Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

Constellation Energy continues its pursuit of uprating several of its operating reactors as the company signs its latest power purchase agreement with Google Tuesday. Constellation and Google agreed to a 20-year “clean energy collaboration” to add 890 megawatts of nuclear energy onto the PJM Interconnection grid, according to the press release. The agreement includes investments […]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed two state bills into law on Sept. 30 that focus on exploring the viability of advanced nuclear fission and fusion. The first bill, Assembly Bill 2647, introduced by California Assembly member Lisa Calderon (D), is aimed towards conducting a study on the potential role of advanced reactors in meeting […]

Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center in Lusby, Md., will add 190 megawatts to its current capacity under a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with Amazon.  Amazon and Constellation announced this 20-year-long deal on Sept. 30. Constellation said the deal “will enable more than $3 billion in Maryland infrastructure investment, including state-of-the-art improvements across […]

The United States and South Korean governments reached a $120 billion investment agreement on Sept. 30, collaborating on building eight large-scale reactors in the United States. The initiative, named Project Power, involves efforts from both governments, Westinghouse, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Under the project’s framework, the two countries will […]

Two California lawmakers introduced a bill Sept. 24 that, if enacted, would provide $10 billion in funding to the fusion industry to help spur commercialization of the advanced nuclear technology. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), members of the House Space Science and Technology Committee, based the bipartisan bill, American Leadership in Fusion […]

X-energy’s nuclear fuel subsidiary, TRISO-X, completed the vertical construction of its first fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the company said Sept. 24. With the primary building of the 214,000-square-foot structure up, X-energy said in a press release that its subsidiary is going to move forward with the next stage of work that includes […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact late last week for Constellation Energy’s former Three Mile Island Unit 1 proposed restart. This issuance comes after NRC released its draft environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the former Three Mile Island reactor, now referred […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected Oklo’s recent request to reinstate its project to PJM’s interconnection study cycle in a Sept. 24 order. FERC denied Oklo’s complaint, which was filed Aug. 27, because Oklo failed to show that PJM violated any of its procedures when dropping the project from its study cycle. PJM is […]

Holtec has paused fuel loading activity at the Palisades power plant in Michigan following an incident with its fuel assembly, the company said. In a progress report released by Holtec on Sept. 21, the company said one fuel assembly tilted from its upright position after it was placed. The fuel-handling machine grapple was disengaged later. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) a construction permit Tuesday for its Clinch River Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project in Oak Ridge, Tenn. TVA’s Clinch River SMR becomes the second domestic SMR project to receive a construction permit, after TerraPower received the first one in March for its Natrium reactor in […]

WASHINGTON – Nuclear industry panelists Jess Gehin and Ed McGinnis told the audience here at the POWER Magazine’s Experience POWER conference that all reactor designs will play a role in the upcoming future. Gehin, associate laboratory director for nuclear science and technology at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, said during a Tuesday panel […]

WASHINGTON – As the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission continues to shape up, Under Secretary of Science Dario Gil said the agency is committed to making sure fusion technology is a “success.” Gil said during POWER Magazine’s Experience POWER Tuesday keynote that DOE has set out a goal, emphasized in its Fusion Roadmap, to have […]

WASHINGTON – To meet the incoming energy and artificial intelligence (AI) demand, the United States’s nuclear supply chain needs a major uplift to help make reactor construction economical and timely, nuclear industry panelists said Tuesday here.  Nuclear power has been tied with AI as a baseload source of energy for data center operations over the […]

Houston-based startup Deployable Energy was selected by the Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) to test its reactor design at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) testbed. The full-power testing at the DOME testbed, located at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory, will commence in 2027. The Deployable Energy selection for microreactor testing comes after […]

BWXT Technologies (BWXT) sees a potential multibillion-dollar opportunity as the U.S. government rebuilds domestic nuclear-fuel capabilities for national security, including enrichment capacity and production of unobligated uranium, company executives said during a Sept. 29 investor day. The company is currently working under a roughly $1.5 billion National Nuclear Security Administration contract to develop capabilities for […]

The growing interest in building more nuclear power across the United States calls for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build up its workforce to meet the incoming workload, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report this week. Over the past couple of years, nuclear power has gained bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and […]

Holtec International submitted its preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR) for its two Palisades small modular reactors (SMRs) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday. The PSAR provides NRC with detailed technical and safety information for its two SMR-300 reactors, named Pioneer Units 1 and 2, located at the recommissioning Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, […]

Westinghouse and the University of South Carolina announced a partnership Tuesday to create a nuclear workforce development program centered around building Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design. The two entities said they will look to build a nuclear training center that could provide multidisciplinary certificate programs for multiple types of engineering students that are pursuing work in […]

South Korea-based Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group (Samsung C&T) made a strategic investment of up to $100 million in Kairos Power, the companies said this week. According to Kairos Monday press release, the $100 million will be made up of a “direct investment and in-kind engineering services,” which will be subject to regulatory approvals, […]

Framatome signed a commercial contract this week that allows it to provide nuclear fuel reload with uranium-235 over the industry standard of 5% to an operating reactor, which was not named in the release. According to the company’s Monday press release, within the agreement, Framatome will provide a number of higher enriched fuel reloads using […]

Congressional Democrats have introduced a resolution seeking to block a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, citing concerns about uranium enrichment and limits on international inspections. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), and Don Beyer (D-Va.), introduced the joint resolution […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Department of Energy plans to move forward with the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) looks for clarity in the state’s role in the initiative. During the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday hearing, the Utah senator stood firm in believing that the country needs to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted certain authorities to oversee radioactive materials to the state of Indiana, making it the 41st NRC agreement state. NRC Chair Ho Nieh and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed the agreement Thursday in Indianapolis, according to NRC’s press release. Under the agreement, Indiana will manage over 200 licenses that use […]

Bechtel and TerraPower have parted ways on the Natrium reactor project in Kemmerer, Wyo. after failing to come to an agreement on the next stages, according to public disclosure papers filed in Virginia. The news was included in a Sept. 15 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notification, in which Bechtel informed Fairfax County […]

Senate and House Democratic appropriators seek more clarity from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Chair Ho Nieh on the recent overarching changes at the agency initiated by President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14300. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), respective ranking members of the Senate and House Energy and Water Development Appropriations subcommittees, […]

Atlanta-based Georgia Power plans to uprate its Vogtle and Hatch plants through a new agreement with Google, the utility said Monday. The two entities’ agreement, which is subject to approval by the Georgia Public Service Commission, would support uprates that would bring about 96 megawatts to the electric grid, according to the Georgia Power press […]

An AtkinsRéalis company, in a joint venture with Aecon Group Inc, has won a three-year, $1.7 billion contract Monday for a refurbishment project at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Pickering nuclear plant. Candu Energy, an AtkinsRéalis’ subsidiary that designs and builds Canada Deuterium Uranium – or CANDU – reactors, will start work on Unit 5 as […]

After beginning physical decommissioning at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in 2019, NorthStar Group Services has nearly completed its work at the site, a company executive said recently. In a Monday article from local Vermont publication Manchester Journal, Scott State, NorthStar executive chairman and chief nuclear officer, said the 10-year-long project is “99% done.” […]