Advanced Nuclear & SMRs

Louisiana state officials have released a new Nuclear Strategic Framework, this week and also confirmed the state’s interest in the Department of Energy’s lifecycle hubs program.  Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) announced the new state initiative at the CERAWeek event in Houston on Tuesday. Louisiana also received  $45 million in federal funding for the Future […]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said this week it is planning several outer space projects, including the use of nuclear power for certain space exploration.  NASA outlined these new initiatives at its Ignition event held in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to discuss missions involving the moon and Mars.  Among other things, NASA seeks […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to issue its long-awaited new licensing process to speed reviews of advanced nuclear reactors. The rule, known as 10 CFR Part 53 or Part 53, is the first new set of regulations for approving reactors since 1989 and the first major update to reactor licensing standards since 1956 when […]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said this week it is planning several outer space projects, including the use of nuclear power for certain space exploration.  NASA outlined these new initiatives at its Ignition event held in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to discuss missions involving the moon and Mars.  Among other things, NASA seeks […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on Fermi America’s combined license application for Project Matador based in Carson County, Texas. NRC has opened up a 30-day comment period to gather feedback on the scope of its draft environmental impact statement it is preparing for the application. The period closes on April 20, according […]

X-Energy said Friday it has started the process to become a publicly-traded company, announcing it filed a draft registration statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). X-Energy, a nuclear company based in Rockville, Md., plans to trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol XE, according to the company’s March 20 […]

X-Energy and Talen Energy have signed a letter of intent to explore development of X-Energy Xe-100 reactors in Pennsylvania to serve the PJM, a regional transmission organization. PJM serves parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. Talen, a Houston-based power company, operates the Susquehanna Nuclear Station in Salem Township, Pa., within the PJM […]

Austin, Texas-based Aalo Atomics unveiled its completed reactor building of its critical test reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Aalo held a March 19 ceremony for the finished reactor building on March 19, according to a company press release. The company said it completed the reactor structure in six months and expects […]

PHOENIX – The chair of an industry working group on waste management hopes sponsors of new nuclear projects will soon start sharing details on how they plan to deal with the resulting waste. “We have got SMRs [small modular reactors] … popping up, micro reactors, uranium enrichment, spent fuel recycle, “ said Firewater President and […]

Oklo reached several key regulatory milestones this week for demonstration reactors being developed in Idaho and Texas and a separate project also in Idaho. One approval came via DOE’s reactor pilot program at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. Oklo’s subsidiary company received the other two approvals as it also received one under the pilot program and […]

Rockville, Md.-based X-Energy, which has ambitions to build a vast nuclear fleet, signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week with  Japanese engineering company IHI Corporation to explore collaboration on X-Energy’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology. The MOU is a part of the deals to come out of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and […]

The United States and Japan have struck deals, valued up to $73 billion, for a number of new energy projects this week as part of its Japan-U.S.Strategic Investment. In the new deals struck by the two countries Thursday, the two governments will invest up to $40 billion to construct GE Vernova Hitachi small modular reactors […]

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) recently laced into the Department of Energy over a recent categorical exclusion to bypass certain safety requirements for certain advanced reactors. On Feb. 2, DOE established a categorical exclusion from certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures. The new exclusion could effectively allow certain advanced reactors to be approved without first […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program could see “three to four” demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4, DOE Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish told a Senate committee Thursday morning. Garrish, along with John Wagner, DOE Idaho National Laboratory director, and Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO, testified before the […]

Oklo reached two key regulatory milestones Tuesday for a demonstration reactor being developed at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory and a separate project also in Idaho. One approval came via DOE’s reactor pilot program while Oklo’s subsidiary company won a materials license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. DOE approved Oklo’s nuclear safety design […]

PHOENIX – The chair of an industry working group on waste management hopes sponsors of new nuclear projects will soon start sharing details on how they plan to deal with the resulting waste. “We have got SMRs [small modular reactors] … popping up, micro reactors, uranium enrichment, spent fuel recycle, “ said Firewater President and […]

Centrus Energy has announced multiple partnerships this week aiming to increase its fuel capacities and activities at its uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. Centrus and Oklo agreed on Monday to seek a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and advancing fuel-cycle technologies in Ohio. The company then agreed to […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new initiative focused on accelerated development of new advanced nuclear technology. DOE said in its March 5 press release the new initiative, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, will create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on federal and non-federal lands. […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is restarting HB-Line operations in order to recycle surplus plutonium and produce uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for advanced reactors. DOE announced the restart in a Friday March 6 press release. It did not reveal a specific date for the restart driven by President Donald […]

Centrus Energy has announced multiple partnerships this week aiming to increase its fuel capacities and activities at its uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. Centrus and Oklo agreed on Monday to seek a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and advancing fuel-cycle technologies in Ohio. The company then agreed to […]

Centrus Energy and Oklo agreed on Monday to seek a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and advancing fuel-cycle technologies in Ohio. The nuclear fuel companies announced in a press release that the activities for this joint venture will take place at Centrus’ Piketon uranium enrichment facility site in Pike […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new initiative focused on accelerated development of new advanced nuclear technology. DOE said in its March 5 press release the new initiative, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, will create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on federal and non-federal lands. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has created a new Office of Advanced Reactors, as part of its reorganization. The Office of Advanced Reactors will handle licensing and oversight of new and advanced reactors, according to NRC’s Monday press release. The office will be in charge of the accelerated review of advanced reactor applications and deployment […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued the Bill Gates-backed nuclear reactor company TerraPower a construction permit for its Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo. TerraPower, based in Bellevue, Wash., said in a Wednesday press release that it is the first commercial-scale advanced nuclear power plant to ever receive this permit. This is the first commercial […]

Earnings fell at NuScale Power Corvallis, Ore., in the fourth quarter, which the small modular reactor (SMR) developer attributed to a reduction in revenue recognized from the RoPower technology license agreement made in 2024. Revenue for the fourth quarter ended on Dec. 31 were $31.5 million, down from $37 million in the year-ago quarter. General […]

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and nuclear startup company ZettaJoule have signed an agreement to explore constructing a gas research reactor at College Station, Texas. Founded in 2023, ZettaJoule is a small modular reactor developer headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company also has offices in Japan. ZettaJoule will construct its research reactor, ZJ0, adjacent […]

The federal government needs to figure out a spent nuclear fuel [SNF] management strategy for new reactors instead of leaving it for future generations to deal with, two authors said in a commentary piece this week. Former Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy official during the Barack Obama administration Matt Bowen and research associate […]

The Department of Energy has approved the preliminary safety analysis for Austin, Texas-based Aalo Atomic’s demonstration reactor under DOE’s pilot reactor program. Under the program, DOE wants to have at least three demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4. With less than 120 days to go, Aalo becomes the fourth company to have its preliminary […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued the Bill Gates-backed nuclear reactor company TerraPower a construction permit for its Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo. TerraPower, based in Bellevue, Wash., said in a Wednesday press release that it is the first commercial-scale advanced nuclear power plant to ever receive this permit. The company plans to convert […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy said Tuesday it selected 46 domestic nuclear energy-related research projects to share a total of $52.8 million. The Office of Nuclear Energy said in its press release the awards support technology development and early career faculty research activities that contribute to President Donald Trump administration’s nuclear power […]