Advanced Nuclear & SMRs

The state of Tennessee Monday issued a fusion-specific byproduct material license forType One Energy to build a commercial fusion plant at the Bull Run site in Clinton, Tenn. This marks the first-ever fusion license to be issued by a state, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in a press release. This decision also […]

WASHINGTON – The scalability of advanced reactor technologies is the next milestone for the nuclear industry, multiple industry representatives and officials told a House Science subcommittee on Energy Wednesday. Joe Hoagland, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory associate director for fission and fusion science, said during the hearing that the DOE’s reactor pilot […]

WASHINGTON – The scalability of advanced reactor technologies is the next milestone for the nuclear industry, multiple industry representatives and officials told a House Science subcommittee on Energy Wednesday. Joe Hoagland, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory associate director for fission and fusion science, said during the hearing that the DOE’s reactor pilot […]

By Ho K. Nieh, Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission  Nuclear energy is entering a new era. Across the United States and around the world, countries are looking to nuclear power to provide reliable electricity, strengthen energy security, and support economic growth. Advanced reactors and other innovative technologies are creating opportunities that would have been difficult […]

The state of Tennessee Monday issued a fusion-specific byproduct material license forType One Energy to build a commercial fusion plant at the Bull Run site in Clinton, Tenn. This marks the first-ever fusion license to be issued by a state, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in a press release. This decision also […]

The House Science Subcommittee on Energy will discuss the current state of the advanced nuclear reactor sector of the industry in a Wednesday morning hearing with a nuclear official and several industry representatives. The subcommittee hearing will be held in Room 2318 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. at 10 a.m. Eastern […]

Fremont, Calif.-based Pacific Fusion broke ground in Albuquerque, N.M. for its $1 billion fusion research and manufacturing campus Tuesday morning. The fusion company plans to build a fusion facility at the campus that will contain its demonstration fusion system, which is hoped to achieve net facility gain by 2030, according to Pacific Fusion’s Tuesday press […]

The Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) selected 13 new reactor projects this week to participate in DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative. According to a Monday DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) press release, NRIC, which is located at INL, announced these 12 reactor companies as the following participants to complete 13 projects: […]

Almost a year after the Janus program was announced in October 2025, the United States Army selected five nuclear companies and awarded a collective of $2.2 billion to them to build over 20 microreactors across several military installations. According to the Army’s Wednesday press release, the five companies are Antares Nuclear, BWX Technologies, General Atomics, […]

The Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program succeeded in moving the U.S. nuclear industry forward, but is only the first step in building reactors faster and more economically, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Director John Wagner told Exchange Monitor. During the Aug. 6 interview, Wagner also said streamlining of federal environmental rules by the Donald Trump […]

Holtec’s HI-TEST facility, located at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is preparing for key components to be fabricated and installed at the facility, the company said this week. The HI-TEST facility will serve as a one-third representation of its SMR-300 small modular reactor (SMR) plant and to calculate performance margins in the […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Standard Nuclear has recently signed long-term nuclear fuel agreements with El Segundo, Calif.-based microreactor developer Radiant Nuclear and Torrance, Calif.-based Antares Nuclear. Standard Nuclear announced a deal with Radiant that goes through the early 2030s on Aug. 20 and the Antares’ deal announced on Thursday is scheduled to go through 2035. Under […]

Lynchburg, Va., -based BWX Technologies (BWXT) has tapped industry executive Suzanne Maddux as its senior vice president for operations, reporting directly to CEO Rex Geveden, the company said last week. In this role, Maddux “will support the company’s continued growth in nuclear national security and commercial nuclear power markets,” BWXT said in an Aug. 20 […]

Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor system successfully reached zero-power criticality at a testing facility at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) this week, the company said. Westinghouse said in a Tuesday press release that the milestone was achieved at 10:39 p.m.  Pacific Time on Monday at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) facility, the […]

The Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) selected 13 new reactor projects this week to participate in DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative. According to a Monday DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) press release, NRIC, which is located at INL, announced these 12 reactor companies as the following participants to complete 13 projects: […]

