NUCLEAR POWER Direct

Swedish utility Vattenfall has narrowed its small modular reactor (SMR) supplier selection to two finalists—GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GVH’s) BWRX-300 and the Rolls-Royce SMR—for potential construction of new nuclear capacity adjacent to its Ringhals plant site on Sweden’s Värö Peninsula. The announcement represents a critical step in what could become Sweden’s first new nuclear build project in more than 40 years. While the utility ultimately intends […]

Despite nuclear power’s unmatched ability to produce reliable, carbon-free energy at scale, it is often dismissed by clean energy advocates in favor of renewable resources like wind and solar. Cost arguments and public misconceptions around safety and radioactive waste have kept it out of many mainstream climate strategies. But as Tim Gregory argues in his […]

Advanced nuclear firm Aalo Atomics has secured new capital and regulatory backing to complete construction of its 10-MWe Aalo-X reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The project, recently selected under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) new Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, will demonstrate cold criticality by July 2026 in an unusually aggressive federal milestone for advanced […]

With billions of dollars pouring into the sector from power players like Google and Amazon, the data center industry is having a moment. But this surge in investment and interest has also brought up serious questions—particularly around how we are going to power these massive computing engines. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has signed a first-of-its-kind power purchase agreement (PPA) with advanced nuclear technology firm Kairos Power to buy power from the company’s planned Hermes 2, a molten salt nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The deal makes TVA the first U.S. utility to contract for electricity from a Gen-IV reactor. Under […]

The U.S. Department of Energy released an $83.2 million loan disbursement to Holtec International on Thursday, bringing total federal funding to $335.1 million as the company moves toward completing America’s first commercial nuclear reactor restart. The fifth installment under DOE’s $1.52 billion loan guarantee follows key Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)  approvals that authorized Holtec to […]

Advanced nuclear technology company Oklo entered into two separate high-profile collaborative agreements this week that seek to supply integrated energy solutions to data centers and large load industrial operations. The alliances—one with Liberty Energy, an energy services and technologies firm, and another with critical digital infrastructure provider Vertiv—mark the newest notch in the growing market […]

Mirion Technologies, a leading provider of advanced radiation safety solutions, has announced the launch of the Vital Platform. This software offers a single, unified system for accessing data across nuclear power sites to work more efficiently, enhance worker safety, and solve operational challenges faster. The launch includes the platform’s first application, Vital Supervision, designed to […]

Nuclear microreactors developed separately by Westinghouse and Radiant are poised to become the first fueled designs tested at the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility—the world’s first dedicated microreactor test bed slated to open at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in early 2026. The first fueled experiment is expected to begin as early as spring 2026. […]

There is no room for missteps, miscommunication, or misunderstandings when it comes to nuclear maintenance. It demands precision, speed, and accountability. The tools and systems used during outages must function flawlessly, because when they don’t, the cost is more than money—it’s exposure, downtime, and slipping maintenance schedules. Some nuclear plants use a segmented model for […]

Westinghouse Electric Co. and officials with the ITER project in France signed a contract for $180 million for the assembly of the vacuum vessel for the fusion reactor. This is a key milestone in the construction of the ITER reactor, leading the way toward the use of fusion as a practical future source of reliable carbon-free energy.

Tech giant Google has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to buy at least 200 MW of energy from CFS’s planned fusion-based power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

A software group that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help automate processes said it was joining with a nuclear power deployment company on an AI-driven system to accelerate construction of nuclear reactors. Palantir Technologies on June 26 said it will work with The Nuclear Company, a nuclear power startup, to jointly create a nuclear operating […]

In a new pilot program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an ambitious challenge: bring at least three advanced nuclear test reactors to criticality by July 4, 2026. Announced in June, the program sidesteps traditional Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing, seeking instead to authorize full-scale reactors on private sites through DOE’s internal review process. […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a novel pilot program that will allow private developers to build and operate full-scale advanced nuclear test reactors outside of the national laboratory system, without a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Through a new authorization model grounded in the Atomic Energy Act and a Trump-era […]

