Ur-Energy completed its first shipment of uranium from its Shirley Basin uranium mine to its Lost Creek processing facility in Wyoming, the company said in an Aug. 20 press release.
Casper, Wyo.-based Ur-Energy previously announced plans to begin mining uranium at its Shirley Basin site in April and received authorization from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in June. With shipments made, the company said it plans to increase output to full commercial levels.
“This first shipment is not only the start of full operations at Shirley Basin, it also marks Ur-Energy’s transition to a multi-asset, domestic U.S. uranium producer,” Matt Gili, president and CEO of Ur-Energy, said in the release. “It is important to note that Shirley Basin moved from construction decision to production in just two and a half years. This is a clear demonstration of our team’s ability to progress through permitting, construction, and startup in a highly effective manner.”
Kairos Power is collaborating with several East Tennessee entities, including the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to form an advanced nuclear manufacturing, construction and workforce development program in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The initiative, the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast – or NuCAMP, will go through a year-long exploration phase to figure out the inner workings of program to best prepare incoming trades workers for advanced manufacturing and construction methods for nuclear technology, Kairos Power said in an Aug. 18 press release.
Along with the East Tennessee participants, Kairos is also working with international companies, such as Samsung C&T Engineering and Construction Group and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, on the NuCAMP program. NuCAMP will be hosted at Kairos’ Reactor Demonstration Campus in Oak Ridge.
SHINE Technologies is partnering with the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Case Western Reserve University to advance SHINE’s nuclear fuel recycling system, the company said on Aug. 18.
Under the partnership, the three will look to apply “PaCERS technology to multiple separation processes, like those that separate the strontium-90 and americium-241 radioisotopes for use in medicine, manufacturing and advanced power systems,” according to the press release. PaCERS – or Packed Centrifugal Equipment for Radiochemical Separation technology is a high-speed centrifugal technology that is being developed to accelerate the nuclear fuel recycling process to make it more efficient and cost-effective, Argonne National Laboratory said in a 2022 press release.
The collaboration between the three entities is being conducted under DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) CURIE program, SHINE said.
Bechtel will oversee development of Poland’s first nuclear power plant, according to a press release this month from Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), the Polish company behind the project
PEJ said in an Aug. 6 press release it handed over the leading role to Bechtel, its general contractor, as construction for the site begins. In this role, Bechtel will oversee construction work, coordinate with other contractors, such as Budimex, and subcontractors and supervise all other activity at the Choczewo, Poland site, Bechtel said in its Aug. 7 press release.
According to the release, the initial groundwork across the 740-acre property will include leveling the site, improving the drainage systems and working on temporary roads that will stretch about 16 kilometers or nearly 10 miles. This preliminary groundwork will also support additional facilities, such as fuel storage and workshops, PEJ added. PEJ said that these activities under the permit are scheduled to take place between now and the first quarter of 2029.