AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear this week announced the appointment of Paul Larsen to its senior leadership team at the Hanford Site’s Central Plateau Cleanup Company. Central Plateau is an Amentum-led partnership with Fluor and Atkins,
Larsen has more than three decades of executive experience in radioactive waste management, nuclear construction, and high-hazard facility operation, AtkinsRéalis said in a news release.
Most recently, Larsen served as Vice President of Waste Management and Special Projects at Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services, where he oversaw a $240 million waste management portfolio. In that capacity, he served as senior executive for Veolia’s management and operations contract at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility,
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Framatome’s license amendment Wednesday to fabricate higher-enriched uranium at the company’s Richland, Wash.-based facility, which is adjacent to the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
This regulatory approval allows for Framatome to enrich uranium higher than 5% specifically at the Richland facility, which has been in operation since 1969. Manufacturing at the site is scheduled to begin in 2027, according to Framatome’s Wednesday press release.
Framatome said this approval additionally advanced fuel management program, which aims to bring nuclear fuel technologies to the domestic operating fleet. Through the program, Framatome said the approval supports advanced solutions that could extend nuclear plant operation fuel cycles from 18 to 24 months, support continued power generation and reduce waste.
Bechtel and an organized labor group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to revamp apprenticeship programs supporting nuclear power projects.
Bechtel and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) announced the MOU in a Tuesday press release. The longtime builder of nuclear infrastructure and NABTU, a large confederation of construction unions, will look to modernize industry training. The parties said they would identify special craft skills for nuclear construction; work with existing union training centers to update curricula and coordinate recruitment of young talent to build new large nuclear projects and small modular reactors.
According to its website, North America’s Building Trades Unions is a labor group representing more than 3 million skilled craft people in the United States and Canada. NABTU is composed of fourteen national and international unions
Texas-based Fluor has sold its remaining 40 million shares of NuScale Power Corp., and generated gross proceeds of $473 million, Fluor said in a recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
The sale of Fluor’s remaining shares in NuScale, the small modular reactor developer, was completed April 23, Fluor said in the SEC filing.
Fluor “made a total investment of $570 million in NuScale and has generated approximately $2.43 billion in open market sales since September of 2025.” Fluor, a global engineering, procurement and construction company, has held an ownership stake in NuScale since 2011.
Fluor has hired Bradley Smalldridge, most recently an executive with Aecon Group, as Fluor Energy Solutions vice president of nuclear operations.
Smalldridge said Monday on LinkedIn that he has joined Irving, Texas-based Fluor. A Fluor spokesperson subsequently confirmed the executive hire. “In this role I am providing executive leadership and management oversight for Fluor nuclear power operation, focused on development and growth of Fluor domestic and international new nuclear design build” capacity, Smalldridge said in the post.
Smalldridge has been a vice president with the U.S. operations of Toronto-based Aecon for about three years, according to his LinkedIn bio. He has also held vice president-level posts with Dairyland Power Cooperative, BHI Energy as well as Day & Zimmermann. In the late 1990s he was an inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and before that worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.