Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 2 renewed the operating licenses for Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. Diablo Canyon’s Unit 1 operating license will now expire in November 2044 and Unit 2 in August 2045. PG&E filed for an NRC license renewal in […]

Nearly half of the states have sprung to respond to the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus request for information by the April 1 deadline. An industry source told Exchange Monitor on Thursday that 25 to 28 states submitted a response to DOE, with a handful of them taking an interest in managing nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded $49.7 million across 10 university-led projects seeking to grow nuclear safety training. DOE’s new Nuclear Reactor Safety Training and Workforce Development Program will provide up to $100 million in funding to support nuclear workforce development. All the selected university-led projects are responsible for a 50% cost […]

Energy Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar energy-focused investment firm, will re-acquire EnergySolutions from TriArtisan Capital Advisors for an undisclosed price, the companies said this week. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close this year. EnergySolutions said in a press release. The investment firm said the decision to buy EnergySolutions again […]

Lynchburg, Va.-based BWX Technologies (BWXT) said Tuesday it plans to apply for a uranium enrichment license to build a new defense nuclear facility in Erwin, Tenn.  The nuclear fuel company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) so the agency can prepare to review the application, which BWXT will submit during the first quarter of calendar […]

New York-based NANO Nuclear has filed a construction permit application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its KRONOS microreactor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Ill. The Grainger College of Engineering at the university formally submitted the application, NANO Nuclear said in an April 2 press release. The application was filed March 31. […]

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has introduced legislation to codify into law President Donald Trump’s May 23, 2025 nuclear-related executive orders. The bill, Strengthening American Nuclear Energy Act of 2026, looks to make last year’s executive actions into law to protect the pro-nuclear policy from being undone via executive orders from future presidents, according to the […]

The Department of Energy approved Antares Nuclear’s documented safety analysis for its test reactor, Mark-0, under DOE’s reactor pilot program, the company said this week.  The documented safety analysis marks the acceptance of Antares’s final design for its Mark-0 reactor. The company now enters the DOE’s readiness review process, which is the final phase of […]

The Department of Energy is requesting $1.53 billion for its Office of Nuclear Energy in fiscal 2027, a slight funding reduction, despite the Donald Trump administration’s push for more nuclear power. The $1.53 billion request outlined in DOE’s fiscal 2027 budget justification document represents a $151 million or 9% budget cut from fiscal 2026, which […]

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) CEO Don Moul is set to retire from the federally-owned utility July 1, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing submitted this week. Moul became the president and CEO of TVA in April 2025 after then-CEO Jeff Lyash retired. His tenure will come to a close after nearly one […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a proposed rule to create an additional licensing path for the Department of Energy and Pentagon demonstration reactors seeking commercial use. NRC said in a Monday press release that within its new rule it will look to leverage design information from the DOE and Department of Defense reactor demonstrations […]

While the United Steel Workers (USW) union supports advanced nuclear projects for its members, it wants to ensure that employee health and safety remain protected at advanced reactor projects That’s the gist of supplemental comments filed with the Department of Energy in March by the union. “USW represents workers across the Department of Energy nuclear […]

Executives with advanced reactor companies sounded upbeat during a Tuesday webinar on their projects chances of reaching criticality by Independence Day under the Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program. Officials from Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear and Radiant Nuclear all expressed optimism during an American Nuclear Society panel discussion webinar titled “Path to Criticality.” DOE’s reactor […]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Artemis II this week, beginning its string of upcoming lunar missions. NASA’s Artemis II 10-day, four person mission is to verify Orion spacecraft and systems that are designed to travel into deep space with people on board. The mission involves circling around the moon before heading back […]

The former Three Mile Island Unit 1 should be back online by the second half of 2027, a Constellation Energy spokesperson told Exchange Monitor this week. According to a March 26 Reuters article, the grid operator PJM Interconnection said the former Three Mile Island plant, now known as Crane Clean Energy Center, could not connect […]

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) formally announced the state’s bid for a Department of Energy’s nuclear lifecycle hub at a March 27 press conference held in Tooele County, Utah. Utah state officials gathered were on hand as Cox announced that Tooele County would be the site of the nuclear campus. Cox said during the press […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has submitted its operating license application to Canada’s nuclear regulator for the company’s first small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington nuclear site in Clarington, Ontario. The March 25 application also seeks permission for an associated waste storage structure for the Darlington New Nuclear Project, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) […]

Citing factors such as growing electricity demand, several states are forming working groups, task forces or commissions to explore new nuclear power generation.  The interest extends into New England, which has a complicated history on nuclear power, with multiple retired reactors and at least a couple of senators, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie […]

Wilmington, N.C.-based Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) received nearly $100 million in funding from the state of Kentucky and McCracken County for GLE’s proposed Paducah, Ky.-based enrichment facility. The performance-based incentive package will provide up to $98.9 million in tax and other financial incentives should GLE reach agreed investment and job creation goals, the company said […]

Holtec International completed major refurbishment projects for the shuttered Palisades reactor in Michigan and is on track to restart the plant probably in the first half of this year, the company said this week. Site preparation is also getting underway for a couple of planned small modular reactors at the property that could enter service […]

An Amentum-led joint venture has won a $406 million (£300 million) contract by Great British Energy – Nuclear to serve as the owner’s engineer for the small modular reactor (SMR) project in the United Kingdom. The Litmus Nuclear, joint venture between partners Amentum and Cavendish Nuclear, signed a long-term agreement that can last up to […]

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) issued an executive order to explore adding more nuclear power to the state’s energy mix. In the March 26 executive action, Ayotte ordered state agencies, led by New Hampshire’s Department of Energy, to do a review of regulatory and financial factors affecting nuclear deployment. Once the results of the […]

Urenco USA has hit the halfway mark in its U.S. enrichment capacity expansion program after installing the fourth new cascade of gas centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico, the company said Thursday. Urenco USA, an affiliate of the European Urenco Group, said in a press release that the fourth cascade began producing […]

The Donald Trump administration rolled out its very high-level budget proposal for fiscal 2027 this Friday, April 3, which requests $53.9 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Energy. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) fiscal 2027 budget request, the White House said that “revenues from licensing fees, inspection services, and other services […]

Entergy Louisiana and tech giant Meta signed a new agreement to support the construction and operation of Meta’s new data center in northern Louisiana. Under this new deal, Entergy Louisiana and Meta will look to support several energy sources, including nuclear power uprates, in powering Meta’s data center and broader energy systems, according to Entergy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has published the final environmental impact statement for Florida Power and Light St. Lucie Nuclear Plant’s subsequent license renewal. A subsequent license renewal extends a reactor’s operation from 60 to 80 years and comes after the first license renewal that extends potential operating life from 40 to 60 years. In […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published the final environmental impact statement last week for a subsequent license renewal for Duke Energy’s Robinson Nuclear Plant in South Carolina. The subsequent license renewal would extend the reactor’s operation from 60 to 80 years. This license comes after the initial license renewal that extends its potential operating life from […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to issue its long-awaited new licensing process to speed reviews of advanced nuclear reactors. The rule, known as 10 CFR Part 53 or Part 53, is the first new set of regulations for approving reactors since 1989 and the first major update to reactor licensing standards since 1956 when […]