Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The independent federal agency that licenses and regulates civilian use of nuclear materials, including commercial reactor operation, decommissioning, and radioactive waste storage and disposal.
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC continues review of DOE’s Fort St. Vrain spent fuel license amendment
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has docketed the Department of Energy’s license amendment application for the Fort St. Vrain independent spent fuel storage installation in Colorado. The NRC published the notice of docketing the amendment Monday in the Federal Register. In September 2024, the DOE submitted an amendment that would modify particular license conditions and technical […]
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Contracts & Procurement
AtkinsRealis adds trio of managers for U.S. ops
AtkinsRealis US Nuclear has added three industry veterans —Chris Kirchoff, Thomas Roddey, and Kirk Brower—to its business development management team, the company said recently. Kirchoff has been appointed vice president of business development and chief growth officer for the AtkinsRealis affiliate based in Oak Ridge, Tenn. He has more than 35 years of experience working […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC continues review of DOE’s Fort St. Vrain spent fuel license amendment
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has docketed the Department of Energy’s license amendment application for the Fort St. Vrain independent spent fuel storage installation in Colorado. The NRC published the notice of docketing the amendment Monday in the Federal Register. In September 2024, the DOE submitted an amendment that would modify particular license conditions and technical […]
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Budget & Policy
Newhouse pushes for nuclear tax credits to stay
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) is urging House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to retain tax credits for nuclear energy developments in the reconciliation bill. Federal tax incentives aimed to support investment in and operation of nuclear plants are important to a nuclear resurgence, Newhouse said in a letter sent on May […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
NRC panel to hear arguments on staff environmental review of Palisades restart
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments May 15 on an amended petition by several organizations opposing the staff environmental assessment for restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Joint petitioners Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Three Mile Island Alert and Nuclear Energy Information […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate committee hears from DOE nuclear energy nominee Garrish
Washington D.C. – President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy said Wednesday if confirmed he intends to focus on deployment of advanced reactors and addressing waste storage. Nominee Thedore (Ted) Garrish, who previously served in the role in the late 1980s, said in his prepared statement to the Senate Energy […]
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Budget & Policy
Many familiar faces exit DOE nuclear complex during Trump 2.0
During the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term he has moved aggressively to reduce the federal workforce and the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has not been immune. Trump’s second term, which started Jan. 20, hit the 100-day mark this week on April 30. A document shared with Exchange Monitor in […]
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Budget & Policy
Many familiar faces exit DOE nuclear complex during Trump 2.0
During the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term he has moved aggressively to reduce the federal workforce and the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has not been immune. Trump’s second term, which started Jan. 20, hit the 100-day mark this week on April 30. A document shared with Exchange Monitor in […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate committee hears from DOE nuclear energy nominee Garrish
Washington D.C. – President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy said Wednesday if confirmed he intends to focus on deployment of nuclear advanced reactors and addressing nuclear waste storage. Nominee Theodore (Ted) Garrish, who previously served in the role in the late 1980s, said in his prepared statement to the […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
NRC panel to hear arguments on staff environmental review of Palisades restart
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments May 15 on a petition by several organizations opposing the staff environmental assessment for restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Joint petitioners Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Three Mile Island Alert and Nuclear Energy Information Service […]
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National Laboratories
Round up: Anti-nuclear activist petitions against TMI unit name change; EnergySolutions New Nuclear Initiative; Los Alamos National Lab experiments transportation of TRISO fuel; More;
Eric Epstein, who has previously served as the chairman of Three Mile Island Alert, has filed a petition opposing the proposed name change for Three Mile Island Unit-1 to “Christopher M. Crane Clean Energy Center”. In the petition, filed on April 18, Epstein requested a hearing to challenge the name change as he claimed the […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
TVA intends to submit SMR construction permit for Clinch River site
The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to submit a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small modular reactor at the Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. by June 2025. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in an April 17 letter of notification of intent. TVA […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Commissioner says doesn’t know the future of NRC under Trump, ‘Does anybody?’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Donald Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency. “I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Sam Altman leaves Oklo board, Jacob DeWitte steps up
Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenAI, is stepping down as chairman of the board of nuclear power company Oklo, according to a company statement Wednesday. Jacob DeWitte, Oklo CEO and co-founder, will serve as chairman and board member in Altman’s place. “As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
DOE releases third loan for Palisades restart
