Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Your RadWaste Monitor reporter took the red-eye back into D.C. last night and is looking forward to a much-needed weekend break — but before that, here are some other stories from this week across the civilian nuclear power space.
BWXT secures Project Pele microreactor contract from DOD
The Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office has selected BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., to build an experimental mobile nuclear reactor for military applications, the company announced this week.
Under the DOD contract, announced Thursday, BWXT will be responsible for building a prototype for the agency’s Project Pele micro-reactor, the company said in a press release. The first Pele model should be ready for demonstration at Idaho National Laboratory in 2024, the release said.
BWXT will build the Pele prototype under a cost-type contract worth around $300 million, the statement said. The exact terms of the contract were not immediately available.
The Pele reactor, a high-temperature gas reactor, is designed to provide a transportable power source “for a variety of operational needs that have historically relied on fossil fuel deliveries and extensive supply lines,” BWXT said.
DOD’s program manager for Project Pele, Jeff Waksman, told RadWaste Monitor in April that the micro-reactor will use U.S.-sourced high enriched low-assay uranium (HALEU) tristructural isotopic (TRISO) fuel.
BWXT won the contract over a competing design from Rockville, Md., advanced nuclear company X-energy.
DOE hiring nuclear energy justice policy fellow
The Department of Energy is looking for a recent university graduate to take on a fellowship aimed at building out energy justice policy in the department’s nuclear power office, according to a job listing.
DOE’s nuclear energy justice policy fellow, a mentored position under the agency’s Science, Technology and Policy (STP) program, will assist the Office of Nuclear Energy in implementing principles of energy justice in its policies, the agency said in the listing. The fellow will also work on public outreach, collaborating with communities, tribes and other stakeholders, DOE said.
The ideal candidate for this paid fellowship should have completed either a bachelors, masters or doctoral degree or have “an academic background and experience in a relevant field.” Experience working on social or energy justice issues, data science, nuclear energy or nuclear waste is a plus, DOE said.
The fellowship program lasts for a term of one year, with the option for renewal for up to four years, depending on performance and DOE’s need, the listing said.
Cleveland city council wants FirstEnergy name off Browns stadium following nuke plant scandal
The world of professional football felt ripples this week from FirstEnergy’s legal troubles stemming from a 2019 bribery scandal in the Ohio state house, as Cleveland’s city council demanded the utility scrub its name from the Browns’ stadium, local media reported.
The Forest City’s council voted 16-1 on a resolution calling on FirstEnergy to do away with its naming rights to the Browns’ home field, local affiliate station FOX8 reported Monday. The Browns have played at FirstEnergy Field since 2013, when the utility purchased the stadium’s naming rights for over $100 million.
Cleveland council members credited Monday’s resolution to FirstEnergy’s alleged involvement in a multimillion bribery scandal aimed at securing financial assistance for Ohio’s economically-troubled Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants via former state Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R).
Although the utility has yet to be charged in the scandal, FirstEnergy in July agreed to pay a $230 million fine to Ohio and the feds for its involvement in the scheme.
Cleveland’s Monday resolution is mostly symbolic, FOX8 reported, as the city council has no legal authority to strip FirstEnergy of its naming rights. As of Friday the utility had not responded.
