Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures. NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.  Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions […]

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) earnings increased in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 which the Knoxville-based federal utility attributed to higher sales thanks largely to weather impacts and growing demand from data processing and related sectors.. Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 ended Dec. 31 were $266 million, up from $125 million, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday an opportunity for the public to request a hearing on a request from an Entergy subsidiary company to renew its early site permit for the Grand Gulf site in Mississippi. System Energy Resources was issued the early site permit in 2007 and it is set to expire on April […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has overhauled and hollowed out much of its nuclear safety regulations, according to a recent National Public Radio report.  According to the Jan. 28 NPR article, over the course of fall and winter, DOE has slashed hundreds of pages of requirements for security at the reactors, loosened protections for groundwater […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) said this week it has recompleted refurbishment of Unit 4 at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario, Canada.  Darlington staff are currently doing final testing in preparation of returning Unit 4 to operation, OPG said Monday. The major refurbishment project that cost $12.8 billion (US$ 9.3 billion) is on track to […]

Deep Isolation launched a multi-year full-scale demonstration program this week for its nuclear waste disposal technology. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Jan. 28 at the Deep Borehole Demonstration, located at the Haliburton Drilling Technology Facility near Cameron, Texas. Deep Isolation said stakeholders across the nuclear industry, Texas state officials and Department of Energy (DOE) representatives […]

NextEra Energy is considering adding up to 6 gigawatts or 6,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation in part to help meet artificial intelligence (AI) data center demands. In a Jan. 27 earnings call, the Juno Beach, Fla.-based energy utility said small modular reactors (SMRs) could be built at its existing nuclear power plants or at […]

The Government of Saskatchewan and Regina, Canada-based utility SaskPower are planning to evaluate large nuclear reactors for potential deployment in the Saskatchewan province. The technology selection process for large nuclear reactors will be in conjunction with SaskPower’s plans to select small modular reactors (SMR) projects, according to its Jan. 28 press release. In October 2025, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) has granted a Texas environmental group’s petition to intervene in the case surrounding Dow and X-Energy’s construction permit application for Seadrift, Texas. The ASLB ruling on the intervention petition, which was issued Jan. 22, found that San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper) established grounds to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy this week tapped longtime nuclear complex hand Josh Jarrell to become deputy assistant secretary for nuclear fuel cycle. Separately two industry sources have told Exchange Monitor in the past week that Office of Nuclear Energy executive, Paul Murray, is moving over to DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.  […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit Wednesday there was a “pretty cohesive desire” to finish funding the government, but “whether we get it done by Friday” he was unsure. Friday, Jan. 30 is the final day of funding in the current continuing resolution (CR), which extended fiscal 2025 […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Proposals are being assessed for contractors looking to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site, the site’s field manager said in a panel on a snowy first day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Due to inclement weather, Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Type One Energy submitted a byproduct material license application with the state of Tennessee Thursday in preparation for a commercial fusion project. TVA and Type One Energy additionally worked with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to prepare for the application, according to Type One Energy’s press release. […]

ARLINGTON, VA – To garner support for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal land, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should “state its value propositions” early on, Senior Director at Microsoft Federal Bryan Lopez said here Wednesday. Lopez told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit that this goes a long way in helping hyperscalers consider […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

The Department of Energy has approved Antares Nuclear’s Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for its demonstration reactor under DOE’s reactor pilot program. Under the program, DOE has set out a goal of at least three reactors reaching criticality by July 4. Antares, founded in 2023, was one of the 10 companies selected for the program. The […]

Weakening the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) radiation protection standard is not supported by current research and could harm people, especially women and children, a former Department of Energy official wrote in a Jan. 23 article. Former DOE assistant secretary of Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff published an opinion piece in Scientific American cautioning against the idea […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Centrus Energy has signed contracts worth $2.3 billion to provide low-enriched uranium to electric utilities and virtually all of it involves traditional LEU rather than the high-assay-low-enriched uranium (HALEU) Centrus CEO Amir Vexler said here Tuesday. “The existing market is LEU,” Vexler told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit, “There is no existing […]

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) shut down Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, one day after restarting it, due to a technical malfunction.  According to a Jan. 22 New York Times article, the alarm went off in the power plant while technicians were adjusting Unit 6’s control rods, the cylinders used to regulate […]

Centrus Energy plans to expand its manufacturing plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. at an investment of more than $560 million, according to the company’s Jan. 23 press release. The Bethesda, Md.-based uranium broker said the expansion of the Oak Ridge manufacturing plant supports its plans to expand the uranium enrichment plant at the Department of […]

Westinghouse has partnered with Nordion and Public Service Enterprise Group Nuclear (PSEG) to launch the first commercial-scale production of Cobalt-60 in pressurized water reactors. Cobalt-60 is a critical isotope used in the medical field and other industries. Isotope uses include cancer radiation therapy, sterilizing medical devices and food irradiation.  Westinghouse, which designed the pressurized water […]

Nuclear power plants in the United States experienced fewer outages in the first three weeks of this year compared to 2025, according to a Monday report from the Energy Information Administration. From Jan. 1 to Jan. 21, nuclear power outages averaged two gigawatts or 2,000 megawatts, which is 20% less than the same period in […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Competing for workers with other nuclear projects around the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is a concern, Centrus Energy CEO Amir Vexler said here this week. Recently, Centrus announced plans to expand its Oak Ridge manufacturing facility to assist in its plans to expand its uranium enrichment in Piketon, […]

President Donald Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week he wants to get nuclear power plant approval time down to three weeks. When contacted by Exchange Monitor Thursday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said in a statement it is trying to shorten its license review periods.  “NRC is currently engaged […]

The United States and Slovakia have entered into an intergovernmental agreement to bring new electric generation to the Slovakian civil nuclear program. The agreement, announced by the U.S. Department of Energy Jan. 16, includes the development of a new state-owned American 1,200-megawatt unit at the Jaslovské Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant. Bohunice has two operating pressurized […]

Congress stands ready to work with the Donald Trump administration on a long-term nuclear waste management program, Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and August Pfluger (R-Texas) said in a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The Jan. 12 letter was sent to Wright as the Department of Energy should be nearing completion of a nuclear waste […]

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering offering economic incentives for states to consider taking on nuclear waste, according to a Wednesday article from Politico. The Trump administration intends to introduce a program soon addressing  nuclear waste, Politico reported. Governors would receive incentives in exchange for hosting spent nuclear fuel. The federal government is expected […]

Kairos Power has finalized a contract with the Department of Energy to receive high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for its Hermes demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In Kairos’s Tuesday press release, the company said it will use the material to produce HALEU tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel pebbles for Hermes 1. It will also partner up […]