Nuclear
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Data Centers
Texas 2.5-GW Gas-Plus-Nuclear Project Proceeds to Engineering, Licensing Phase
Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) have signed an agreement to launch the next phase of their collaboration on a planned 2.5-GW gas-plus-nuclear power project in Victoria, Texas, moving the closely watched data-center power concept from an announced collaboration to engineering, licensing, and safety analysis. The Aug. 13-announced agreement will advance project definition for […]
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Fusion
Fuse Touts ‘Highest’ Neutron Yield by Any Fusion Company
A California-based fusion energy company announced it has reached an industry milestone. Fuse Energy Technologies Corp. on August 10 published a report noting the company set a record for the highest fusion neutron yield—1.27×10¹² in a single shot—by any commercial fusion company.
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Nuclear
Curio, NuScale, Framatome Join to Support Fuel Solution for Advanced Reactors
Three companies at the forefront of nuclear energy technology have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to evaluate fuel technologies to support advancement of next-generation nuclear power.
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Nuclear
DOE Approves Safety Design of Deep Fission’s Underground SMR
California-based Deep Fission said the DOE signed off on the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (NSDA) for its Gravity Nuclear Reactor. The group called it a major regulatory milestone that confirms Deep Fission’s reactor design warrants advancement under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program.
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Trends
Oklo’s Groves Becomes Fifth DOE Pilot Reactor to Reach Criticality, First on Private Land
Oklo’s Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Lockhart, Texas, has become the fifth reactor to achieve criticality under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program (RPP), and the first under the program to do so on private land. The low-power test reactor reached criticality at 9:19 p.m. ET Aug. 5, achieving a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear […]
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Data Centers
AI’s Obstacle: Why the Grid Can’t Keep Pace With the Data Center Boom
Growth in artificial intelligence (AI) is outpacing the world’s ability to generate enough power to sustain it. As AI adoption accelerates worldwide, it’s colliding with a power system that wasn’t built for its level of demand. Vittorio Pierangeli, senior vice president PowerGen at Rolls-Royce Power Systems (Figure 1), explains why electricity, not chips or algorithms, […]
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Energy Security
World’s Largest Energy Lender Steers Federal Financing Toward Baseload, Transmission, and Nuclear
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) closed a loan of up to $3.26 billion to American Electric Power (AEP) Texas on July 8, the office’s third utility
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Renewables
POWER Digest [August 2026]
VSB Group, part of TotalEnergies, in June said it had awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for a 20-MW solar project in Loberitz, Germany, to UK-headquartered INTEC Energy Solutions.
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Nuclear
The Two-Component Future: Fast Reactors Step Out of the Shadows at FR26
Nuclear power is experiencing yet another boom. This time it may genuinely lead to a sharp expansion of the global reactor fleet. Several drivers are at work: decarbonization requirements, growing energy
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Legal & Regulatory
Will Siting Keep SMRs From Reaching Critical Mass?
Demand for electricity—particularly for large-load users like data centers—is increasing, raising the question of how best to meet the new demand.
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Data Centers
Aalo, Crusoe Plan 2027 INL Demonstration Pairing Nuclear Power and AI Data Center Load
Advanced nuclear firm Aalo Atomics has formed a strategic partnership with energy-first AI infrastructure company Crusoe to develop a nuclear-powered “AI Factory” data center in a project that will combine Aalo’s advanced reactor development program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with Crusoe’s modular AI data center platform. The companies said on July 30 that under […]
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Trends
Holtec Targets 2036 for 1.36-GW SMR-300 Project at Oyster Creek
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the License Termination Plan (LTP) for the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, a regulatory milestone that clears the final phase of decommissioning and sets the stage for Holtec International to pursue construction of four SMR-300 small modular reactor units at the Lacey Township, New Jersey, […]
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Fusion
Commonwealth Fusion Systems Raises Another $1 Billion as Work on Commercial Power Plant Continues
A varied group of investors has provided Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) with another $1 billion in equity financing, with the company on July 30 saying the funding supports the group’s continuing work toward operating a commercial fusion energy power plant.
