Vol. 19, No. 11 
Up to 4 pilot reactors to go critical by July, Senate panel told
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Data Centers & Energy Demand
Portsmouth lands megabuck data center, energy development
The Donald Trump administration made it official Friday morning, announcing the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio has been selected for a multi-billion-dollar data center and power project thanks to a public-private-partnership agreement. In addition to the federal government, the partnership includes SoftBank and AEP Ohio, an American Electric Power company, DOE said in […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE works to build up uranium enrichment under Trump orders
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States needs to reestablish a robust domestic uranium enrichment program in order to meet future nuclear goals, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish said here Thursday. “When I first came onboard, I recognized this really is the biggest risk to the nuclear industry,” Garrish said of […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Arizona Public Service seeks another license renewal for Palo Verde
Arizona Public Service has officially notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its intent to renew the operating licenses for the Palo Verde Generating Station in Tonopah, Ariz. The Phoenix-based energy utility said in a Monday press release it filed a notice of intent on March 13, informing NRC it plans to submit a subsequent license […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Nevada has no interest in hosting DOE state lifecycle hub
Nevada, where memories of the Yucca Mountain saga still linger, will not seek to host one of the Department of Energy’s state lifecycle hubs, a state official told Exchange Monitor this week. In an emailed statement Monday to the Monitor, Fred Dilger, executive director of the Nevada Agency of Nuclear Projects, said the state will […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Oklo reaches DOE and NRC regulatory milestones
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 […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
X-Energy, IHI ink MOU on gas-cooled reactor
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 […]
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International
U.S. needs more safeguards to protect reactors from attack, analyst says
The United States should consider additional safeguards to civil nuclear reactors in the event of a military attack, a defense analyst said at a Monday hearing. A panel of nuclear experts discussed in the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing the Russian seizing of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and lessons learned from […]
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Data Centers & Energy Demand
AtkinsRéalis, NVIDIA to collaborate on nuclear-powered AI factories
AtkinsRéalis and Nvidia are working together to explore integration of the global tech company’s technologies to potentially advance nuclear-powered artificial intelligence (AI) factories. Montreal, Canada-based AtkinsRéalis said in a Monday press release that this collaboration could help it design a three-dimensional “digital twin” of infrastructure prior to real world construction. With AtkinsRéalis having the exclusive […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Ranking Democrat knocks DOE’s advanced reactor categorical exclusion
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 […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
DOE looks to squeeze up to 5 GW out of current nuclear fleet by 2029
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has unveiled a new effort to add 2,500 megawatts of nuclear power to the grid by 2027 through uprates to existing plants and restarting some closed reactors. The Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort (UPRISE) program aims to bring 2,500 megawatts of additional power by 2027 and […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC proposes fixed caps on services fees
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a rule to revise the fees it charges for license applications and certain other activities. Under the proposed March 12 rule posted in the Federal Register, NRC would establish fixed caps on its service fees. Through Executive Order 14300, NRC has replaced its non-binding milestone schedules with fixed deadlines […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Round Up: U.S., Japan strike new nuclear deal; TerraPower to build new radioisotope facility; ZettaJoule opens office in Houston
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 […]