Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that establishes a framework for collaboration on the development of advanced nuclear technologies. The MOU, first announced Dec. 18, will explore large-scale and small modular reactors (SMRs) in an effort to decarbonize and strengthen energy reliability and affordability in […]

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died early Tuesday at age 65 after a medical emergency Monday night caused him to go into emergency surgery, Butte County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The sheriff’s office said LaMalfa died during the medical procedure, but the office is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of death. […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said this week  it has submitted the Initial Project Description for the Deep Geological Repository for Canada’s Used Nuclear Fuel Project. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission are now seeking public comment from Indigenous Peoples and other community members on the project by Feb. […]

President Donald Trump wants to see deployment of a nuclear power reactor on the moon as soon as 2030, according to a recent executive action. In the Dec. 18 executive order 14369, “Ensuring American Space Superiority”, the Trump White House called for Americans to return to the moon by 2028 through NASA’s Artemis Program, a […]

This week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has signed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which among other things would lift the Illinois moratorium on large new nuclear reactors.  The act, Senate Bill 25, was passed by the state House by a 70 – 37 vote and the state Senate by a 37 – […]

Terrestrial Energy has signed an agreement with the Department of Energy to support the deployment of its molten salt reactor under the DOE pilot reactor program. Formally called an “other transaction authority” contract, the deal is a flexible, non-traditional legal agreement between the government and industry used to bypass traditional, rigid contract rules to carry […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nuclear power’s expansion in the United States hinges upon a strong and independent regulator, witnesses told a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday morning. Democratic lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy subcommittee expressed misgivings about nuclear safety and the independence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) under President Donald Trump’s White […]

The Department of Energy said Monday it was awarding $2.7 billion total in task orders to three companies with the goal of strengthening domestic uranium enrichment over the next ten years. American Centrifuge Operating, a Centrus company, and General Matter are both receiving $900 million to create a domestic high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment capacity. […]

A three-bill minibus appropriations bill that includes fiscal 2026 funds for Energy and Water development, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy passed the House floor 397-28 Thursday. The bill was released by top appropriators in the Senate and House Monday on both sides of the aisle. Congress has until Jan. 30 to […]

After being sworn in as a commissioner just last month, President Donald Trump has picked Ho Nieh to serve as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s chairman effective Thursday Jan. 8. David Wright, appointed chairman in January 2025, will be replaced by Nieh, but will still stay and serve as a commissioner, according to NRC’s Thursday press […]

After 15 years, Japan is set to restart operations at its largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. The decision comes after the Niigata local government approved a partial restart of the Japanese plant this week. Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant that went into meltdown in 2011 following an earthquake and […]

In the first year of President Donald Trump’s second administration, he established himself as an unabashed nuclear energy advocate – both promoting new projects and remaking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in an effort to speed up approvals. While history will tell if 2025 spawns a full-scale nuclear resurgence, it is indisputable that there have […]

In observance of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Radwaste & Materials Monitor will not publish again until Friday Jan. 9. Exchange Monitor staffers are off Dec. 25-26 as well as Jan. 1-2. The Monitor wishes you a happy and safe holiday season!

The Department of Energy has revealed its first selections for its Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear’s (GAIN)nuclear energy voucher program. According to DOE GAIN’s Dec. 18 press release, the first round of recipients for fiscal 2026 are: BWX Technologies Advanced Technologies, based in Lynchburg, Va.  NuScale Power, in Corvallis, Ore. Orbia Fluor and Energy […]

New nuclear projects have the potential to provide up to 30% of electricity for developing countries, according to a December report by the Rockefeller Foundation. The report, “The Role of Nuclear Energy in Powering Universal Energy Abundance for Emerging Economies”, said countries with a developing economy could use nuclear power to deliver up to 30% […]

The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s four nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors in a 53 – 43 vote on Dec. 18. The confirmation of Arthur Graham, Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood and Randall Jones were among a large bloc of other Trump nominees who were awaiting confirmations. The four confirmed […]

Centrus Energy has started manufacturing centrifuges in Tennessee for the company’s advanced uranium enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio. New enrichment capacity is expected to come online in 2029, according to Centrus’ Dec. 19 press release. The centrifuges are being made at the company’s manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, […]

Doug Weaver was officially sworn in as a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member this week. Weaver, nominated in November by President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the full Senate last week in a 71-to-29 vote. He will now serve the remainder of former commissioner Annie Caputo’s term, set to expire on June 30, 2026. Weaver, a […]

President Donald Trump Thursday signed the $901 billion 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law that would allow nearly $26 billion in funding to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). That is the highest authorization limit yet for the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, and $100 million more than […]

Urenco USA has completed its first production of low enriched uranium plus (LEU-plus) and installed its third cascade of centrifuges for the advanced fuel at its New Mexico uranium enrichment plant, the company said this week.  “In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new […]

Natura Resources has signed an agreement to collaborate with the Department of Energy under the DOE reactor pilot program, Natura said this week. The goal of the DOE program is to have at least three demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4, 2026. Natura is one of 10 companies selected for the program. It is […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for all three units at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama.  Browns Ferry’s Unit 1 operating license will now expire in December 2053, June 2054 for Unit 2 and July 2056 for Unit 3.  “The subsequent license renewal at Browns Ferry marks a […]

EnergySolutions and another Utah-based company, Creekstone Energy, have teamed up to explore nuclear power options for data centers, the companies said last week. Creekstone and EnergySolutions said in a Dec. 11 press release they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore advanced nuclear options at the Utah Creekstone Gigasite in Delta, Utah and […]

The license extension request for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant recently received a key approval from a California state agency. On Dec. 11, the California Coastal Commission voted 9-to-3 to allow Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Diablo Canyon permission to continue running through 2030. Along with the approval, PG&E must take substantial measures mitigating the […]

A recent report by the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power (UCAN Power) says America’s commercial power industry will benefit from the Pentagon’s growing role in nuclear technology. The report drafted in November outlines “34 tangible recommendations” that the Department of Defense (DoD), or as the White House calls it the Department of War (DOW), […]

A coalition of 88 citizen groups critical of nuclear energy are asking a regional authority for the Northwest to reject a plan by EnergySolutions to import up to 1.3 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste from Ontario, Canada to the company’s disposal site in Clive, Utah. The groups, including Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has extended the operating licenses by 20-years for three reactors in Illinois. NRC extended Constellation Energy’s Clinton Clean Energy Center’s Unit 1 in Clinton, Ill. and Dresden Clean Energy Center’s Units 2 and 3 near Morris, Ill., according to NRC’s Tuesday press release. Clinton Unit 1’s boiling water reactor license […]

Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced legislation this week to formally establish the Office of Fusion at the Department of Energy. The bill comes a month after DOE released reorganization plans for its agency and included an Office of Fusion. The legislation looks to codify DOE’s plans and “urge DOE to move […]