Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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 […]

The House voted 222-209 Wednesday to approve a stopgap spending bill that will fund the government until Jan. 30 with a loose promise from the GOP that Congress will negotiate on healthcare once the government reopens. The continuing resolution (CR), alongside a three-bill spending package, headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for him to sign […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican chairs of Senate and House Appropriations subcommittees for Energy and Water expect to hold a conference meeting in late January to blend their two versions of a fiscal 2026 spending plan, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), said  Monday. Fleischmann, the chair of the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee, said he and […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To meet rising energy demands, the United States needs to prioritize building large nuclear reactors, several federal officials said during the American Nuclear Society conference this week. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chair David Wright and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) said Monday during various panel discussions that small […]

The full Senate is expected to vote early next week on the nomination of Ho Nieh to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Senate will proceed to a roll call vote Tuesday Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the Senate Cloakroom’s Monday post on X. If confirmed, Nieh […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One or two advanced reactor pilot projects should reach criticality by next July Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said here this week at the American Nuclear Society conference. In June, the Department of Energy, sparked by President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive orders, created an advanced nuclear reactor pilot program. Under the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With sweeping changes coming to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, culture change might be the most crucial piece in NRC reform, panelists said Tuesday at the American Nuclear Society conference. President Donald Trump ordered an overhaul of NRC as part of his May 23 nuclear-related executive orders. The president called for streamlining nuclear […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis Group Montreal, Canada in the third quarter, which the engineering company attributed to “sustained project execution and overhead control”, Ian Edwards, AtkinsRéalis president and CEO, said during a Thursday earnings call. Net earnings for the third quarter ended September 30 were (CAN) $146.7 million (US $104.6 million) or (CAN) $0.88 a […]

Nuclear fuel reprocessing is an overpriced distraction that will slow down nuclear innovation and derail United States’s nuclear leadership if practiced, a former Department of Energy (DOE) official wrote in an opinion piece this week. In a Monday op-ed piece posted on Nuclear Threat Initiative’s (NTI) website, Ross Matzkin-Bridger, senior director of NTI’s Nuclear Materials […]