Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has released a discussion document on an approach for siting a second deep geological repository for nuclear waste in Canada. Last month, NWMO awarded a multi-contractor team to design a deep underground spent fuel repository planned for northwestern Ontario. The Canadian agency used its consent-based siting approach to select the […]

Despite recent executive orders to speed up nuclear deployment, the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy would see a sizable reduction under the White House’s fiscal 2026 budget request. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)  on May 30 released its 1,220 paged technical supplement to its budget request for fiscal 2026, […]

Orano USA has announced this week  the opening of its Project IKE office building in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The new office will employ 40 people and will be located nearly 10 miles away from the Project IKE site. The office employees will be additional to the 300-workforce expected to be at Orano’s uranium enrichment facility, […]

Opportunities for nuclear deployment are available, but the extent of the industry’s expansion remains to be seen, nuclear insiders said during a Columbia University webinar. Former deputy secretary of Joe Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) Dave Turk led a webinar on Tuesday on the Donald Trump administration’s May 23 nuclear industry-based executive orders. Turk was […]

Southern Nuclear is seeking a second license renewal that extends its operation at the Edwin Hatch Nuclear Power Plant in Baxley, Ga. for an additional 20 years. The Southern Co. subsidiary on May 15 applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), to renew the two reactor licenses at the Hatch plant from 60 years to […]

The Donald Trump administration this week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and prevent lower courts from holding up White House efforts to downsize and reorganize much of the federal government. “This court recently intervened to stop a district court from undoing the effects of the lawful large-scale termination of probationary government employees.” […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the final environmental assessment for the Palisades nuclear plant finding no significant impacts. Holtec previously purchased the Covert Township, Mich. nuclear plant from Entergy to decommission it. However, the company has changed plans and has made an effort to restart the plant. In cooperation with the Department of Energy’s […]

Constellation Energy has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Meta to provide the tech giant nuclear power from its Clinton Nuclear Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Ill.  Meta will purchase energy output from Constellation’s Clinton plant to progress its clean energy goals and operations. The deal between the two companies will uprate Clinton’s energy […]

President Donald Trump’s executive orders announced Friday May 23 are designed to spark a resurgence of nuclear plant construction in the United States, and the reaction to the news fell along predictable lines. A former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) between 2009 and 2012, Gregory Jaczko, said the regulatory process is not why […]

The Bonneville Power Administration has approved Energy Northwest’s plans to increase the nuclear energy output at its Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Wash. by 186 megawatts by 2031. The extended power uprate project is estimated to cost $700 million and should increase the station’s electrical output by 162 megawatts. The project will involve nearly 30 […]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Elementl Power have partnered up to work on a data-driven siting approach for advanced nuclear projects. Through its partnership, the Washington D.C. based nuclear company has leveraged the Oak Ride Siting Analysis for Generation Expansion (OR-SAGE) tool to help the company evaluate potential sites for advanced nuclear and […]

President Donald Trump’s administration on May 23 ordered an overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 18 months in order to speed approval of advanced nuclear energy projects.  In the executive action “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”, Trump directed a major redesign of the independent regulatory agency’s structure and regulations.  NRC was […]

Deep Isolation this week praised President Donald Trump’s recent executive actions expediting nuclear energy deployment and even opening the door to potential spent fuel recycling.  At the same time, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists cautioned against the idea of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, saying  it is “not a panacea”. The Berkeley, Calif. based nuclear disposal […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has received a priority rating by the Department of Commerce to speed up the construction of the lab’s first two microreactor test beds. The National Reactor Innovation Center, led by INL, will operate the two microreactor test beds of the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) and Laboratory for […]

Oklo announced this week it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to collaborate for future advanced nuclear projects.  Under the MOU, the two companies plan to explore opportunities to jointly progress the standard design development and verification of Oklo’s planned Aurora Powerhouse, according to Oklo’s Tuesday press release. […]

Ontario Power Generation has awarded an AtkinsRéalis subsidiary company a $450 million ($325 million USAD) execution contract for its first small modular reactor for the Darlington New Nuclear Project. Candu Energy, an AtkinsRéalis subsidiary, is a Canadian nuclear technology company that specializes in reactor design and fuel cycle technology. AtkinsRéalis is providing OPG with expertise […]

Amid fears the United States is losing ground to rivals in world nuclear power markets, a group of Republicans and Democrats this week introduced the International Nuclear Energy Act. “If the U.S. doesn’t lead on nuclear energy development, Russia and China will,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said in a Tuesday press release. “This bill will […]

Deep Isolation recently announced that it has completed its project to demonstrate potential commercial readiness of its Universal Canister System for TRISO spent nuclear fuel. The nuclear waste technology company headquartered in Berkeley, Calif. worked collaboratively with Alameda, Calif. based advanced nuclear technology company Kairos Power for Project Performance Validation of the Universal Canister System […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority has submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor at its Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Preliminary SMR site preparation could potentially start as early as 2026, TVA said in its Tuesday press release. “This is a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently discontinued its rulemaking work on spent fuel pools and is denying a petition for rulemaking. The discontinuation of the “Long-Term and Unattended Water Makeup Spent Fuel Pools” rulemaking activity was published in the Federal Register on May 7. The NRC said if it pursues similar rulemaking activities in the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite cuts to the Office of Nuclear Energy, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Wednesday the Department of Energy will lean heavily on the Loan Programs Office to stimulate new nuclear reactor investments.  Wright spoke before the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee about the DOE’s budget request highlighted in the […]

Urenco USA has begun production of enriched uranium in its newest gas centrifuge cascade to start the next phase of expansion at its enrichment facility in New Mexico. In a Monday press release Urenco USA said this cascade is the first of several, scheduled to come online by early 2027. When completed, the company expects the […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last week in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

Westinghouse Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with two Canadian indigenous communities to advance its technology for new build projects at the Port of Belledune in Canada. The initial focus of the MOU will explore deployment opportunities for Westinghouse’s AP300 small modular reactor with local developers and industrial and data center customers, according to […]

President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to sign executive orders on Friday meant to speed nuclear power reactor licensing through expedited regulatory reviews and other changes. According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Trump could sign the executive orders “as soon as” Friday. Reuters also reported Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Trump will sign […]

The Donald Trump administration is seeking a more direct role in speeding up new reactor development and, in the process, could curb the authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through executive orders, the New York Times and  NPR reported over the weekend.  Reportedly, there are four draft executive orders under consideration by the White House […]