Two Canadian government agencies have committed $3 billion CAD ($2.1 billion US) to Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Darlington New Nuclear Project to help de-risk the company’s construction and operation of its new small modular reactors.
The Canadian Growth Fund committed to invest $2 billion CAD ($1.4 billion) for the project and will acquire 15% ownership of it, according to OPG’s Oct. 23 press release. While Building Ontario Fund committed to invest $1 billion CAD ($714 million) into the project and acquire 7.5% ownership.
According to the release, the two agencies’ funding will be made available, subject to certain conditions.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Nuclear Recycling Efficient Fuels Utilizing Expedited Licensing (Nuclear REFUEL) Act of 2025 in a 16 – 3 vote on Wednesday.
The Nuclear REFUEL Act, sponsored by Sens. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and cosponsored by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), aims to create a smooth regulatory pathway for domestic nuclear fuel recycling.
The bill will amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to change the definition of “production facility” to specifically exclude equipment for reprocessing spent fuel in a way that does not separate plutonium from other transuranic elements.
Following a large-scale demonstration completed in September, Global Laser Enrichment said last week an independent third-party has confirmed its uranium enrichment system has reached level 6 of technology readiness.
“In plain language, this independent validation means that GLE has demonstrated large-scale, integrated system performance under relevant operational conditions and that our schedule for initial commercial deployment is achievable,” GLE CEO Stephen Long said in an Oct. 22 press release. “We are proud to be the first company to meet this significant milestone for a third-generation enrichment technology.”
Wilmington, N.C.-based uranium technology company GLE is the sole licensee of the laser enrichment technology, SILEX. The company began its large-scale demonstration for the laser technology in May.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Deputy Director in Region IV Division of Operating Reactor Safety Nick Taylor has announced on his LinkedIn he will retire from the agency by Oct. 31.
After his retirement, Taylor said he will begin a new job at Abilene, Texas-based nuclear startup Natura Resources, according to his Oct. 21 LinkedIn post.
According to Taylor’s LinkedIn page, he has served as the deputy director in Arlington, Texas-based Region IV since last year. Taylor held several management roles with NRC, including deputy director in the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Division of Engineering and External Hazards. His NRC career started in 2004 as part of the resident inspector program.