Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

Uranium fuel broker and enrichment-technology developer Centrus Energy posted a profit in the second quarter, rounding out a profitable first half of 2020 in which a major enrichment demonstration contract with the Department of Energy helped stabilize revenue. Second-quarter net income was more than $33.5 million,  or $3.19 per share, up from a loss of […]

The Department of Energy remains in the early stages of studying potential options for recycling used nuclear power plant fuel, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said Wednesday. “To look at the option of recycling and what falls under that umbrella, is something that my team has started to do,” Baranwal said during a […]

The House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water development spending plan for fiscal 2021 sustains the prohibition on Energy Department sales or barter of government-controlled uranium to help pay for remediation at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. “The Committee continues to reject any attempt to barter, transfer, or sell uranium to pay for Portsmouth cleanup costs,” […]

The Department of Energy remains in the early stages of studying potential options for recycling used nuclear power plant fuel, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal said Wednesday. “To look at the option of recycling and what falls under that umbrella, is something that my team has started to do,” Baranwal said during a […]

Like death and taxes, the federal regulatory process continues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by Centrus Energy’s submission of a license application to enrich a 19.75% enriched uranium fuel. The review should be finished by June 2, 2021, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). That is almost a year sooner than the deadline […]

Like death and taxes, the federal regulatory process continues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by Centrus Energy’s submission of a license application to enrich a 19.75% enriched uranium fuel. The Bethesda, Md.-based company is building a new 16-machine cascade based on its AC100M technology at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. The […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this month formally marked the end of its program to downblend 10 metric tons of excess highly enriched uranium when it closed out a contract with Westinghouse Government Services. According to the Government Accountability Office, Westinghouse planned to sell the resulting low-enriched uranium to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which uses […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this month formally marked the end of its program to downblend 10 metric tons of excess highly enriched uranium when it closed out a contract with Westinghouse Government Services. According to the Government Accountability Office, Westinghouse planned to sell the resulting low-enriched uranium to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will prepare a full environmental impact statement (EIS) on Westinghouse’s application to renew the license for its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The EIS would replace a draft environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) issued last October by the federal regulator. The agency changed course after […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday it will prepare a full environmental impact statement (EIS) on Westinghouse’s application to renew the license for its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The EIS would replace a draft environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact issued last October by the federal regulator. The agency changed […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week gave the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee the all-clear to start building a key piece of equipment needed to move uranium secondary-stage work out of the aging Building 9212 and into the under-construction Uranium Processing Facility. The new calciner, to be built in 9212, reached its […]

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is accepting nominations for experts to a new panel that will write reports on the nuclear fuel cycle and waste issues linked to advanced nuclear reactors. Nominations are due by June 11, according to the National Academies. The experts will “evaluate and assess (1) the merits and viability […]

Some of the United States’ radioactive spent fuel could be recycled for use in advanced nuclear power reactors, but the nation still needs a long-term repository for the waste, according to the head of the industry policy organization. Used nuclear fuel retains 95% of its original energy, Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick […]

Organizations with drastically different views on the value and future of nuclear power are debating whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should revive a moribund update to regulations for recycling of spent reactor fuel. Staff at the NRC expect early next year to recommend a potential path forward for a limited spent fuel reprocessing rulemaking, which […]

The American Nuclear Society is urging the federal government to proceed with a moribund update to regulations on recycling of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. “While no new reprocessing facilities are planned in the United States at this time, this in itself should not be the rationale for suspending rulemaking,” ANS Executive Director and […]

Nuclear fuel management specialist NAC International said Tuesday it has hired a longtime Duke Energy manager and executive as its director of fuel cycle consulting. David Culp will head the Peachtree Corners, Ga., company’s “consulting activities related to the nuclear fuel cycle,” according to a press release. He will report to Michael McMahon, NAC’s vice […]

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is accepting nominations for experts to a new panel that will write reports on the nuclear fuel cycle and waste issues linked to advanced nuclear reactors. Nominations are due by June 11, according to the National Academies. The experts will “evaluate and assess (1) the merits and viability […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week gave the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee the all-clear to start building a key piece of equipment needed to move uranium secondary-stage work out of the aging Building 9212 and into the under-construction Uranium Processing Facility. The new calciner, to be built in 9212, reached its […]

Some of the United States’ radioactive spent fuel could be recycled for use in advanced nuclear power reactors, but the nation still needs a long-term repository for the waste, according to the head of the industry policy organization. Used nuclear fuel retains 95% of its original energy, Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick […]

A new federal strategy for strengthening the United States’ nuclear energy industry will pay dividends in promoting global nonproliferation, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Friday. “Our nation’s credibility as a supporter of nonproliferation depends upon a robust civilian industry and our technological leadership in the global marketplace,” he said during a webinar organized by […]

Nuclear Fuel Services has not tracked any new cases of COVID-19 among its workforce since an outbreak in mid-April sickened multiple employees at its Erwin, Tenn., uranium-processing plant, a spokesperson said Thursday morning. The BWX Technologies subsidiary “has had no new cases of COVID-19 among our employees,” the spokesperson said by email. “Those affected are […]

International Isotopes in April secured a $495,500 bank loan via federal COVID-19 relief legislation to help pay its employees, according to a quarterly filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Paycheck Protection Program in the CARES Act, signed into law in March, is intended via forgivable loans to assist small businesses in meeting […]

Nuclear Fuel Services has not tracked any new cases of COVID-19 among its workforce since an outbreak in mid-April sickened multiple people at its Erwin, Tenn., uranium-processing plant, a spokesperson said Thursday morning. The BWX Technologies subsidiary “has had no new cases of COVID-19 among our employees,” the spokesperson said by email. “Those affected are […]

International Isotopes in April secured a $495,500 bank loan via federal COVID-19 relief legislation to help pay its employees, according to a quarterly filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the CARES Act, signed into law in March, is intended to assist small businesses in meeting payroll, and […]

Centrus Energy Corp. this week reported $9.3 million of net income attributable to shareholders in the 2020 first quarter, up from a $22.9 million loss a year ago, as revenue improved to $45 million from just under $40 million a year ago, That comes out to earnings of $0.95, on a diluted, per-share basis, up […]

Centrus Energy Corp. on Monday reported $9.3 million of net income in the 2020 first quarter, up from a loss of more than $20 million a year ago, as revenue improved to $45 million from just under $40 million a year ago, That comes out to earnings of $0.95, on a diluted, per-share basis, up […]

Centrus Energy, which is developing a new uranium enrichment cascade for the Department of Energy, is scheduled to report first-quarter 2020 earnings today after U.S. markets close. The Bethesda, Md., nuclear fuel supplier has scheduled a conference call for 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday on the earnings report for the quarter ended March 31, according […]

Centrus Energy CEO Daniel Poneman will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from the Japanese government for his work as deputy energy secretary during the Barack Obama administration. Japan will recognize Poneman for “his contributions towards enhancing the relationship between Japan and the United States of America in the energy sector,” […]

Centrus Energy CEO Daniel Poneman will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from the Japanese government for his work as deputy energy secretary during the Barack Obama administration. Japan will recognize Poneman for “his contributions towards enhancing the relationship between Japan and the United States of America in the energy sector,” […]

It might be possible to produce low-enriched uranium domestically by 2023, including material suitable for nuclear-weapon programs, the Department of Energy said this week in a long-awaited report about restarting end-to-end nuclear fuel production in the United States. Broadly, the plan provides what Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette framed as a “road map” for rebooting […]