The United States shut down 67 nuclear reactors.
Posted by The Dan Bongino Show, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 82%
The Dan Bongino ShowSep 16, 2026
The sources show the US has permanently closed about 12 commercial reactors since 2012-2013, with a few more retirements announced, not 67. The only 67 in the sources is a count of canceled construction projects from 1979 to 1988, which is a different thing.
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What was said
… It's a matter of national security. We have great track records, despite the hyperbolic claims. Remember all the claims around nuclear, that it was going to kill all the kids, that Ralph Nader, that it would wipe out the city of Cleveland. Not a single person in this country died or was injured by nuclear energy, but we shut down 67 nuclear reactors. We unilaterally disarmed while China is building a hundred fission reactors. Why did we do that? Because of alarmist activists that went uncountered. …
The Dan Bongino Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. A Congressional Research Service report says twelve U.S. power reactors have permanently closed since 2012, with three more retirements announced through 2025. That is roughly 15 in total, far below 67.[2]
Contradicts. Reuters reports that 12 reactors have closed since 2013 because of competition from renewables and cheap natural gas, which again falls well short of 67.[1]
Contradicts. The World Nuclear Association's table of early retirements lists about a dozen shutdowns from 2013 to 2022, consistent with the CRS and Reuters figures rather than 67.[5]
Context. The EIA reports 96 operating reactors as of March 2026, and the NRC says 19 reactors are in various stages of decommissioning. Neither figure supports 67 shutdowns.[3]
Context. The figure 67 appears in an Ohio State source as the number of nuclear reactor construction projects canceled from 1979 to 1988. That is a different measure from reactors shut down.[4]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 3 primary, 1 not rated
- 1Biden admin launches $6 bln nuclear power credit programreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2U.S. Nuclear Plant Shutdowns, State Interventions, and ...congress.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 3U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysiseia.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 4How Green Is the Atom? | Originsorigins.osu.edu · primary source · cited for: context
- 5Nuclear Power in the USA - World Nuclear Associationworld-nuclear.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post