Kentucky state’s nuclear energy department issued a request for information (RFI) late last week to gauge interest in its nuclear reactor pilot program.
According to the Oct. 16 RFI, the responses to the solicitation are due by Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Responses from utilities, nuclear reactor developers, prospective utility customers and other organizations are welcome to respond to the RFI. Submissions to the RFI should be made to the executive director of the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority, Sean Schaub, at his email address Sean.Schaub@uky.edu.
The Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority is in charge of the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program after the state legislature passed a law, Senate Bill 57, this year to create the program. It is designed to provide funding for eligible nuclear projects with various costs, such as Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and permits. Grant applicants cannot receive more than $25 million per project, the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority said.
General Atomics is taking the lead on a Department of Energy funded project to lower the cost of large-scale processing of nuclear waste, the company said Wednesday.
General Atomics will work with DOE’s Jefferson Lab and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Stellant System, according to the company’s press release. It was contracted to develop a prototype radio frequency system using a magnetron combining, a technique that brings together the microwave power output of numerous magnetrons into a singular, high power radio frequency source.
The project is part of a program, Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now or NEWTON, conducted by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. General Atomics said the goal of the project is “to develop a more efficient and affordable way to power the equipment used for transmutation, a process that transforms nuclear waste into forms that are easier to manage.”
Longtime Energy Communities Alliance nuclear policy specialist Kara Colton has joined the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy as a senior adviser.
Colton, who has also worked for the National Governors Association and as a consultant, announced her new federal position this week via her LinkedIn page.
