NUCLEAR POWER Direct

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) […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has submitted the first portion of a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build a GE Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. If built, the Clinch River unit—dubbed CRN-1—will serve as a flagship for U.S. commercial […]

A nuclear power project developer said it has a deal with Google, with the technology company agreeing to commit funding for at least three projects that each would have 600 MW of generation capacity. Elementl Power, founded in 2022 and based in Greer, South Carolina, on May 7 said Google would help the company move toward its goal of bringing more than 10 GW of nuclear power capacity online by 2035.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on April 22 announced the release of the third loan disbursement to Holtec for the reopening of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.

A new report from GlobalData, a data and analytics group, projects global nuclear power capacity will hit 494 GW by 2035. The group said capacity gains will be tied to advancements in deployments of small modular reactors (SMRs), along with the continuing worldwide shift to cleaner forms of energy.

A company working to mass produce portable nuclear microreactors said its has accepted its selection by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) to receive high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for the first test of Kaleidos, the group’s reactor design.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has given Ontario Power Generation (OPG) the green light to begin building a 300-MW GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) site in Clarington, Ontario. The historic approval marks the first time Canada has approved the construction of a grid-scale SMR. The federal […]

In a critical step aimed at bolstering advanced reactor development and their domestic nuclear fuel readiness, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its first round of allocations for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) under its HALEU Availability Program to five American nuclear developers. On April 9, the DOE said it made conditional commitments to […]

Advanced reactor developer X-energy and global materials science company Dow have submitted a construction permit application (CPA) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a first-of-its-kind small modular reactor (SMR) project at Dow’s Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) Seadrift Operations in Calhoun County, Texas. The filing marks a major step forward for the much-watched commercial-scale […]

Recognizing their desirable attributes and long-term potential to meet data center demands for power, several technology companies have announced their intention to team up with nuclear developers. At the same time, three companies with shuttered nuclear plants have notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of their plans to restart those facilities, which were closed for economic reasons.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reissued a $900 million funding opportunity to accelerate deployment of Generation III+ small modular reactors (SMRs), removing community benefit requirements and shifting the focus solely to technical merit—a move that reflects the Trump administration’s revised energy and industrial priorities. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA)—officially designated DE-FOA-0003485—was first issued […]

Advanced nuclear firm Oklo has signed an Interface Agreement (IAG) with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), marking a key regulatory milestone in the siting and environmental review of its first commercial Aurora powerhouse—a compact passive fast-spectrum reactor—targeted for deployment at INL by late 2027. The IAG with INL—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-owned and funded national […]

The Trump administration has released a second loan disbursement of $56.8 million to Holtec International as part of an up to $1.52 billion loan guarantee for the restart of the 800-MW Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. The funding, a key step in reviving the shuttered facility, reinforces a loan guarantee initially issued under the Biden […]

A coalition of large energy users—including Google, Amazon, Meta, Occidental, and Dow—have pledged their support for tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. The cross-industry commitment, announced on the sidelines of CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, marks the first time large energy users beyond the nuclear sector have collectively backed such an extensive expansion of […]

When you think of innovative advancements in nuclear power technology, places like the Idaho National Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology probably come to mind. But today, some very exciting nuclear power development work is being done in West Texas, specifically, at Abilene Christian University (ACU). That’s where Natura Resources is working to construct […]

Government officials in Italy have implemented a new law that allows for nuclear energy to return in the country, four decades after voters banned the technology in a 1987 referendum. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called the measure, adopted by the government on Feb. 28, a move toward energy security for Italy. The law, which […]

Advanced nuclear plant developer Last Energy will build 30 microreactors at a site in Haskell County, Texas, a measure aimed at meeting the growing power demands of data centers across the state. The development comes as Texas faces increasing pressure to ramp up its power supplies to address an expansion of energy-intensive industries. The Washington […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its draft safety evaluation (SE) a month ahead of schedule—albeit with open items—for TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1, a pioneering 345-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) under development in Wyoming. Editor’s note: This article was substantially updated on Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. CST to provide deeper […]

Curtiss-Wright Corp. said it has been awarded two contracts from TerraPower to design and supply plant simulation and digital control solutions for the Natrium advanced nuclear reactor design. Under the contracts, Curtiss-Wright will design and deliver the training simulator (TSN) and distributed control systems (DCS) for the Natrium plant. The TSN is a full-scope simulator that […]

Constellation Energy’s ambitious plan to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 as the Crane Clean Energy Center (CEC) is proceeding ahead of schedule, shooting for a 2028 start date, despite a new report that suggests Microsoft may be re-evaluating its data center strategy. Just five months after Constellation announced a landmark 20-year power purchase […]

Nuclear technology firm Terrestrial Energy has quietly been making progress on its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology, laying the crucial groundwork for a commercial fleet by the early 2030s. Terrestrial Energy Simon Irish answered key questions about the company’s deployment timeline, market positioning, and competitive edge, offering an inside look at the company’s strategy […]

Russian state-run nuclear energy giant Rosatom is in talks to build another nuclear power plant in Iran, as the two countries work on strategic plans to overcome Western sanctions and strengthen their influence in the region.

A volunteer advisory group told the utility that serves Colorado’s second-largest city that it should look at adding a small nuclear reactor for additional power generation.