Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding an uncontested hearing on Sept. 22 at 5:30 p.m. Central Time in Port Lavaca, Texas on X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactor (SMR) project in Seadrift, Texas. The uncontested hearing, or mandatory hearing, will give public members an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about X-energy’s construction permit application, according […]

Fremont, Calif.-based Pacific Fusion broke ground in Albuquerque, N.M. for its $1 billion fusion research and manufacturing campus Tuesday morning. The fusion company plans to build a fusion facility at the campus that will contain its demonstration fusion system, which is hoped to achieve net facility gain by 2030, according to Pacific Fusion’s Tuesday press […]

The Department of Energy and a handful of its contractors are gearing up to receive a high burnup research cask shipment at the Idaho National Laboratory in the coming year. The high burnup research cask will be shipped out of Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station in Mineral, Va. DOE said last June it will […]

WASHINGTON – The next potential nuclear growth sector is moving commercial ships across the ocean, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the head of an international organization said here Wednesday.  Kicking off the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative, Wright, along with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, said […]

The Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) selected 13 new reactor projects this week to participate in DOE’s Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative. According to a Monday DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) press release, NRIC, which is located at INL, announced these 12 reactor companies as the following participants to complete 13 projects: […]

Almost a year after the Janus program was announced in October 2025, the United States Army selected five nuclear companies and awarded a collective of $2.2 billion to them to build over 20 microreactors across several military installations. According to the Army’s Wednesday press release, the five companies are Antares Nuclear, BWX Technologies, General Atomics, […]

The Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program succeeded in moving the U.S. nuclear industry forward, but is only the first step in building reactors faster and more economically, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Director John Wagner told Exchange Monitor. During the Aug. 6 interview, Wagner also said streamlining of federal environmental rules by the Donald Trump […]

Holtec’s HI-TEST facility, located at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is preparing for key components to be fabricated and installed at the facility, the company said this week. The HI-TEST facility will serve as a one-third representation of its SMR-300 small modular reactor (SMR) plant and to calculate performance margins in the […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Standard Nuclear has recently signed long-term nuclear fuel agreements with El Segundo, Calif.-based microreactor developer Radiant Nuclear and Torrance, Calif.-based Antares Nuclear. Standard Nuclear announced a deal with Radiant that goes through the early 2030s on Aug. 20 and the Antares’ deal announced on Thursday is scheduled to go through 2035. Under […]

Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor system successfully reached zero-power criticality at a testing facility at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) this week, the company said. Westinghouse said in a Tuesday press release that the milestone was achieved at 10:39 p.m.  Pacific Time on Monday at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) facility, the […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee is working on a framework for a stopgap funding resolution to keep the federal government through Dec. 11 and the full Senate was expected to vote on it sometime Friday.  The government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Unless a bill codifies that funding is rolled over into the next fiscal […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the government contractor attributed to growing interest in the nuclear industry. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $89.1 million, or $0.97 a share, up from $78.5 million, or $0.85 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

X-energy’s subsidiary TRISO-X acquired an additional 70 acres adjacent to its nuclear fuel campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn. this week. X-energy said Tuesday in a press release that this acquisition brings the total campus size to 180 acres. This purchase of land comes a few weeks after the Tennessee state government awarded X-energy $11 million […]

Exchange Monitor is entering its annual August break that occurs while Congress is in recess. As a result, Radwaste & Materials Monitor will not be published on Friday Aug. 14 and Friday Aug. 21. The normal weekly publication schedule will resume on Friday Aug. 28. News folks will still be on duty during the break […]

Oklo’s Groves isotope test reactor achieved zero-powered criticality late Wednesday, making it the fifth reactor under a Department of Energy reactor initiative to reach that milestone.  The completed criticality test comes after DOE approved Oklo’s nuclear startup authorization last month. Oklo said in a Thursday press release that the Groves isotope test reactor achieved criticality […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is hosting a webinar Aug. 10 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss a recent rulemaking that touches on changes to its radiation protection standards. The webinar will be held via Microsoft Teams and will have a question and answer session within it, according to NRC’s July 28 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday issued a draft environmental assessment (EA) finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for NextEra Energy’s Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. With the issuance of the draft environmental documents, NRC is also seeking public input, according to the Federal Register notice. The comment period closes on Sept. 2. According to […]

Devens, Mass.-based fusion company Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1 billion in additional equity funding, the company said July 30. CFS said in a press release the $1 billion financing round is the largest a fusion company has had since 2021 when CFS had a $1.8 billion Series B round then. This recent funding builds […]

While the combination is drawing some resistance, NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy are projecting that their proposed $67 billion merger, announced in May, will be final by fall 2027. The merger effort took a new twist Thursday when Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) used  an opinion piece in the Washington Post to announce she will […]

Earnings rose at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Knoxville, Tenn., in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 which the federal utility attributed to “higher fuel cost recovery rates and higher sales volume,” according to a Tuesday press release. The net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended June 30 was $307 million, up from […]

Holtec International, Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and Entergy have agreed to jointly  explore building Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The three companies look to establish a framework to analyze customer demand and potential sites for the SMR-300 reactor, according to Holtec’s Tuesday press […]

Westinghouse and Amentum signed a series of agreements aimed at advancing fleet-scale deployment of Westinghouse’s reactor technologies, the companies said Tuesday. According to Westinghouse’s press release, the agreements enable the two companies to work together to develop Westinghouse’s large-scale reactor, AP1000, and small modular reactor (SMR), AP300. Westinghouse’s APX strategy will focus on near-term global […]

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC) commended the Department of Energy’s initial selections for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative, but still wants the agency to do more to ensure that a permanent repository can be secured.  On July 28, DOE announced that Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah were on a shortlist of states […]

California-based microreactor developer Valar Atomics raised $1 billion in a Series B financing round led by Sequoia Capital, the company said Tuesday. Additionally, the nuclear startup secured a $200 million credit facility and added Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire to its board of directors, according to Valar’s press release. Valar is developing the Ward 250, a […]

While scant on details, Westinghouse Electric said Friday it has “confidentially” filed a draft registration statement on Form S-1with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), beginning its process to become a public entity. According to Westinghouse’s press release, the number of shares and price range for its public offering have not been determined at this […]

NextEra has acquired the remaining 30% minority stake in its Duane Arnold Energy Center as the sole Iowa nuclear power plant prepares to come back online by 2029, the utility said July 24. According to NextEra’s second quarter 2026 financial results press release, the utility bought the remaining minority stake from two companies, Central Iowa […]

The Department of Energy formally selected Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah as potential host states for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative. Last week, Exchange Monitor reported that Utah, Oklahoma and Tennessee were among the top of the list of potential states to be selected for the program. According to DOE’s Tuesday press release, […]

A week after becoming a public company, Standard Nuclear said July 22 that construction is nearly finished on two of its new nuclear fuel facilities in Idaho and Tennessee. SN-TN in Tennessee and SN-ID in Idaho are two identical fuel facilities, which once operational, should produce up to one metric ton of uranium of tri-structural […]