Nuclear

The world’s largest nuclear power plant, among the facilities taken offline after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, could be nearing a restart. Japanese media reported that on March 14, Takeshi Saito—Japan’s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry—asked Hideyo Hanazumi, the governor of Niigata Prefecture, for permission to restart the first of seven reactors at […]

Nuclear regulatory agencies from the U.S., Canada, and the UK will collaborate on technical reviews and share best practices for advanced reactors and small modular reactor (SMR) technologies. The measure is aimed at improving regulatory efficiency and effectiveness as more reactor technologies seek approval in the three countries. A trilateral memorandum of cooperation (MOC)  signed […]

Longview Fusion Energy, a firm leveraging the recent fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), has secured a contract with engineering, procurement, and construction specialist Fluor to design what could become the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant. Longview announced the contract on March 8, noting its historic relevance for laser fusion energy. […]

The head of Russia’s space agency said his country and China have been working on a program to build a nuclear power plant on the moon, with an eye toward producing electricity that would allow settlements on the lunar surface. Yuri Borisov, who leads Russia’s Roscosmos space group, on March 5 said the agency was […]

Talen Energy Corp. said the company has sold its Cumulus data center campus, located near a Pennsylvania nuclear power station that provides the site with its power, to Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to a Talen investor presentation. Talen owns the nuclear power plant, the 2.5-GW Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, in Luzerne County. Talen’s investor […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has directed its staff to publish a proposed rule and draft guidance to create Part 53, a much-awaited risk-informed and technology-inclusive licensing framework geared toward advanced technologies, including non-light-water-reactors (non-LWRs). In a staff requirements memorandum (SRM) made public on March 4, the commission directed staff to incorporate several changes to […]

There are literally dozens of small modular reactor (SMR) and microreactor designs being developed by different companies around the world, and some of the work has been going on for decades. Yet, only two

Dominion Secures Final Approvals for 2.6-GW Offshore Wind Project. Dominion Energy on Jan. 30 said it received the last two major federal approvals needed to kick off construction of its 2.6-GW Coastal

Nondestructive testing is a multidisciplinary profession that blends quality assurance and materials science. Many industries rely upon it, but few uses are more important than in the nuclear power sector

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) proved to be a historic moment for nuclear energy, with more than 20 countries including the U.S., France, Japan, and the UK pledging to triple global

While the effects of extreme summer weather are one thing, even regular summer weather can wreak havoc on steam and water analysis systems (SWAS) without adequate preparation. Summer sunshine and increased temperatures can bring higher heat loads and increased cycling rates that put even more stress on steam and water sampling and related equipment, greatly […]

Nuclear energy has long been a topic of debate due to concerns about its environmental impact and the disposal of nuclear waste. However, a paradigm shift is underway that could revolutionize how we view nuclear waste. Not only could recycling nuclear fissile waste reduce the waste generated by current nuclear power plants, but it also […]

A major U.S. utility is part of a fusion energy project that would be located at the site of one of the company’s retired coal-fired power plants. Type One Energy Group on Feb. 21 announced plans to build Infinity One, a stellarator fusion prototype machine, at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) closed Bull Run Fossil […]

Kairos Power will secure $303 million from the Department of Energy (DOE) under a novel performance-based, fixed-price milestone approach to support the design, construction, and commissioning of its 35-MWth Hermes molten salt “non-power” demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center (ETTP) site in Oak Ridge. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Global Nuclear Fuel—Americas (GNF) the regulatory body’s first-ever authorization to produce nuclear fuel with uranium-235 (U-235) enrichments up to 8% for commercial power generation. GNF, GE Vernova’s nuclear fuel arm, on Feb. 15 said the NRC approved a license amendment that will allow its nuclear fuel fabrication facility […]

If you have paid any attention to nuclear power plant construction projects over the years, you know that there is a long history of cost overruns and schedule delays on many of them. In fact, many nuclear power plants that were planned in the 1960s and 1970s were never completed, even after millions (or billions) […]

Community Nuclear Power (CNP), the UK’s only independent small modular reactor (SMR) development company, will spearhead a project to build four Westinghouse AP300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in North Teeside, Northeast England, anticipating commercial operation by the early 2030s. Nuclear technology powerhouse Westinghouse on Feb. 8 said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with […]

The decarbonization of power generation is fostering research and development of new energy technologies, and some companies are reimagining what’s possible when it comes to power plant design. That includes pairing nuclear power with solar power, in a system that could repurpose a brownfield site—for example, a closed or soon-to-retire thermal power plant with transmission […]

Iran’s state-run news service said the country has started construction on four new nuclear power units. The IRNA agency on Feb. 1 reported that the four reactors would have expected total generation capacity of about 5,000 MW. Iran, whose nuclear program continues to be closely watched by the United Nations and others, has one operating […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will refurbish four units at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Canada’s first major commercial generation plant— marking a major turnaround for the 3.1-GW plant slated to close by 2025. Officials from Ontario’s government and OPG on Jan. 30 announced plans to refurbish Units 5–8 at the massive power plant east of […]

Collaboration was the main success factor in the deployment of an all-carrier enterprise distributed antenna system (DAS) for a Midwest power plant. The Problem A power plant in the Midwestern U.S. (Figure 1) faced a formidable situation: The obsolescence of 3G cellular technology meant that the plant soon would lose its already unreliable cellular coverage, […]

The Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan could be another step closer to restarting, with reports saying the Biden administration in February will announce $1.5 billion in funding for the project. Holtec International Corp. purchased the 800-MW facility from Entergy in 2022, after Entergy closed the nuclear plant. Holtec was prepared to decommission the site […]

Over the past week, the UK government stepped up its nuclear agenda, doling out a £33.6 million grant under its Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)’s BWRX-300 while also announcing a substantial £1.3 billion investment in the proposed 3.2-GW Sizewell C nuclear project. The developments, aimed at potentially tripling the […]

Westinghouse has revealed it is designing a transportable nuclear power plant (TNPP) featuring an eVinci microreactor with Canadian firm Prodigy Clean Energy, aiming to deliver a first project in Canada by 2030. The project will potentially integrate a single or multiple 5-MWe eVinci microreactors within a Prodigy Microreactor Power Station—a purpose-designed floating facility that will […]

X-Energy Reactor Co. LLC, a developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, reported on Jan. 17 that it has successfully completed milestones in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC’s) pre-licensing Vendor Design Review (VDR). The company submitted the design of its Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor (SMR) to […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has urged conservation as it grapples with record-high power demand amid extremely cold temperatures and near-zero wind chill over its seven-state region in the Southeast. The federal corporation, a major generator that serves as a regional reliability coordinator, on Jan. 16 said “heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures” were expected […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and North American power producer Capital Power Corp. will jointly examine the feasibility of developing small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta, including possible ownership and operating structures. The companies on Jan. 15 announced they signed a two-year commitment agreement to assess the feasibility of jointly owning and operating SMRs in Alberta […]

A roadmap released by the UK government on Jan. 11 aimed at quadrupling the country’s nuclear power capacity by 2050 sets out a series of goals and actions that could enable the delivery of 3 GW to 7 GW every five years from 2030 to 2044. In its 78-page Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the UK lays […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment and storage services as part of a measure aimed at stimulating a domestic supply chain for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The action follows an RFP released in November 2023 for services to deconvert enriched uranium into metal, oxide, and […]

Energy Northwest, a Washington state public power joint operating agency, announced an agreement with Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE), which it says will “accelerate the agency’s program examining the feasibility of developing and deploying a next-generation nuclear energy facility.” The agreement, a $10 million investment by PSE in Energy Northwest’s new nuclear project feasibility phase, […]