The Department of Energy said on Tuesday it is awarding Holtec its third loan reimbursement worth $46.7 million to support the company’s efforts to restart the Palisades nuclear plant. The loan comes as another installment of the DOE’s $1.52 billion loan guarantee for the restart of Palisades, an 800 megawatt plant in Michigan. Last month, […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Commissioner says doesn’t know the future of NRC under Trump, ‘Does anybody?’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Donald Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency. “I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Commissioner says doesn’t know the future of NRC under Trump, ‘Does anybody?’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Donald Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency. “I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC regional administrator steps down after 30 years with the agency
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regional administrator Laura Dudes has stepped away from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after 30 years of service. Dudes began in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1994 as a reactor engineer intern and soon worked up to other positions such as Region I, Division of Reactor Safety inspector. In 2006, she was […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Sam Altman leaves Oklo board, Jacob DeWitte steps up
Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenAI, is stepping down as chairman of the board of nuclear power company Oklo, according to a company statement Wednesday. Jacob DeWitte, Oklo CEO and co-founder, will serve as chairman and board member in Altman’s place. “As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
DOE releases third loan for Palisades restart
The Department of Energy said on Tuesday it is awarding Holtec its third loan reimbursement worth $46.7 million to support the company’s efforts to restart the Palisades nuclear plant. The loan comes as another installment of the DOE’s $1.52 billion loan guarantee for the restart of Palisades, an 800 megawatt plant in Michigan. Last month, […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC regional administrator steps down after 30 years with the agency
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regional administrator Laura Dudes has stepped away from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after 30 years of service. Dudes began in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1994 as a reactor engineer intern and soon worked up to other positions such as Region I, Division of Reactor Safety inspector. In 2006, she was […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
TVA intends to submit SMR construction permit for Clinch River site
The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to submit a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small modular reactor at the Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. by June 2025. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in an April 17 letter of notification of intent. TVA […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
TerraPower starts design assessment process in U.K.
TerraPower has taken its first steps in the regulatory process for its advanced nuclear reactor in the United Kingdom. TerraPower, backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, announced in an April 16 press release that it has submitted a letter to the U.K. Department of Energy Security and Net Zero establishing its intention to enter the […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Commissioner says doesn’t know the future of NRC under Trump, ‘Does anybody?’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Donald Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency. “I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
City of Oak Ridge reworking airport plans given Orano project
The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn., is studying alternative sites for a municipal airport with land cleaned up by the Department of Energy now earmarked by Orano USA for a major uranium enrichment project. Although a local airport has been long sought by the city of Oak Ridge, Exchange Monitor reported in October 2024 it […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
States, companies claim NRC rules stifle advanced reactor growth
A coalition of five states and three private nuclear companies filed a lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 7 in a federal district court in Texas. Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Utah joined with advanced nuclear companies Deep Fission, Valar Atomics and Last Energy in arguing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has inhibited […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
States, companies claim NRC rules stifle advanced reactor growth
A coalition of five states and three private nuclear companies filed a lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 7 in a federal district court in Texas. Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Utah joined with advanced nuclear companies Deep Fission, Valar Atomics and Last Energy in arguing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has inhibited […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Round Up: CNSC licenses first SMR; DOE tests fuel at Vogtle; Indiana sets nuclear retreat;
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued its first construction license to an Ontario company to build a small modular reactor on April 4. Ontario Power Generation Inc. will construct a General Electric Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor at its Darlington New Nuclear Project site located in Clarington, Canada. The company expects the construction will be completed by […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Advisory panel expects big demand growth for medical isotopes
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory committee recently discussed how NRC can better navigate the growing market for the medical use of isotopes. At NRC’s April 8 meeting, nuclear pharmacist Richard Green said the global market for theranostics, a branch of nuclear medicine that combines diagnostic imaging with targeted therapy using radioactive isotopes, is forecast to […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
Three-judge panel rejects challenge to Palisades restart
A three-judge panel for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board denied the requested hearing challenging plans to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan in a 2-1 vote. In a 71-page ruling made on March 31, the NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board stated, “we conclude that Joint Petitioners and Petitioning Organizations […]








