Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

The United Kingdom’s government has selected Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales as the location for a set of Rolls-Royce small modular reactors (SMRs). The Wylfa site, home to a nuclear power plant being decommissioned, is expected to host three Rolls-Royce SMRs. There is potential the site could add five more such units in the […]

The Department of Energy said this week it has approved a $1-billion loan to help Constellation Energy restart the former Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear facility, recently renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center. In a Tuesday press release, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the DOE Loan Programs Office closed on a loan “to […]

Gov. Spencer Cox (R) announced this week that Brigham City, Utah would host small modular reactors (SMR) and manufacturing and training facilities. Hi Tech Solutions and Holtec International have teamed up with Utah to make Brigham City “a hub for Utah’s nuclear renaissance,” according to their joint Monday press release. The proposed project for Brigham […]

TRISO-X announced this week it has begun construction of its first nuclear fuel fabrication facility, TX-1, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. “As TX-1 takes shape, it will stand as a symbol of our team’s relentless dedication and determination to bring this transformative project forward in just a few years, not […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) could improve its supervision of decommissioning trust funds, the NRC’s Office of Inspector General recently reported. The report, dated in August but made public this month, said the nuclear regulator should focus on “creating policies and procedures, workflows, and other support to enhance the oversight of the use of decommissioning […]

A new pro-nuclear group in New Mexico has emerged and seeks to play a role in the state’s transition towards clean energy with nuclear power. The New Mexico Nuclear Alliance, founded in July, is a non-partisan membership organization that operates out of Santa Fe. The new group has partnered with the Carlsbad Department of Development, […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Thursday announced reorganization of the Department of Energy with a prominent role in the organizational chart for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). A link to the new org chart shows an office of undersecretary for nuclear security and NNSA being one of the three biggest silos reporting up […]

Beyond Nuclear has filed suit in federal court in Michigan trying to slam the brakes on Holtec’s restart of the 800-megawatt Palisades nuclear power plant. Together with Don’t Waste Michigan and Michigan Safe Energy Future, Beyond Nuclear asked a U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan for an injunction blocking the restart approved […]

The U.S. Senate voted 66 to 32 to confirm Ho Nieh to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Wednesday afternoon. Democratic Sens. Chris Coons (Del.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), John Fetterman (Penn.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jack Reed […]

Virginia regulators have approved Appalachian Power’s decision to spend money on site development and evaluation for a possible small modular reactor (SMR). The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Nov. 12 order approved the American Electric Power utility’s request to spend money on site development, which allows it to seek cost recovery at a later date, according […]

Lightbridge said Wednesday it has begun irradiation testing of its enriched uranium-zirconium alloy fuel at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Reston, Va.-based nuclear fuel company said in its press release that this is a step forward in its fuel development and testing program under its cooperative research and development agreement […]

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Radwaste & Materials Monitor will not be published on Friday Nov. 28. Exchange Monitor Publications will not be staffed Nov. 27 or Nov. 28. Enjoy your holiday. Your next weekly publication will be on Friday Dec. 5.

The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission have recently updated a 2019 memorandum of understanding to better coordinate the review of advanced nuclear energy reactor technologies. The document, drafted in October and made public this month, seeks to balance DOE’s traditional role in researching and promoting nuclear energy with NRC’s traditional role as a […]

The Department of Energy has approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for Oklo’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, the first under DOE’s nuclear fuel line pilot program, was approved by the Idaho Operations Office in under two weeks, according to Oklo’s Nov. 11 press release. The […]

Holtec announced Nov. 5 that the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant has swiftly completed transferring its spent nuclear fuel from wet-to-dry storage. St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, operated by NextEra’s subsidiary Florida Power & Light, loaded up 12 of Holtec’s HI-STORM FW cask systems, transferring spent fuel from the plant’s spent fuel pool to the independent spent […]

An EnergySolutions proposal to take low-level radioactive waste from Ontario, Canada at its Clive, Utah disposal site will be the focus of an upcoming special meeting of the Northwest Interstate Compact On Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management. According to a public notice, the Nov. 25 public meeting will consider a draft for “possibly accepting LLRW  waste […]

The future of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California is uncertain after a state agency denied a key approval necessary for its continued operation until 2030. At the California Coastal Commission Nov. 6 meeting, the agency denied Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) request for a coastal development permit as the agency said it needed […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s report on a national waste management plan is coming together, DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory senior policy advisor Bradley Williams said this week at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) conference. Driven by President Donald Trump’s executive order “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” DOE, in conjunction with other agencies, is […]

Beyond Nuclear has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license that could allow Holtec International to develop a waste storage site in New Mexico, although Holtec says it no longer plans to do so. Beyond Nuclear has filed what is known as a writ of certiorari and asked the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published a supplemental environmental impact statement on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)’s proposed reactor project adjacent to the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. NRC, together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, seek public comment on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement, or supplemental EIS, on […]