occasions, voted to get rid of certificate of need entirely. The state house has been reluctant to do that. There are a number of powerful people who have been in the house and powerful voices influencing people in the house, saying certificate of need is something that that North Carolina still needs.
They've made arguments that without it, you would see rural hospitals go away. You would see that the the people Who are are competing for these services will take the the high dollar services and leave hospitals with only the money losing emergency services. We've not seen that play out in the states that don't have certificate of need, but it is certainly an argument that has been compelling to some members of the general assembly at this point. Yeah, and it's also interesting that many of those same people are those that constantly preach things like limited government while sitting here and requiring certificate of need, and of course, as we've continued to cover North Carolina consistently, either at the top or very close to the top in terms of the most expensive healthcare anywhere in the United States of America. This conversation likely not to go anywhere anytime soon.
We'll see what happens when we get a new legislature coming up in 2027. You can read more on. This legal challenge—it's over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. Mitch Kokei from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Hey guys, this is Joe.
It's Nick and Kevin Jonas from Hey Jonas. Sponsored by Edible Arrangements. They are also bringing us our first bowl question. Oh, we're doing the bowl. We're doing the bowl.
All right, let's get into it.
Okay, the question is: What's your chocolate dipped move to show up for someone's birthday? That's weirdly specific. Feels like there's only really one right answer for this one. Edible, edible. I mean, Nick did famously send an arrangement to Bob Iger.
Yeah, sure.
So you know it's good. And they've got a lot more than fresh fruit. Birthday arrangements, baked goods, flowers, chocolate dip treats. A lot of options. And if somebody's birthday sneaks up on you, they've got delivery today, tomorrow, or even in an hour.
Which is great because Kevin's birthday is coming up real soon, very soon. I'm getting an arrangement, aren't I? Yep, we kind of have to. You know, I'm okay with that. All right, we just answered our first ever edible question.
We don't typically like puns, Joe, but we'll allow it for edible.
So if you want to show up with something thoughtful this birthday, Edibles the move. Order yours today at Edible.com. I'm. Good morning again. It's five fifty-four.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, also known as the NRC, has approved a permit for the Tennessee Valley Authority, known as the TVA, to construct a GE Verona Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX three hundred. Small modular reactor at a site in Tennessee. The relevance here, well, these these small modular reactors are built in part in North Carolina at their main headquarters just outside of Wilmington. The Tennessee Valley Authority also does serve small portions of western North Carolina, according to GE Verona.
The BWRX three hundred is a small modular reactor known as an SMR, designed to provide steady carbon free electricity. Electricity around the clock. According to their details, one unit can power about three hundred thousand homes, and it sits on a site that is small enough to fit inside of two soccer fields. Unlike traditional plants, it is built in a factor. It built in factory made sections that are assembled on site.
An approach that the company says can speed up construction and add to additional lower costs. The NRC approval of its first is the first of its kind. In the United States, but not North America, work on the first unit built by GE in May of 2025 took place at Ontario's power generation site in Canada. With that expected to be on the grid by the end of 2030, Eric Gray, who is the CEO of GE Verona's power segment, called the NRC approval a milestone for the United States of America. Saying that this is a milestone for TVA and GE, and it is important and an important moment for new nuclear in the United States.
TVA has shown strong leadership in advancing new technologies, a commitment bolstered by the collaborative efforts of the NRC and the Department of Energy, together and in alignment with federal executive orders aimed at accelerating advanced reactors. We are grateful for this collaborative work as we work to support the development of the first BWRX 300 in the country. John Sanders, who is the director of the Center for Food Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, called the news a big development, saying, "This is a very encouraging development. Scalable nuclear power holds a lot of promise for addressing energy concerns in America, providing a mission-free generation that up." Holds grid reliability while meeting increased power demands. More details over on our website carolinajournal dot com.
That's going to do it for a Thursday edition. We're back with you tomorrow morning five to six right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk one and seven point nine FM WBT.
