Nuclear

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are emerging as a potentially critical part of the future power mix. Only a year ago, SMRs were still framed as a promising but distant technology. But that’s all changed as electricity demand accelerates, grids struggle to expand at the pace required, and affordability and reliability move back to the top […]

The 2026 midterms delivered a clear warning to anyone who thinks communities will accept major energy projects simply because Washington or Wall Street says they are strategic. Voters are worried about costs, local control and who benefits when power-hungry infrastructure arrives. Democrats next year will take control of Congress, and many local communities voted to […]

How do you know when you’re in a technological renaissance? When science, technology, and economics have lined up to produce something new. COMMENTARY In Europe it took artists, scientists, and craftspeople until 1550 to recognize that they had created the Renaissance—about 200 years into the revival of the classical teachings of ancient Greece and Rome, […]

Artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and electrification are increasing U.S. electricity demand. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates data centers could account for 11.8% of electricity consumption by 2030, within a projected range of 9.5%–15.3%. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts electricity consumption to increase by approximately 2.2% in 2026 and a further 1.6% in […]

Curtiss-Wright Corp. will invest $30 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Round Rock, Texas, to increase production capacity for pressure and temperature sensors used in commercial nuclear reactors and industrial applications. The investment is part of the company’s broader effort to expand its nuclear supply chain capabilities as existing reactors undergo modernization and new […]

Activated metallic components generated during reactor operation, maintenance, and decommissioning rarely present a uniform packaging challenge. They can vary widely in shape, mass, dose rate, and radiation profile, and may include thimble plug assemblies (TPA), poison rod assemblies (PRA), reactor control cluster assemblies (RCCA), rod segments, and cut portions of vessel internals. Managing these materials […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has offered Constellation Energy a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to finance nuclear power uprates and modernization at eight plants in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The proposed investments could add nearly 1.1 GW of generating capacity to the nation’s existing nuclear fleet. The commitment marks the agency’s […]

Antares Nuclear has secured a multi-year agreement with BWX Technologies (BWXT) for advanced nuclear fuel fabrication and received initial Department of Energy (DOE) safety approval for its Mark-1 microreactor, advancing two key requirements for the company’s planned transition from reactor testing to electricity production and military deployments. The Torrance, California–based developer announced on Oct. 27 […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Oct. 22 finalized a rule that allows commercial nuclear reactor applicants to use analyses, test data, and other technical evidence from reactor demonstrations previously authorized by the Department of Energy (DOE) or Department of War (DOW) to support license applications. The measure establishes a more direct means of incorporating […]

The Nuclear Company (TNC) has unveiled plans to develop a 6.6-GW nuclear power campus in Lewis County, Kentucky, that could accommodate up to six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors along the Ohio River. The venture-backed developer said it has secured control of a proposed site and intends to pursue federal approvals to begin construction in 2028. The […]

Emerald Horizon plans to sell a hybrid battery and molten-salt storage system now and add an accelerator-driven thorium generator later. The generator remains at an early stage of development. Austria decided against nuclear power in the late 1970s and has not revisited the question since, according to Mario Müller, vice president of research and development […]

American Electric Power (AEP) and X-energy have agreed to evaluate a 960-MW small modular reactor (SMR) project in Indiana, backed by Amazon development funding and a proposed long-term power purchase agreement designed to protect existing utility customers from project costs. The 12-reactor project would be the second deployment under Amazon and X-energy’s collaboration to develop […]

Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has commissioned Westinghouse Electric Co. to begin procuring long-lead items (LLIs) for the first AP1000 unit of the Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear power plant project. This is one of the most important stages in preparing for the start of construction and ensuring that the project is completed on schedule. “This is an extremely […]

Hyperscaler Google and Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear operator in the U.S., have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) designed to support $4.3 billion of upgrades at 11 nuclear units across the PJM Interconnection, which is slated to add 890 MW of generating capacity from Constellation’s existing reactors by the end of 2032. The […]

Over 2,060 gigawatts. That is the staggering volume of generation and storage capacity currently trapped waiting in U.S. interconnection queues. According to data from RMI, the typical project now takes almost five years—stuck in administrative and transmission review before a single watt can be delivered to the grid. In 2008, it was only two years. For […]

Fusion energy company Xcimer Energy said it has finalized an agreement for up to $30.5 million in additional federal funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. The new DOE award, announced October 6, is for the program’s second budget period. It brings the total DOE funding for potential Milestone payments […]

For most Americans, electricity is so woven into daily life that we rarely consider what its absence means. Hospitals depend on it to preserve medicines and operate equipment. Schools, factories, farms, and businesses depend on it to function. Reliable electricity is one of the foundations of a modern economy. COMMENTARY Yet 655 million people worldwide […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) has announced a conditional loan commitment of up to $4.2 billion to finance uprates and modernization at Vistra’s Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and its Davis-Besse and Perry plants in Ohio. The projects could add 433 MW of new nuclear capacity and preserve […]

Small modular reactors (SMRs) borrow steam turbine engineering from both coal-fired and nuclear plants, but the resulting “wet steam” problem, with exhaust moisture topping 15%, demands a fresh set of

At the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, hosted by Sen. Dave McCormick at Carnegie Mellon University on July 15, 2025, Westinghouse Electric Co. put a live proof of concept on display: an artificial intelligence (AI) system aimed at reducing the cost and schedule risk of building new AP1000 reactors. According to Westinghouse, the demonstration […]

On Aug. 30, workers at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Michigan, began loading 204 fuel assemblies into a reactor vessel that had sat empty since the plant shut down in 2022—the first time in U.S. history that a commercial reactor that had entered decommissioning began reloading fuel. Holtec International Chairman and CEO Dr. […]

Infinigen, a Puerto Rico-based independent power producer, in late August announced the closing of a $33-million tax equity investment in the Yabucoa Solar Project.

The U.S. Army has conditionally selected three private developers to negotiate long-term leases for commercial power generation at six installations in a new Strategic Capital Initiatives round that could bring battery storage, natural gas, and nuclear generation onto Army land. On Sept. 18, the Army conditionally selected Ameresco, a Massachusetts-based energy infrastructure company, for Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland […]

Nuclear plants have accumulated decades of operating experience, technical research, regulatory guidance, and other industry knowledge. Finding the right information, however, can mean searching several separate systems and then piecing the relevant material together. To address that search burden, Atomic Canyon, a company developing artificial intelligence tools for the nuclear industry, built the Nuclear Industry […]

Electric utility Georgia Power and tech giant Google said the companies have an agreement under which Google will support power uprates at two of the utility’s nuclear power plants.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) said the agency has closed a loan of as much as $1.9 billion to NextEra Energy to support the restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa.

Nuclear energy is entering a new era. Across the United States and around the world, countries are looking to nuclear power to provide reliable electricity, strengthen energy security, and support economic growth. Advanced reactors and other innovative technologies are creating opportunities that would have been difficult to imagine when many of our current regulations were […]

The U.S. power grid is entering a period unlike any it has experienced in decades. Rapid electrification, domestic manufacturing, and the exponential growth of artificial intelligence are reshaping electricity demand. A recent report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, projects that data centers alone could account for between 9.5% […]

Japan is rebuilding its nuclear power fleet after the Fukushima disaster, with upgrades targeted toward ensuring safe operations. Japan continues work to restart its nuclear power fleet, which supplied about a

Australia Moves to Make Data Centers Bring Power. The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has urged energy ministers to require large data centers connecting to the National Electricity Market to bring