Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

The Senate has confirmed Douglas Weaver to fill the final vacancy on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a 71 – 29 vote Wednesday evening. The confirmation vote came after the Senate invoked cloture on Weaver’s nomination in a 69 – 27 vote. Weaver will now serve the remainder of former commissioner Annie Caputo’s term, […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has introduced legislation to expand tax incentives for domestic nuclear energy investment. The bill, Parity for Nuclear Energy Investment Act, was introduced on Dec. 4. It is co-sponsored by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).  Like Newhouse, Fleischmann and Tenney have significant nuclear infrastructure in their districts.  The legislation […]

After clearing regulatory review, the BWX Technologies-led Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada is taking over as management contractor for Canadian National Laboratories this week. AECL selected the Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada to be the preferred bidder in June. Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada is composed of BWXT, Amentum and Kinectrics. Battelle Memorial Institute is […]

Deep Fission has selected Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons, Kan. as the site for its underground pilot reactor. Berkeley, Calif. nuclear reactor technology company Deep Fission held its groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, according to its Dec. 4 press release. The company has one of 11 projects selected under the Department of Energy’s advanced reactor pilot […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee, Douglas Weaver, in a 15 – 4 vote at Wednesday’s business meeting. Weaver will now move forward to a full Senate vote on his nomination to be an NRC commissioner. If confirmed, he will serve the remainder of former commissioner Annie Caputo’s […]

The House and Senate’s combined National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of fiscal 2026 will authorize $160 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy for funding projects related to energy security. The House Wednesday voted 312 to 112 to pass the $900.6 billion NDAA package. The bill was scheduled to head to the […]

The Department of Energy is issuing $11 million in awards to five companies to develop and license new transportation packages for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). According to a Monday press release, DOE’s $11 million in awards will assist industry-led efforts to design, modify and license transportation through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The five companies […]

The French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority has completed its technical review of a construction license application for Cigéo, the Industrial Centre for Geological Disposal.  French nuclear waste management company Andra said the French nuclear regulator’s opinion on the technical review deemed the application satisfactory, according to the company’s Dec. 4 press release. “The […]

Holtec International has landed a Taiwan Power Co. contract to build indoor dry spent fuel storage facilities at both the Chinshan and Kuosheng plant sites, Holtec said Monday. The work at these four boiling water reactor (BWR) units bring Holtec’s global dry storage client roster to 155 worldwide, according to Holtec’s Monday press release. “This […]

Finland’s nuclear regulator has received its third extension to complete the assessment of Posiva Oy’s operating license application for its spent nuclear fuel deep geological repository, Onkalo. The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority’s May to November oversight report said it expects to submit its opinion on the application by June 2026. The previous due […]

South Carolina’s state-owned utility said this week it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brookfield Asset Management to do a feasibility study for finishing two incomplete nuclear reactors at the Virgil C. Summer nuclear station. In October, Santee Cooper approved Brookfield’s proposal seeking to complete the two partially built AP1000 reactors at V.C. […]

Julie Kozeracki has been promoted to acting chief investment officer for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, which was previously known as DOE’s Loan Programs Office. The office “can do many amazing things and I’m looking forward to making more progress on my personal favorite: restarting, uprating, and building big nuclear reactors,”  […]

Holtec and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will each receive $400 million from the Department of Energy to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs), DOE said Tuesday. The federal cost-shared funding will help advance early SMR projects in Tennessee and Michigan, DOE said in a press release. The financial support helps […]

Deep Isolation said Wednesday it has completed a three-year-long Department of Energy-funded project that advances the company’s Universal Canister System technology for nuclear waste disposal. Deep Isolation’s Universal Canister System is a triple-purpose canister designed to ensure the safe storage, transport and permanent disposal of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to its press […]

A group that includes Deep Atomic and Parker Tide said this week it has submitted a proposal to the Department of Energy for a fully integrated nuclear-powered artificial intelligence (AI) data center at its Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Deep Atomic, the Austin-Texas-based small modular reactor (SMR) startup, proposes to initially start data center operations using […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently launched a pilot school focused on regulating the emerging technology for small modular reactors (SMRs). In a Nov. 28 publication, IAEA said experts from 17 countries came together in Warsaw, Poland for the pilot session hosted by Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency. During the event, attendees discussed SMR […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy recently published its draft voluntary agreement for its Nuclear Fuel Cycle Defense Production Act Consortium in the Federal Register. The proposed agreement published  Nov. 17 sets out a framework for coordination, strategic planning and collaboration between DOE and nuclear companies. The consortium is meant to help fill […]

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has completed the conceptual design of its helium gas-cooled fast reactor, the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced Nov. 25. In DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy press release, the agency said that the San Diego-based nuclear company General Atomics demonstrated the feasibility of its reactor design through different modeling […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed the final safety evaluation for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo. NRC, which completed the evaluation a month ahead of its accelerated schedule, concluded that there are no safety concerns that would prevent issuing TerraPower its construction permit, according to its Monday press release. The company filed its construction […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee Douglas Weaver told a Senate committee this week if confirmed, he will prioritize safety and preserve NRC independence. “I’m not seeking to come back to the NRC to tear down the organization that’s done so much for me,” Weaver said in response to a question from Sen. Sheldon […]

BWX Technologies has expanded its service offerings at Bulgaria’s New Build Kozloduy Nuclear Plant to help build units 7 and 8, the Virginia-based company said this week.  BWXT will provide owner’s engineer services at the Bulgarian plant as a part of a three-party consortium. The other parties are Laurentis Energy Partners and its subsidiary Canadian […]

Ho Nieh was ceremonially sworn in as a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member on Thursday. Nieh was confirmed by the full Senate in a 66 – 32 vote Nov. 19. After being sworn in, he is now the first former NRC resident inspector to be a commissioner, according to NRC’s Thursday press release. Nieh will take […]

EnergySolutions and the Omaha Public Power District have recently completed the demolition of the containment building at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station in Nebraska. In a Nov. 25 LinkedIn post, EnergySolutions congratulated its Fort Calhoun decommissioning team for dismantling the plant’s containment building ahead of schedule.  In a Monday emailed statement to Exchange Monitor, […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has announced its initial selections for its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) program. In INL’s Thursday press release, the national laboratory selected the following companies as potential end users for MARVEL: Amazon Web Services proposes to co-locate the MARVEL reactor with a data center. DCX […]

Valar Atomics said this week that its technology has achieved zero-power criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. Hawthrone, Calif.-based nuclear company Valar Atomics said in a Monday press release its tests began Nov.12 and zero-power criticality was achieved Monday at 11:45 […]