New Hampshire
Ayotte wants to bring more nuclear power to New Hampshire. How would that work?
Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced her intentions to put New Hampshire “at the forefront” of nuclear energy to loud applause last week. In her annual State of the State speech, Ayotte directed energy officials to find ways to foster a new generation of nuclear power in the state, which already has the second-largest nuclear plant in the region.
“I’ve asked the department to bring together stakeholders, lawmakers and organizations focused on nuclear generation to ensure we have everyone at the table and that we are on the forefront of adopting this new technology,” she said.
Nuclear power has gained new attention in recent years, particularly due to interest from technology companies in small, advanced reactors that could power data centers and artificial intelligence.
New Hampshire lawmakers have made efforts to support the power source with legislation that would allow utilities to own nuclear reactors and include nuclear in the state’s definition of “clean energy.” A state commission investigated the potential of nuclear technology, concluding that advanced nuclear generation would be necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The commission recommended policy changes, including conducting feasibility studies for reactor sites, streamlining permitting, and implementing workforce programs.
Survey data from the Pew Research Center shows interest in nuclear from both sides of the aisle is growing, and nuclear power has the smallest partisan gap in support compared to coal, oil, fracking, wind power and solar power.
But advanced nuclear technology is still in early stages, and the process to bring that power to the state could require years of planning.
“It’s an interesting time in the industry, and there is lots of stuff happening. It’s just that none of it is near-term and none of it is in New England,” said Sam Evans-Brown, who leads the advocacy group Clean Energy New Hampshire.
NextEra, the company that owns the Seabrook nuclear facility, has said they are interested in expanding their nuclear resources at sites they already manage.
“NextEra Energy Resources is evaluating new nuclear technologies as potential long-term generation solutions, however there are currently no plans for another reactor at Seabrook,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Can nuclear power reduce energy costs?
In the State of the State speech where Ayotte described her vision for nuclear energy, she focused on fixing high electric rates, blaming neighboring New England states and a distracted Public Utilities Commission for driving up the cost of power.
But according to Evans-Brown, nuclear power likely isn’t a solution for high energy costs in the short-term.
“It really is kind of the shiny object as opposed to the hard work, the nuts and bolts of really sweating the details – that is the thing that is actually going to provide some sort of rate relief here in New England,” he said.
Evans-Brown suggested programs to reduce demand on the electric grid, revise energy efficiency programs to focus on savings during peak hours, and improve battery storage as shorter-term fixes.
According to federal data, nuclear is more expensive than almost every other power source to build and operate. And future cost projections are uncertain, because advanced nuclear technology is so new.
Can nuclear power clean up the energy grid?
Research shows combining nuclear with other sources could be a way to more cost-effectively clean up the power grid.
Nuclear power isn’t without issues. Uranium mining comes with environmental justice concerns, constructing plants involves using concrete, and safely managing nuclear waste is an ongoing challenge. But nuclear power holds a unique status as an energy source with limited atmosphere-warming emissions that is also “dispatchable,” meaning it can run whenever it is needed.
A study by New England’s grid operator showed adding small modular reactors, a kind of nuclear power generator, would reduce the amount of new wind, solar and storage needed by 57%.
“If you’re a climate person, you can’t help but notice that there’s an increasing consensus that what’s referred to as ‘clean firm,’ so any sort of dispatchable technology, results in a lower-cost grid overall,” Evans-Brown said.
Other clean-energy-focused analysts say new nuclear technologies are too expensive, slow to build, and risky, and they could take away resources from other technologies in the transition away from fossil fuels.
But climate change is one of the things that changed Armond Cohen’s mind about nuclear power. Cohen is the executive director of the Clean Air Task Force. As a young lawyer, he helped lead efforts to prevent the Seabrook nuclear reactor from being built in New Hampshire.
That project sparked massive protests in the 1970s led by the “Clamshell Alliance,” with thousands of people gathering to protest at the site during several different events.
“A lot of experience changed my view on that. In New England in particular, we have very few choices for decarbonizing the grid,” he said. “Eventually we do have to find a dispatchable, always-on, always-available source.”
How has nuclear power changed?
Over time, Cohen said, he also became convinced that nuclear power was safe, and that a permanent solution for nuclear waste could be achieved.
“The operating experience of the U.S. nuclear fleet has improved dramatically,” he said. “I believe that compared to the environmental concerns around climate change and not having an always-available zero-carbon resource on the system, the safety and social or environmental impacts are really much less worrisome than the alternative.”
New nuclear technology is in the works, including smaller versions of traditional nuclear reactors and new “advanced” reactors that haven’t reached commercial scale, said Spencer Toohill, chief of staff for nuclear energy innovation at The Breakthrough Institute.
“For a state like New Hampshire that is starting to look into new nuclear as an option for their energy mix, you’re thinking at the earliest five to six years from now,” Toohill said.
The barriers to building new nuclear power are significant, given that it has been unpopular in the past in New Hampshire, and siting a new facility would need to involve community support.
“New Hampshire hasn’t built a nuclear plant in a long time,” Toohill said. “You’ve got to bring in the workforce to construct the plant, to operate the plant. You’ve got to stand up the supply chain.”
