NUCLEAR POWER Direct

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources convened March 19 for a full committee hearing to examine the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) implementation of President Trump’s May 2025 nuclear energy executive orders. Three witnesses—DOE Assistant Secretary Theodore Garrish, Kairos Power CEO Dr. Michael Laufer, and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Director Dr. John C. Wagner—testified, […]

Energy giants GE Vernova and Hitachi said the companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as part of a plan to deploy the groups’ water-cooled BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a new initiative to increase U.S. nuclear generating capacity—targeting 2.5 GW of additional nuclear capacity by 2027 and 5 GW by 2029—by expanding output from operating reactors, restarting dormant facilities, and extending the lifespans of plants already on the grid. The Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort—UPRISE—unveiled […]

The first data center to run entirely on self-generated nuclear power will shatter a long-held assumption that computing infrastructure must wait for the grid. A large-scale facility will operate around the clock while controlled fission reactions take place 1,000 feet from its server racks. When that happens, every data center operator still waiting for grid […]

The energy industry, specifically the nuclear sector, is staring down a challenging 2026 with a combination of mounting pressure: tech giants shaking hands on purchasing agreements before facilities are fully built, innovative solutions reinventing the methods of long-established leaders, and mounting demands to deliver efficiency faster. Does that sound familiar? COMMENTARY If you’ve had an […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on March 4 authorized staff to issue a construction permit for TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 in Kemmerer, Wyoming—the first commercial reactor the agency has approved for construction in nearly a decade, and the first approval for a commercial non–light water reactor design in more than 40 years. The […]

Ten years ago, utilities could plan for new 100-megawatt (MW) load requests. That size of energy load fit inside existing forecasts: it could be absorbed, modeled and planned around. Today, load requests have increased to one, two even three gigawatts (GW) at a time. This results in utilities fielding individual load requests that rival full […]

While the bulk of focus on advanced nuclear technology has honed in tightly on the U.S., from enrichment and conversion to advanced fuels, reprocessing strategies, and fast-spectrum systems, several other

A resurgent nuclear industry cannot succeed unless the U.S. invests in the entire nuclear fuel cycle—from uranium mining to long‑term waste storage. Without strengthening this industrial backbone, nuclear power’s potential may remain more aspiration than reality.

Russia’s state-owned nuclear power group said it will move forward with its power plant projects in foreign countries despite new sanctions from the UK government against Russian companies.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed the first dedicated federal licensing framework for commercial fusion machines, setting out a technology‑inclusive, risk‑informed approach under its 10 CFR Part 30 byproduct material rules rather than the power‑reactor framework used for fission plants. The proposed rule seeks to place regulatory oversight of fusion‑generated radioactive material within […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has closed a $26.54 billion loan package—the largest single loan commitment in the agency’s history—with Southern Co. subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power to finance more than 16 GW of “firm” generation and more than 1,300 miles of transmission infrastructure and grid enhancement across the Southeast. The transaction, announced Feb. […]

Nuclear fusion group SHINE Technologies said it has raised $240 million in equity funding to advance the company’s commercial fusion technology.

Romania’s state nuclear utility Nuclearelectrica has approved a final investment decision (FID) for a 462‑MWe six-module NuScale module small modular reactor (SMR) project at the former Doicești coal plant. The decision by Nuclearelectrica’s shareholders on Feb. 12 to approve the FID effectively opens a pathway for the Doicești project—Europe’s most advanced SMR deployment—from an “analysis […]

The Trump administration is touting a proposed 9.2‑GW natural gas power complex near Portsmouth, Ohio, as the centerpiece of a new U.S.–Japan trade deal that officials say could steer up to $550 billion of Japanese capital into American energy and industrial projects. According to a Feb. 17 Commerce Department fact sheet and a statement by […]

In the nuclear energy sector, cybersecurity is inextricably linked to day-to-day operations. It directly impacts physical safety, system reliability, and regulatory compliance, which makes it a persistent challenge to protect highly sensitive systems without interrupting the work required to keep them running safely.

Nuclear power is emerging as a key, enabling technology for sustained human presence on the moon. With multiple countries and companies announcing ambitious lunar programs—from space research to mineral development to hotels—there is increasing global competition to establish long-term power supply and other infrastructure on the lunar surface.

In a milestone for the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Feb. 13 issued its first approval of a commercial Category II nuclear fuel fabrication facility, granting a license to TRISO-X, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy, which allows the company to fabricate commercial tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel using high-assay low-enriched […]

Fusion energy company Helion said its Polaris prototype has set new industry benchmarks, becoming the first privately developed fusion energy machine to demonstrate measurable deuterium-tritium fusion and achieve plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released specifications for 26 artificial intelligence (AI) challenges under its Genesis Mission that could reshape how power plants are designed, licensed, built, and operated. Several directly target nuclear plant deployment timelines, grid interconnection bottlenecks, data center load integration, fusion commercialization, and subsurface energy recovery. Launched via executive order on […]

A Massachusetts-headquartered nuclear energy company said it has received $33 million from a Series A funding round as the group scales its technology. Alva Energy on February 12 announced it has launched with a goal to support new electric power generation capacity from the existing U.S. reactor fleet.

Scientists around the world are making progress as they try different techniques to bring commercial fusion energy to fruition.

The world’s biggest nuclear power plant is again operating, after an earlier attempt to bring the facility back online was suspended due to an equipment problem.

The discussion about nuclear fusion has long involved its potential to create limitless amounts of energy. Thea Energy is one of several companies working to turn that potential into reality.

Rolls-Royce SMR and Yokogawa Electric Corp. have announced a strategic agreement for the Japanese industrial automation specialist to deliver data processing and control systems (DPCS) for Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactor (SMR) program—a deal covering the first units in what both companies envision as a global SMR fleet. Under the agreement, Yokogawa will design, engineer, validate, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency responsible for licensing and oversight of civilian nuclear facilities, on Feb. 4 said it would launch a sweeping organizational restructure intended to consolidate decision-making authority, integrate licensing and inspection teams, and align the agency with presidential directives for accelerated nuclear technology deployment. The reorganization will create […]

Abilene-based Natura Resources, which won the first federal construction permit for a liquid-fueled molten-salt reactor in 2024, will work with NGL Water Solutions Permian to explore deploying its 100-MWe reactor design alongside thermal desalination systems to transform briny drilling waste into usable water—while powering data centers and other industrial loads hungry for around-the-clock electricity. The […]

An international nuclear power services company has confirmed it plans to submit an application to build new generation capacity at a long-closed nuclear power plant in Wisconsin.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Type One Energy and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville are partnering to establish a world-class facility that will drive American innovation and move fusion energy closer to reality. This high-heat flux (HHF) facility, located at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Bull Run Energy Complex in East Tennessee, will evaluate how materials react under extreme conditions in a fusion device.

Major U.S. utility Constellation said it has completed its acquisition of Calpine Corp. from Energy Capital Partners (ECP), creating the nation’s largest producer of electricity. The companies on January 7 noted that the transaction, first announced as a $16.4-billion deal a year ago, unites Constellation’s nuclear power fleet with Calpine’s natural gas-fired and geothermal generation. […]