Vol. 19, No. 26

National Laboratories

Deployable Energy makes third reactor to go critical under DOE program

Deployable Energy’s Unity project has become the third advanced reactor to reach zero-power criticality by July 4.  Houston, Texas-based Deployable Energy, founded in 2025, achieved this milestone under the DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad Initiative, which is the successor to DOE’s reactor pilot program. The Launch Pad, established in March, is based at the National […]
  • Reactor Licensing & Regulation

    NRC chair defends moving away from ALARA radiation protection standard

    In a policy that has already encountered resistance, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking to replace the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle with “clearer, more objective” rules for radiation protection, the agency said Wednesday. ALARA is the principle that everything reasonably possible should be done to lower radiation exposure. This principle is a […]

  • Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

    Centrus, DOE ink $900 million uranium enrichment contract

    Centrus Energy and the Department of Energy have signed the contract for the $900 million DOE award to bolster the domestic uranium enrichment production that was announced in January. American Centrifuge Operating, a Centrus company, was one of the three companies awarded $900 million by DOE, totaling $2.7 billion given out in task orders. Centrus […]

  • Budget & Policy

    Plenty of nuclear amendments proposed for House 2027 energy & water bill

    As of Wednesday afternoon, it appears no date has been set for the full House of Representatives to take up the House Appropriations Committee version of the fiscal 2027 Energy & Water Development bill, which was considered by the House Rules Committee last week. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) who chairs the House Appropriations Energy & […]

  • Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

    Urenco USA installs fifth cascade at uranium enrichment facility

    Urenco USA started operations of its fifth cascade of new uranium enrichment capacity at its National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, N.M., the company said Monday. The fifth cascade officially began to operate on June 22, which was ahead of schedule, Urenco USA said in a Monday press release. The company previously installed new cascades over […]

  • Interim Storage & Waste Disposal

    Multiple countries pursue underground waste repositories

    Many countries are searching to find a suitable deep underground geological repository for high-level radioactive waste in an effort to close the nuclear fuel cycle.  In June, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board held its spring meeting in Arlington, Va. with several international representatives sharing lessons learned in the siting process for a waste repository. […]

  • Advanced Nuclear & SMRs

    Arizona utilities launch nuclear siting study

    Arizona Public Service and two other Arizona-based utilities have begun their preliminary siting study to explore opportunities for additional nuclear power in Arizona. The study will use a phased screening methodology to narrow down potential locations in the state to a short list, Arizona Public Service said in a June 24 press release. The siting […]

  • Defense Low-Level Waste

    NRC seeks clear path for GTCC waste disposal

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued proposed rules late last week that would make several changes designed to ease management and disposal of greater-than-class-c (GTCC) radioactive waste.  NRC said in a June 25 press release the proposed rule “would modernize the NRC’s framework for land disposal of low-level radioactive waste by allowing disposal facilities to use […]

  • Data Centers & Energy Demand

    Nuclear powered-data center legislation advances in N.C. House

    The North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill that would regulate data centers, and prohibit Duke Energy from retiring coal- or gas-fired power plants until it obtains a permit to build a nuclear plant. The legislation, Senate Bill 730, now named the Ratepayer Protection Act, was amended and passed in the House in a […]

  • Data Centers & Energy Demand

    TVA seeks comment on 2026 integrated resource plan

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is seeking public input on what it calls its “preliminary final” 2026 Integrated Resource Plan and its associated environmental impact statement (EIS). TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan is a long-term planning document that analyzes its seven-state region’s growing energy needs over the next 20-plus years. The strategy provides insight on how […]

  • National Laboratories

    Round Up: DOE approves Oklo’s Groves DSA; German nuclear plant restarts called for; DOE Lab and UK authority join forces for fusion

    The Department of Energy has approved the documented safety analysis for Oklo’s Groves Isotope test reactor in Lockhart, Texas under its reactor pilot program. This approval under DOE’s authorization for the reactor pilot program puts Oklo’s Groves test reactor into its final pre-startup phase, the operational readiness review, Oklo said in a Wednesday press release. […]

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