The newest nuclear plant in the U.S. was built in Georgia and completed in 2024. It was the first nuclear project to be completed in the country in three decades, and it finished several years late and billions of dollars over budget.
The U.S. Department of Energy has focused on nuclear energy in recent months, announcing support for projects to build advanced reactors and asking states to make proposals for managing nuclear waste. In fast-tracking the construction of reactors, the Trump administration has side-stepped oversight from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and loosened safety directives.
That concerns Sarah Abramson, the executive director of the C-10 foundation, a watchdog group focused on the Seabrook nuclear station.
“Any new plants that are built under those highly relaxed rules do give me a lot of concern,” she said.
Abramson said she’d like to see a process to “obtain consent” from communities who might host nuclear projects. During that process, a community could hire their own experts and negotiate agreements for benefits, like real-time radiation monitoring and cancer incidence reviews.
“We just don’t know enough about these advanced nuclear and small modular reactors,” she said.
New Hampshire
Pakistan hosts diplomatic discussions on ending war
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an attempt to come up with a plan to de-escalate the Iran war.
The meeting comes as several thousand more U.S. troops arrived in the region and after another group got involved in the expanding conflict: Yemen’s Houthis.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched missiles towards Israel, and there’s concern their involvement could threaten another vital global shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Here are more updates on day 30 of the Iran war.
Diplomacy Push in Pakistan
The four foreign ministers from regional powers will meet in Islamabad today and Monday for a push towards diplomacy to end the war.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, the Egyptian government said: “Discussions are expected to focus on recent developments related to regional military escalation and ongoing diplomatic efforts to contain tensions and promote de-escalation.”
“The talks come amid heightened concerns about regional stability, with participating countries seeking to coordinate their stances and support political solutions to emerging crises,” it added.
Whether whatever consensus the countries known as “the quad” come up with will be accepted by the US, Israel, and Iran is another question.
Pakistan has emerged as a possible peace-broker in the conflict, passing messages between the U.S. and Tehran. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Saturday that “dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward.”
Dar also welcomed the fact Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistan-flagged ships – or two a day – through the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis enter war
Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen launched the first missile they have fired since the war began toward Israel on Saturday. Israel’s military successfully intercepted it but the Houthis’ attack opens another front in a war that has now moved into its second month.
Up until Saturday’s missile launch the Houthis had stayed out of this war. But a Houthi spokesman said attacks will continue until “the aggression on all resistance fronts stops.”
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AP
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AP
The Yemen-based rebels were active during Israel’s war in Gaza, firing on cargo ships in the Red Sea and disrupting global commercial traffic.
With Iran essentially blockading the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices, there are concerns that if the Houthis start attacking ships in the Red Sea again global shipping will be even more disrupted.
Iran also hit multiple sites around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday and Israel’s military says Iran is increasingly using cluster bombs.
Designed to detonate at high altitude the munition disperses dozens of smaller bombs that are more challenging for Israel’s multi-layered air defense system to intercept and can cause damage over a wider area.
Dozens of countries have signed onto a cluster munitions treaty banning the weapons – except Iran, Israel and the U.S.
Iran threatens U.S. universities in region
Iranian authorities and residents say more airstrikes hit them overnight. Social media videos from across Iran showed strikes hitting all over the country.
Israel’s military said it had completed what it called a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting weapons production and storage sites.
Iran claims U.S.-Israeli strikes hit a Tehran university over the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened American university campuses in the Middle East in retaliation.
“We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas” to stay a kilometer away from campuses, the statement, carried by Iranian media, said.
Several US universities have campuses in the Gulf, including New York University in the United Arab Emirates and Texas A&M University, among others, in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to fire drones and missiles at Gulf countries, with Kuwait saying it was intercepting missile and drone attacks early Sunday. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed ten drones.
Iran also claimed it had attacked two major aluminium sites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirates Global Aluminium confirmed an Iranian attack wounded several and caused significant damage to its plant.
U.S. Troops injured, more arrive
At least 15 U.S. service members were wounded Friday in an Iranian strike on a Saudi air base that hosts American troops, according to the Associated Press, including at least five in serious condition. The missile and drone strikes targeted Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base, located outside the capital Riyadh.
Iran has targeted U.S. service members at bases throughout the region since the war began a month ago, in retaliation for the U.S. attacks and seeking to drive troops out of the region. Overall, the Pentagon has put the U.S. casualty toll at 13 killed and more than 300 injured.
On Saturday, troops from the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, made up of around 3,500 sailors and Marines, arrived in the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command.
The U.S. military will not say where and how they might be deployed. Thousands more soldiers from the U.S. military’s 82nd Airborne Division are also expected to be deployed.
Journalists killed in Lebanon
Three Lebanese journalists covering the Israeli invasion of the country’s south were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jezzine.
One of them worked for a TV channel affiliated with Hezbollah and Israel accuses him of being a militant rather than a journalist – but has not provided evidence. The journalist Israel says it targeted was Ali Shaeb, a veteran TV correspondent and household name in Lebanon. After killing him, Israel’s military issued a statement accusing him of exposing the locations of Israeli troops.