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Legal & Regulatory
Five States Emerge as Finalists for DOE’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses
The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho as initial contenders to host Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses—voluntary federal–state partnerships designed to co-locate fuel fabrication, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and waste disposition within integrated, full‑cycle nuclear ecosystems. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed non-binding memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the […]
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Nuclear
Microsoft’s $60 Million Genesis Mission Commitment Puts Nuclear AI at the Center
Last week, Microsoft announced a $60 million, multiyear commitment to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, the national initiative to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across the country’s 17 national laboratories. The company’s stated goal, echoing DOE’s own framing, is to help “double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within a decade.” […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Federal Court Upholds NRC’s Generic Severe-Accident Review for Nuclear Plant License Renewals
A federal appeals court has upheld the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) use of a generic environmental analysis for nuclear plant license renewals, rejecting claims that the agency failed to adequately consider how aging components and climate change could affect the risk of severe reactor accidents. The July 21 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
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Commentary
America Needs a Fifth Nuclear Executive Order
President Trump’s four nuclear executive orders issued on May 23, 2025, represented a historic liftoff for American nuclear energy. COMMENTARY As electricity demand surges, geopolitical energy competition intensifies, and America’s power infrastructure faces mounting strain, the administration acted decisively. It recognized that American energy dominance—and leadership in the digital age—requires a resurgence of nuclear reactor […]
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Nuclear
Terra Innovatum, Waiken ILW Will Deploy Microreactors for Data Center Infrastructure
A micro-modular nuclear reactor developer with global headquarters in Italy and a U.S. corporate office in Pennsylvania said it has been selected to deploy its equipment for data center infrastructure in Latin America and Brazil.
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Fusion
Pacific Fusion Says Pulsed-Power Prototype Hits Milestone at National Lab
California-headquartered Pacific Fusion announced that a pulsed-power prototype designed and built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has surpassed 3,000 shots under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the company. Pacific Fusion on July 16 said this marks a key milestone in the development of high-gain fusion, and provides a practical example of government-industry […]
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Legal & Regulatory
NRC Targets Faster Nuclear Licensing With NEPA Streamlining Proposal
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed a major rewrite of its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules, opening yet another front in the agency’s fast-moving campaign to modernize as directed by a series of recent executive orders, statutory NEPA amendments, and a Supreme Court precedent. The rule proposed on July 7, “Implementation of the […]
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Fusion
Google Invests in $468-Million Funding Round for German Fusion Group
Proxima Fusion, a Munich, Germany-based group that is considered among the leading European companies working on fusion energy, said it completed a €411 million ($468 million) funding round. Proxima on July 7 said investors included technology giant Google along with global energy company RWE.
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advanced nuclear
Aalo Atomics’ Test Reactor Reaches Criticality at INL, Fourth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor by July 4
Aalo Atomics’ Aalo-X Critical Test Reactor (CTR)—dubbed “Project First Light”—has reached criticality at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), marking the fourth Department of Energy (DOE)–authorized advanced reactor startup under the federal push to accelerate reactor testing and demonstration. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said July 6 that Aalo’s test reactor, which DOE referred to as […]
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Nuclear
AMPERA Produces First 3D-Printed Nuclear Reactor Module
Advanced energy technology group AMPERA announced the company has completed production of what it called the first full-scale, 3D-printed nuclear reactor module.
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Nuclear
Centrus Signs $900M DOE Contract, Pivots Sole U.S. HALEU Cascade to Commercial Operation
Centrus Energy has finalized a $900 million task order with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that clears the way for the company to transition its pioneering high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) cascade in Piketon, Ohio, from a government-funded demonstration to private commercial operation. The Bethesda, Maryland-headquartered firm on July 1 announced that its wholly owned subsidiary American […]
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Legal & Regulatory
NRC Proposes Landmark Reactor Licensing Overhaul, Bundling Decades of Modernization Into One Rule
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed what may be its most consequential reactor-licensing overhaul in a generation, a 553-page rulemaking that seeks to rewrite core pieces of the regulatory framework governing how commercial nuclear plants are sited, licensed, built, modified, operated, renewed, fueled, and ultimately decommissioned. Issued July 1, the proposed rule, “Modernizing Reactor […]
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Full Coverage
Deployable Energy’s Unity Nuclear Reactor Achieves Criticality at INL, Third Under DOE Nuclear Push
Deployable Energy’s Unity demonstration reactor has achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), making it the third Department of Energy (DOE)–authorized advanced reactor to reach the milestone ahead of the July 4 deadline set under President Trump’s May 2025 nuclear executive order. The U.S. DOE on July 1 said Deployable Energy’s Unity reactor completed a […]
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Data Centers
A Republican and a Democrat Walk Into EEI—and Agree on Data Centers
Brian Kemp is a Republican. Katie Hobbs is a Democrat. The governor of Georgia campaigns on tax cuts and a growth agenda; the governor of Arizona calls herself a social worker who came to the job from a
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Data Centers
Blue Energy, GE Vernova Advance ‘Gas Bridge’ Model to Unlock Nuclear Finance
At a recent energy conference, power sector stakeholders agreed the looming fleet of hyperscale data centers will require vast amounts of clean, firm capacity. But while nuclear looks like the most plausible
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News and Notes
POWER Digest [July 2026]
X-energy Advances 6-GW Nuclear Partnership With UK’s Centrica. Advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy on June 2 said it submitted an application for the UK’s Generic Design Assessment (GDA)—the
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Commentary
The Grid, Not Just Generation, Has Become the Central Climate Story
For much of the past decade, the climate and energy debate has been fixated on how electricity is generated: which technologies are cheapest on paper, how renewables can scale fastest, which breakthrough is