Advanced Nuclear & SMRs

Results of a recent Stanford University-led study ran counter to the nuclear industry’s claims that advanced reactors won’t significantly add to radioactive waste stockpiles around the world, the university said in a press release published Monday. According to Stanford’s statement, the study — due to eb published Monday in the academic journal Proceedings of the […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Before you unplug for this Memorial Day weekend, here are some other stories from across the civilian nuclear power space that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. Nuke credits, waste on the agenda for Granholm’s visit to CT power plant Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm last week visited Connecticut’s only operating nuclear […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. As we head into what looks like a rainy weekend here in Washington, here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking across the civilian nuclear power space this week. Granholm visits Michigan nuclear research facility The Secretary of Energy this week attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new Michigan State University […]

NuScale Power Corp, a Corvallis, Ore., developer of small modular reactors, went public on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. The company on April 28 formally completed a merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, to form NuScale Power Corp., the company announced Monday. The acquisition company is a […]

The prototype of a mobile nuclear reactor under development at the Department of Defense will be powered by advanced fuel sourced from within the U.S., the project lead said last week. The Project Pele micro-reactor prototype “will use fully unencumbered nuclear fuel,” program manager Jeff Waksman told RadWaste Monitor in an emailed statement Friday. The […]

Two of North America’s largest utilities are teaming up to advance the rollout of new advanced nuclear technology in the U.S. and Canada, the companies announced this week. Under their new partnership, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) plan to coordinate design, licensing and deployment of advanced reactors “as part of […]

Two of North America’s largest utilities are teaming up to advance the rollout of new advanced nuclear technology in the U.S. and Canada, the companies announced Tuesday. Under their new partnership, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) plan to coordinate design, licensing and deployment of advanced reactors “as part of the […]

The prototype of a mobile nuclear reactor under development at the Department of Defense will be powered by advanced fuel sourced from within the U.S., the project lead said last week. The Project Pele micro-reactor prototype “will use fully unencumbered nuclear fuel,” program manager Jeff Waksman told Exchange Monitor in an emailed statement Friday. The […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some other stories RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week across the civilian nuclear power space. DOE announces $5M grant for nuclear scholarships, university programs The Department of Energy unveiled this week a package of federal cash aimed at propping up the nuclear industry’s next generation, according to a press release. As […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — Advanced nuclear companies hoping to tap into big pools of funding for their projects need to bring more than good ideas to the table, J.P. Morgan’s lead energy executive said here this week. “I think, first and foremost, what people need to show us is that they have a company,” said […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — The almighty dollar is the only thing standing in the way of Holtec International’s plans to build an advanced reactor at the site of a former New Jersey nuclear plant, the company’s CEO said here this week. “The government is the one that has to step up” to help fund Holtec’s […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — Despite a perceived lack of interest in the technology at the federal level and a major roadblock in the form of federal nuclear-waste law, Curio Solutions is still carrying a torch for spent fuel reprocessing and the company’s CEO wants Congress to know. “We have a once-through fuel cycle that treats […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — Advanced nuclear companies hoping to tap into big pools of funding for their projects need to bring more than good ideas to the table, J.P. Morgan’s lead energy executive said here Tuesday. “I think, first and foremost, what people need to show us is that they have a company,” said Jay […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — Young people are more interested in building out zero-carbon energy technologies like advanced nuclear reactors than addressing spent nuclear fuel storage, an advanced reactor company executive said here Monday. People under 35 are more concerned about “waste from a tailpipe” than they are about waste from nuclear power plants, X-Energy CEO […]

NuScale Power, a developer of small modular reactors, has received a new $10 million injection of cash. That increases the amount of new investments in NuScale up to $453 million in the past few months. The new money comes from an eight-year-old San Francisco-based investment firm SailingStone Partners. SailingStone is a subsidiary of Houston based […]

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — Nuclear executives and officials were set to gather here for four days for the Nuclear Industry Council’s (NIC) ninth Advanced Reactors Summit.  The annual meeting “will continue its focus on showcasing technology developers and advancing solutions on the cost and deployment timeframe of advanced reactors,” NIC said on the event’s webpage, […]

A public-private joint venture to use spent nuclear fuel to power micro reactors received a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, the agency announced recently.  The venture consists of Oklo Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., Deep Isolation of Berkeley, Calif., and the national laboratories at Argonne […]

A public-private joint venture to use spent nuclear fuel to power micro reactors received a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, the agency announced recently.  The venture consists of Oklo Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., Deep Isolation of Berkeley, Calif., and the national laboratories at Argonne […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter was on the red-eye back from Phoenix after the first in-person Waste Management Symposia in two years. Here are some other stories from across the civilian nuclear space that we were tracking this week. DOE to award $36M for advanced nuclear waste research The Department of Energy will […]

Autonomy is one of the nuclear regulator’s most important assets, especially where developing nuclear technology is concerned, the chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week at a virtual annual conference.  “In the past few years, as climate change and energy security have come to the fore as existential threats, many have rallied around […]

Autonomy is one of the nuclear regulator’s most important assets, especially where developing nuclear technology is concerned, the chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday at a virtual annual conference.  “In the past few years, as climate change and energy security have come to the fore as existential threats, many have rallied around nuclear […]

A federally-owned utility this week said that its New Nuclear Program that will prepare an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an advanced reactor at a Tennessee test site. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) New Nuclear Program, approved by the utility’s board Thursday, will “develop a Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permit application and potentially […]

A pair of Republican legislators last week asked Congress’s investigative arm to look into whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prepared to handle applications for future advanced nuclear reactors, according to a recent letter. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) should investigate NRC’s “preparedness to review and approve applications for advanced nuclear reactor designs,” Sen. Shelley […]

A pair of Republican legislators last week asked Congress’s investigative arm to look into whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is prepared to handle applications for future advanced nuclear reactors, according to a recent letter. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) should investigate NRC’s “preparedness to review and approve applications for advanced nuclear reactor designs,” Sen. Shelley […]

A West Virginia law to repeal a ban on nuclear power plants in the Mountain State headed to the governor’s desk this week after clearing the state legislature. The West Virginia state House voted 76-18 Monday to pass Senate Bill (SB) 4, a measure that would roll back the 1996 law barring nuclear power in […]

The former head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy office is headed to the C-Suite of Westinghouse Electric, the company announced this week. Rita Baranwal, assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) from July 2019 to January 2021, was appointed chief technology officer at Westinghouse, according to a press release dated Tuesday. […]

The former head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy office is headed to the C-Suite of Westinghouse Electric, the company announced Tuesday. Rita Baranwal, assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) from July 2019 to January 2021, was appointed chief technology officer at Westinghouse, according to a press release dated Tuesday. In […]

Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some other stories from around the civilian nuclear power space that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week. NRC Conference to go All-Virtual Amid Omicron Surge After the COVID-19 Omicron variant spread rapidly across the country this winter, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to host an annual spring conference virtually, […]

In a blow to advanced nuclear company Oklo, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week denied the company’s proposed modular reactor project, saying that it failed to properly address several key topics during the application process. Oklo’s application for its Aurora fast reactor “continues to contain significant information gaps in its description of Aurora’s potential accidents […]

Despite the still-raging pandemic, Holtec International’s decommissioning and advanced nuclear business lines had a pretty good year, the nuclear services company said in a roll-up press release Monday. The Camden, N.J., based Holtec moved 207 casks of spent nuclear fuel into dry storage at 21 plants around the world in 2021, the company said in […]