advanced nuclear

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will review Kairos Power’s construction permit application (CPA) for its Hermes non-power demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center site, in Oak Ridge, and begin operating by 2026. The NRC formally accepted the CPA for review on Nov. 30, noting […]

Terrestrial Energy has unveiled an upgraded 390-MWe design of its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) power plant to meet utility requirements and boost its cost-competitiveness as part of an effort to ramp up its candidacy for deployment at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. This week, the Canadian firm also announced a series […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given its green light to a license amendment filed by Centrus Energy Corp., approving the nuclear fuel and services firm’s efforts to demonstrate High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  The approval marks a “major milestone” in Centrus’s $115 million, cost-shared contract with the […]

Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.’s (USNC’s) 5-MWe (15 MWth) Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) has entered formal licensing review with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) as part of its proposed project spearheaded by Global First Power (GFP). The small modular reactor (SMR) is the first to mark that milestone.   Seattle-based USNC marked its newest milestone for […]

When evaluating resource adequacy requirements, many power companies and grid operators have used a methodology that originated more than 70 years ago. This probabilistic reliability approach has generally performed adequately through the years. It has generally evaluated loss-of-load events occurring at frequencies of one-day-in-10-years (1-in-10) to be acceptable in terms of system reliability. However, it’s […]

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has approved the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 (ANIA), just two weeks after it was introduced. Among the bill’s major provisions are that it will seek to  strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain, help incentivize commercial deployment of new reactor designs, and create a credit […]

TerraPower and X-energy will each receive $80 million in initial federal funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to build their two distinct advanced nuclear reactors and begin operating them within seven years.  Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette made the much-awaited announcement about the first ARDP awards in a brief Twitter […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) took another step to bolster plans to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in Ontario, announcing it is advancing engineering and design work with three major advanced nuclear reactor developers: GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Terrestrial Energy, and X-energy. The announcement on Oct. 6 stems from a “due diligence” process OPG held […]

The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a planned experimental fast neutron reactor that the Department of Energy (DOE) says is crucial to support domestic advanced nuclear reactor research and development has cleared “Critical Decision 1,” paving the way for the engineering design phase to begin. Critical Decision 1—also known as “Approve Alternative Selection and Cost Range”—is […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation startup TerraPower are ready to demonstrate a “cost-competitive” advanced nuclear reactor system that will integrate a 345-MWe sodium fast reactor (SFR) with a molten salt energy storage system under a unique energy system architecture. The advanced nuclear technology developed under a joint development agreement is […]

Bolstered by $230 million in Congressionally appropriated funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) has officially launched the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to help U.S.-based private developers of advanced nuclear reactors demonstrate their technology in the U.S. Much anticipated by industry, the program formally established under the Office of Nuclear Energy program on May 14 […]

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in February 2020 published capital costs and performance characteristic estimates for 25 new electric power generating technologies. These estimates come from global engineering and design firm Sargent & Lundy (S&L), which the EIA commissioned to help accurately reflect the changing cost of new power generation technologies for the Annual Energy […]

Propelled in part by the White House Nuclear Fuel Working Group’s (NFWG’s) recent roadmap to strengthen the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, the nation’s nuclear industry this week blazed ahead on efforts to energize a U.S. commercial fuel supply that it says will be crucial for the widespread development and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors.  At […]

Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), a 195-MWe Generation IV nuclear technology, and NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) may be the focus of the first joint technical review by U.S. and Canadian nuclear regulators in a bid to boost their regulatory effectiveness as more advanced reactors and SMRs trundle toward commercialization.  Rumina Velshi, president […]

A wide-ranging bill introduced by a large group of bipartisan U.S. senators on March 27 seeks to cement the role advanced nuclear reactors will play in the nation’s future power mix.  The “Nuclear Energy Leadership Act” (NELA), aims to “reestablish U.S. leadership in nuclear energy,” which has been lost to state-sponsored development in Russia and […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the past two weeks has made a string of funding announcements, including nearly a half-billion dollars of new investment in power-related initiatives. The funding backs advancements in cybersecurity, advanced nuclear, solar, bioenergy, fuel cells, geothermal, and energy storage. $25 Million for Cybersecurity.On April 16, the DOE’s Office of […]

Under a government decree published in early August, Russia will build up to 11 new nuclear reactors by 2030, including two BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast-neutron reactors. Russia already has 36 operating reactors

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on January 15 that it was awarding up to $40 million each in cost-shared funding to Southern Co. and X-Energy to “support work to address key technical challenges to the design, construction, and operation of next generation nuclear reactors.” It also announced on January 18 that it was awarding […]