Westinghouse plans to put $1 billion into building an advanced nuclear fuel factory at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, the company said in a Wednesday press release.
Westinghouse said the proposed fuel factory will produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+) fuel to support its AP1000 reactor fleet. The company hopes to have the new facility up and running by 2030.
LEU-plus fuel is enriched to higher levels of uranium enrichment, typically ranging from 5% to 8%. This alternative fuel to low enriched uranium (LEU) is seen as a way to extend operating cycles and assist with lowering operational costs. The Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, built in 1968, is a campus that covers 1,155 acres of land and has 550,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space. In August 2023, Westinghouse previously announced plans to create the center to produce LEU+ at the facility.
Kentucky state’s nuclear energy department issued a request for information (RFI) late last week to gauge interest in its nuclear reactor pilot program.
According to the Oct. 16 RFI, the responses to the solicitation are due by Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Responses from utilities, nuclear reactor developers, prospective utility customers and other organizations are welcome to respond to the RFI. Submissions to the RFI should be made to the executive director of the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority, Sean Schaub, at his email address Sean.Schaub@uky.edu.
The Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority is in charge of the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program after the state legislature passed a law, Senate Bill 57, this year to create the program. It is designed to provide funding for eligible nuclear projects with various costs, such as Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and permits.
Longtime Energy Communities Alliance nuclear policy specialist Kara Colton has joined the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy as a senior adviser.
Colton, who has also worked for the National Governors Association and as a consultant, announced her new federal position this week via her LinkedIn page.
In another sign of East Tennessee’s growth as a nuclear hub, Kiewit Nuclear Solutions announced Wednesday it is planning a major office expansion in Knoxville.
The expanded office at 1431 CenterPoint Boulevard, Suite 150, will gradually be renovated to accommodate another 300 employees, up from 50 currently, according to Kiewit. It will provide a base for Kiewit to expand its support for various nuclear work, including operations by the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and commercial nuclear projects.
The existing office space for the company at Knoxville will undergo renovation in phases, Kiewit said in the release. Kiewit expects to show off the new digs during an open house sometime in the spring of 2027. DOE’s Oak Ridge Site, home of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, is roughly 25 miles or a 35-minute car trip from Knoxville. Just a couple of weeks ago, Amentum opened a new office headquarters in Oak Ridge.
The Department of Energy said this week that its Idaho Cleanup Project at Idaho National Laboratory is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and other entities to evaluate potential per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances sites at the lab.
Sometimes called forever chemical, because they break down very slowly, PFAS came under tighter monitoring under EPA hazardous waste rules, according to a Tuesday DOE press release.
Mike Petters, a former CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), is returning to the company’s board of directors as the shipbuilder says its working to expand capacity to meet growing U.S. Navy demand.
HII announced Oct. 20 that Petters, who served as the company’s first president and CEO, has been elected to its board. Petters led HII through its 2011 spin-off from Northrop Grumman and remained CEO until stepping down in 2022.
Petters joined Newport News Shipbuilding in 1987 in its Los Angeles-class submarine construction division and rose through the shipyard’s leadership ranks before becoming president. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy, served aboard the nuclear-powered submarine USS George Bancroft and later earned a master’s in business administration from the College of William & Mary. Petters also has held leadership positions with the Aerospace Industries Association and Virginia Business Council.
