Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

While President Donald Trump has not officially signed a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, the announcement by a State Department official that one is in the works got pushback in Congress. Thomas Dinanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told both the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees that […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Energy needs to figure out a waste management strategy before pushing for more nuclear power, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) told DOE officials in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week. “I can’t stress this enough; this to me is the issue we deal with first: […]

X-Energy and Talen Energy have signed a letter of intent to explore development of X-Energy Xe-100 reactors in Pennsylvania to serve the PJM, a regional transmission organization. PJM serves parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. Talen, a Houston-based power company, operates the Susquehanna Nuclear Station in Salem Township, Pa., within the PJM […]

After two Canadian agencies received more than 900 public comments on Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) proposed deep geological repository in Ontario, the project has been referred to an independent review panel for additional vetting, officials said this week.  The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), which oversees the application, issued a notice of referral […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on Fermi America’s combined license application for Project Matador based in Carson County, Texas. NRC has opened up a 30-day comment period to gather feedback on the scope of its draft environmental impact statement it is preparing for the application. The period closes on April 20, according […]

Uranium Energy Corp has received approval from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to expand in situ recovery operations at Christensen Ranch in Johnson County, Wyo. In situ recovery is one of the two primary extraction methods used to mine uranium from the underground. The Corpus Christi, Texas-based uranium mining company said in its […]

Kärnfull Next submitted Sweden’s first small modular reactor (SMR) application this week under the country’s new legislation, Act of Government Approval of Nuclear Facilities. The application, which was submitted by ReFirm Målma AB, covers a proposed SMR campus in Valdemarsvik in southern Sweden and was submitted to Johan Britz, Minister for Employment and acting Minister […]

Austin, Texas-based Aalo Atomics unveiled its completed reactor building of its critical test reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Aalo held a March 19 ceremony for the finished reactor building on March 19, according to a company press release. The company said it completed the reactor structure in six months and expects […]

X-Energy has started the process to become a publicly-traded company, announcing last week it filed a draft registration statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). X-Energy, a nuclear company based in Rockville, Md., plans to trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol XE, according to the company’s March 20 press […]

Louisiana state officials have released a new Nuclear Strategic Framework, this week and also confirmed the state’s interest in the Department of Energy’s lifecycle hubs program.  Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) announced the new state initiative at the CERAWeek event in Houston on Tuesday. Louisiana also received  $45 million in federal funding for the Future […]