WASHINGTON – The next potential nuclear growth sector is moving commercial ships across the ocean, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the head of an international organization said here Wednesday.  Kicking off the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative, Wright, along with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, said […]

Fremont, Calif.-based Pacific Fusion broke ground in Albuquerque, N.M. for its $1 billion fusion research and manufacturing campus Tuesday morning. The fusion company plans to build a fusion facility at the campus that will contain its demonstration fusion system, which is hoped to achieve net facility gain by 2030, according to Pacific Fusion’s Tuesday press […]

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas agreed to partner up to explore small modular reactors (SMRs) for maritime purposes. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Maritime Administrator Stephen Carmel and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) from the House Appropriations’ Energy and Water subcommittee were all in attendance for the signing […]

Bechtel will oversee development of Poland’s first nuclear power plant, according to a press release this month from  Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), the Polish company behind the project  PEJ said in an Aug. 6 press release it handed over the leading role to Bechtel, its general contractor, as construction for the site begins. In this […]

Lynchburg, Va., -based BWX Technologies (BWXT) has tapped industry executive Suzanne Maddux as its senior vice president for operations, reporting directly to CEO Rex Geveden, the company said last week. In this role, Maddux “will support the company’s continued growth in nuclear national security and commercial nuclear power markets,” BWXT said in an Aug. 20 […]

Indianapolis-based First American Nuclear Company (FANCO) has submitted what it calls a “regulatory engagement plan” with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an advanced nuclear fuel fabrication facility. FANCO said in its Aug. 17 press release that it plans to make its own fuel, using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), for its 240-megawatt EAGL-1 lead-bismuth eutectic-cooled fast […]

El Segundo, Calif.-based microreactor developer Radiant Nuclear has signed a long-term nuclear fuel agreement with Standard Nuclear, the company said Aug. 20. Under the deal Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Standard Nuclear will  fabricate and supply tristructural isotropic – or TRISO fuel for Radiant’s Kaleidos microreactors through the early 2030s, according to Radiant’s press release. The agreement […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 although its near-term revenue dipped from contract protest delays and other factors. That is according to Amentum’s Aug. 10 earnings release. Net earnings for the quarter ended July 3 were $66 million, or $0.27 a share, up from $10 million, or $0.04 […]

Former Department of Energy legal counsel official Seth Cohen joined Standard Nuclear’s board of directors, the company said Aug. 14 in a LinkedIn post. Cohen’s appointment comes after he left the federal government in June. When in the government, Cohen was DOE’s chief counsel for nuclear policy, a senior advisor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

X-energy and Centrus Energy have signed a definitive agreement for Centrus to supply low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for X-Energy’s advanced reactor fuel on Aug. 6. The Rockville, Md.-based advanced small modular reactor (SMR) said in a press release that the agreement would help de-risk its Xe-100 SMR projects and supply HALEU […]

X-energy’s subsidiary TRISO-X acquired an additional 70 acres adjacent to its nuclear fuel campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn. this week. X-energy said Tuesday in a press release that this acquisition brings the total campus size to 180 acres. This purchase of land comes a few weeks after the Tennessee state government awarded X-energy $11 million […]

Oklo’s Groves isotope test reactor achieved zero-powered criticality late Wednesday, making it the fifth reactor under a Department of Energy reactor initiative to reach that milestone.  The completed criticality test comes after DOE approved Oklo’s nuclear startup authorization last month. Oklo said in a Thursday press release that the Groves isotope test reactor achieved criticality […]

Devens, Mass.-based fusion company Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1 billion in additional equity funding, the company said July 30. CFS said in a press release the $1 billion financing round is the largest a fusion company has had since 2021 when CFS had a $1.8 billion Series B round then. This recent funding builds […]

Earnings rose at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Knoxville, Tenn., in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 which the federal utility attributed to “higher fuel cost recovery rates and higher sales volume,” according to a Tuesday press release. The net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended June 30 was $307 million, up from […]

Holtec International, Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and Entergy have agreed to jointly  explore building Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The three companies look to establish a framework to analyze customer demand and potential sites for the SMR-300 reactor, according to Holtec’s Tuesday press […]