In the proverbial shadow of the Naughton Power Plant, a station in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that will stop burning coal at the end of this year, TerraPower is constructing what it calls “the only advanced, non-light-water reactor in the Western Hemisphere being built today.” The project represents more than just a new power source—it’s a symbolic […]

Centrus Energy has produced and delivered 900 kilograms (kg) of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), completing Phase II of its pioneering enrichment contract with the agency. The shipment marks the first significant domestic production of HALEU—a specialized fuel required for many advanced reactors now under development—and stands as a […]

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is ready to build a utility-scale nuclear power plant and would seek funding from the private sector to make it a reality. The governor on June 23 provided few details about the project, except to say it likely would be located in an upstate location.

Small modular reactor (SMR) technology developer NuScale Power has unveiled research programs that could advance an energy system that integrates its nuclear technology to produce desalinated water and hydrogen, while reusing brine waste as an industrial feedstock. The research, developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is inviting private-sector nuclear developers to submit proposals for experiments and demonstrations using its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) project. The first-of-its-kind operational test bed for advanced microreactor technologies is now 90% through its final design phase, with key components already under fabrication. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), […]

Talen Energy has restructured and significantly expanded its nuclear energy agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), finalizing a 17-year, $18 billion power purchase agreement (PPA) that will supply up to 1,920 MW of carbon-free electricity from the 2.5-GW Susquehanna nuclear plant to Amazon’s data centers across Pennsylvania. The deal, announced on June 11, restructures a […]

The U.S. Air Force has formally reaffirmed its selection of Oklo’s liquid metal-cooled fast reactor to provide nuclear energy at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, re-issuing a Notice of Intent to Award (NOITA) for the company’s Aurora Powerhouse following a comprehensive evaluation process. The June 10 announcement, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency Energy […]

The president of Iran’s nuclear energy agency said officials in that country have signed an agreement with Russia for construction of at least eight nuclear power plants in Iran. Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), confirmed the deal on June 9 during a visit by members of the Iranian parliament’s […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved NuScale Power’s uprated 77-MWe (250-MWth) small modular reactor (SMR) design, clearing the nuclear technology firm’s second standard design approval (SDA). The development marks a boost for ENTRA1 Energy, NuScale’s exclusive commercialization partner, which is in “various stages of discussions with potential customers” in the U.S. and abroad, the […]

Technology group Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to take about 1.1 GW of electricity from Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois. Meta and Constellation on June 3 said the contract means the power plant will continue to operate beyond its expected closure in 2027.

The only commercial nuclear power plant in the U.S. Pacific Northwest is set for a $700-million upgrade that would add nearly 200 MW of generation capacity. The Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, with a current capacity of 1,207 MW, will undergo an extended power uprate that will be done during the plant’s next three biennial spring refueling outages in 2027, 2029, and 2031.

Government officials in Estonia announced the country will initiate a spatial planning process and an environmental impact assessment for construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.

Advanced nuclear developer Oklo announced it has successfully completed borehole drilling for site characterization work at its Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site, marking a pivotal milestone as the company progresses toward constructing its first commercial Aurora Powerhouse—a liquid sodium–cooled fast reactor designed for scalable deployment. The standard nuclear project development step, involved “drilling of several […]

Ontario’s provincial government has given Ontario Power Generation (OPG) the green light to begin construction on the first of four  BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) at its Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) site in Clarington, Ontario. “This represents the first new nuclear build in Ontario in more than three decades,” the utility noted. The province […]

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on May 7 told lawmakers that the Department of Energy (DOE) is entering what he called “a golden era of American energy dominance,” outlining the Trump administration’s strategy to prioritize fossil fuels, nuclear power, grid modernization, and permitting reform, while positioning the U.S. to lead in artificial intelligence (AI) […]