The other two journalists killed were siblings, TV correspondent Fatima Ftouni and her cameraman brother, Mohammed Ftouni. Afterward their father appeared on TV, saying he was proud of his children.
All three had been covering Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials called the attack a flagrant violation of international law, and said they’re complaining to the UN Security Council. Hundreds of fellow journalists marched at a protest vigil in Lebanon’s capital.
The three journalists were among at least 47 people killed Saturday in Israeli attacks, according to Lebanese health officials.
Nine of those killed were paramedics, which the head of the World Health Organization called “a tragedy,” noting health workers are protected under international law.
Israel has intensified its attacks across Lebanon, mostly in the South, where Israeli ground troops are moving northward to try to oust Hezbollah militants.
Another Israeli soldier was also killed in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing his condolences on X over the weekend.
Developments in Syria, Iraq
The war is spreading to more parts of the Middle East. On Sunday, Syria said it had intercepted a drone strike from Iraq targeting a U.S. military base. Pro-Iran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for some attacks on US interests.
Separately, the Syrian and UAE governments condemned an attack targeting the residence of the Kurdish region’s president Nechirvan Barzani.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack saying: “The sovereignty of Iraq, and of Kurdistan within it, is essential to regional stability. Everything must be done to prevent Iraq from being drawn into the ongoing escalation.”
On Sunday, the Israeli army said it had launched its “first” attack into Lebanon from Syria.
Jane Arraf in Amman, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Lauren Frayer in Jezzine, Lebanon, Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR
New Hampshire
Abandoned Camper Fire On South Main Street Knocked Down By Concord Fire And Rescue Teams
CONCORD, NH — The Concord Fire Department is investigating the cause of a camper fire on South Main Street late Friday night.
Around 11:30 p.m., fire and rescue teams were sent to South Main Street, not far from Langdon Avenue, for a report of a camper on fire. Dispatch said it was unknown if anyone was inside or if the camper was abandoned.
“We have a couple of calls on it,” a dispatcher said. “It’s fully involved.”
A few minutes later, the fire was confirmed, and firefighters worked to extinguish it. The battalion commander confirmed no one was inside, and it appeared to be abandoned. Dispatch said, if they recalled correctly, the camper had been there for “quite a while.”
News 603 posted videos from the scene on Facebook here:
And here:
The bulk of the fire was knocked down after about 20 minutes, with firefighters overhauling and dealing with “the hot spots.”
Not long after the overhaul update, firefighters were sent to a business on South Main Street, near the camper fire, in response to a report of an alarm activation.
After investigating, there did not appear to be an activation at the business, a commander said. Later, dispatch said the alarm appeared to restore itself automatically. Firefighters cleared the scene of the business alarm just after midnight on Saturday.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire may see rare Atlas V rocket launch. Here’s when to look
A 20-story tall, 1.3 million-pound Atlas V rocket will blast off from Florida this weekend, and Granite Staters waking up very early might able to see it if the clouds in the sky don’t cover it.
Teams with United Launch Alliance are prepping for the Atlas V rocket launch, the fifth Amazon Leo constellation mission. Liftoff is planned at 3:53 a.m. ET Sunday, March 29, 2026, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Pending weather conditions and cloud cover, the Atlas V-Amazon Leo predawn launch could be visible from Florida to New England, according to ULA. That is, if their city falls on the ULA Atlas V rocket launch visibility map (see below), and if they’re awake at the time of liftoff.
The Atlas V rocket will be equipped with five solid rocket boosters to launch the next batch of Amazon Leo broadband satellites (previously referred to as Project Kuiper) into low-Earth orbit, giving a great show to those watching.
However, weather could disrupt viewing, as the New Hampshire area on the visibility map is set for isolated snow showers before 10 p.m. on Saturday night as well as partly cloudy skies, the National Weather Service said.
Here’s what to know about ULA Atlas V rocket launch visibility from New Hampshire.
When will ULA Atlas V launch?
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in the early morning hours on Sunday, March 29. The 29-minute launch window will begin at 3:53 a.m.
The visibility map provided by ULA shows about when and where your best chances are to see the rocket as it streaks northeasterly into space.
Will New Hampshire be able to see the ULA Atlas V launch
New Hampshire, specifically just outside Concord, New Hampshire, falls in the semi-outer periphery of the visibility area for the ULA Atlas V rocket launch, according to ULA’s visibility map.
Estimated visibility will occur at launch +330 seconds, or about five minutes and 30 seconds, following the launch in Florida. However, viewing chances depend on weather conditions, and Concord, New Hampshire is currently set for isolated snow showers before 10 p.m. and then partly cloudy skies on Saturday night into Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. This might block visibility, as clear skies are essential for best views.
What is ULA Atlas V?
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is a spacecraft with five solid rocket boosters that will send a batch of Amazon Leo broadband satellites into outer space, to low-Earth orbit.
How can you follow along live?
FLORIDA TODAY will offer live coverage via a live webcast with live tweets and updates for the rocket launch.
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