nuclear

Canada’s AtkinsRéalis Group announced it has an agreement to build two new CANDU nuclear reactors in Romania, which would be the first new reactors of that type built since 2007. The Montreal-based company on Nov. 15 said the Romanian project is a joint venture with Fluor Corp., Ansaldo Nucleare, and Sargent & Lundy. The contract […]

President-elect Donald Trump announced that Chris Wright, the CEO and founder of Denver, Colorado-based Liberty Energy, will lead the Department of Energy (DOE) in the new administration. “I am thrilled to announce that Chris Wright will be joining my Administration as both United States Secretary of Energy, and Member of the newly formed Council of […]

Officials from the U.S. and Ukraine said the countries will partner on building small modular reactors (SMRs) to replace the latter’s coal-fired power generation, with the SMRs used to help Ukraine decarbonize its steel industry. A statement from the U.S. State Dept., released at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 16, […]

State-owned PGE, the largest power producer in Poland, said the 1,366-MW PGE Gryfino Dolan Odra power station has entered commercial operation. The facility is now the country’s largest gas-fired power plant. Officials on Nov. 8 said the station will supply about 5% of Poland’s electricity. PGE officials said the plant is “one of the most […]

The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has published Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) for several projects that recently finalized financing from the agency. The projects include the restart of the Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan, which is expected next year. The DOE on Oct. 29 said the CBPs are part of […]

The power generation sector is looking at numerous ways to provide enough electricity to satisfy demand from data centers. Bloomberg Intelligence recently said its research shows data centers, buildings filled with servers and other computing equipment for data storage and networking that supports operations and artificial intelligence (AI), could be responsible for as much as […]

Voters in Kazakhstan reportedly have approved a plan that would bring the country its first nuclear power plant. Election officials said 70% of voters in a referendum held October 6 support the strategy promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has said nuclear power is a way to move the country away from reliance on coal-fired […]

Marking the first-ever revival of a nuclear power plant in the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 30 finalized a $1.52 billion loan guarantee to Holtec International to support the recommissioning of the 800-MW Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Michigan. Separately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded electric cooperative Wolverine Power […]

Groundbreaking has kicked off at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where Project Pele—the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) full-scale transportable microreactor prototype—will be placed for testing in 2026. When operational, the reactor will become the “first-ever Generation IV nuclear reactor to generate electricity in the U.S.,” the DOD said on Sept. 24. Project Pele, developed under a […]

Google’s top executive confirmed the company is working on large-scale data centers that would use more than 1 GW of power. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, in a speech last week at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) could possibly be used to generate the needed electricity. Pichai […]

Microsoft has announced a deal to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. It’s the latest move by a technology company to use nuclear power to provide electricity for energy-intensive data centers and support the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The agreement announced September 20, if approved by regulators, would allow Microsoft […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Abilene Christian University (ACU) a construction permit to build its Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility on the university’s campus in Texas. The approval is the regulatory body’s first for a liquid-fueled advanced reactor, the first for a research reactor in decades, and its second for any advanced […]

Municipal power utility Idaho Falls Power (IFP) has announced it is negotiating a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Aalo Atomics, a 2022-founded nuclear engineering firm inspired by Idaho National Laboratory (INL’s) MARVEL microreactor. Aalo on Sept. 16 confirmed it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the utility to explore the deployment of a fleet […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said generation capacity of nuclear power worldwide is expected to rise more than the group previously expected, to as much as 950 GW of generation by 2050. The IAEA in a report published Sept. 16 revised its annual projection for a fourth straight year, saying global nuclear capacity could […]

A government agency in Russia has published a draft plan for the expansion of nuclear power in the country that calls for construction of as many as 34 new reactors by 2042. The Unified Energy System of Russia recently released the plan (translated from Russian), writing that it is open for consultation for the next […]

Chinese researchers have confirmed the first of two units of the 200-MWe high-temperature modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) demonstration project at the Shidao Bay site in Rongcheng, Shandong Province, successfully

A new U.S. president will be inaugurated in less than five months. Polls show the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to be very close, with potentially only a few swing states deciding the election. While energy policy may not be a deciding factor for many Americans in choosing who they will vote for, […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA’s) board of directors has approved an additional $150 million for the public power utility’s $200 million New Nuclear Program to boost continued design work and development of potential small modular reactors (SMRs) at TVA’s Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The combined $350 million funding for the project will […]

State-run China Energy News reported that officials on August 19 approved construction of 11 nuclear reactors across the country, part of a wave of new reactors that could see China surpass both the U.S. and France in terms of operating reactors by the end of the decade. CGN Power Co., a subsidiary of China’s state-owned […]

A leading nuclear science and technology group in Canada, along with the investment arm of one of the country’s top banks, said they together would invest about CA$20 million ($14.6 million) to support development of commercial fusion energy. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BDC Capital, part of the Business Development Bank of Canada, on August 8 […]

Browns Ferry Unit 1, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) first nuclear reactor, turned 50 on Aug. 1, 2024, marking a significant milestone in the iconic plant’s storied history. To commemorate this occasion, POWER is republishing an article, written by Kennedy Maize in 2007, that provides an in-depth look at the history of the 3,954-MW Browns […]

Emerging from a historic election that stripped the African National Congress (ANC) party of its majority, South Africa’s new government has indicated it will accelerate the transition to renewable power to

Updated data from the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) shows the country has 55 nuclear reactors in operation, ranking third globally behind the U.S. and France. The CNEA said China at present has a world-leading 26 nuclear power units under construction, including Unit 5 of the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian Province, where the […]

We serve as elected utility regulators in Georgia and Arizona. Our states are thriving. Economic opportunities abound. And we need more energy. Both of our states have nuclear reactors, and there is public support to build more of them—if the right deal can be made. But it is not just Georgia and Arizona. Many states […]

A Kentucky-based group has announced plans to build a 6-GW fleet of nuclear power stations in the U.S., looking to take advantage of bipartisan support for nuclear technology and the need to build more baseload, zero-carbon sources of energy. The Nuclear Company, headquartered in Lexington, said its business model would lean on “proven, licensed technology […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has wrapped up its final safety evaluation for Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 “low power” advanced test facility, comprising two 35-MWth test molten salt reactors—similar to the Hermes 1 “non-power” demonstration reactor for which the regulatory body issued a construction permit in December 2023.  The NRC’s action, announced on July 22, […]

Officials in India said that country’s energy transition plan will focus on developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), pumped energy storage projects, and more efficient coal-fired power plants. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, presenting the government’s 2024-2025 budget, noted the latest financial allocations outline a shift in priorities for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sitharaman on July […]

Framatome and Slovak utility Slovenské elektrárne on July 23 announced the companies have signed a major contract for the long-term supply of nuclear fuel to the Bohunice and Mochovce VVER reactors from 2027. This follows on from the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two companies in May 2023. “This contract marks a new milestone […]

South African state-owned utility Eskom has garnered the National Nuclear Regulator’s (NNR’s) approval to continue operating Unit 1 of the 1,860-MW Koeberg Nuclear Power Station for another 20 years, until July 21, 2044. The nuclear regulator’s approval effectively extends the lifetime of the 930-MW unit to 60 years. The unit’s current 40-year license was set […]

A global professional services and project management company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, announced it has been chose to develop the pre-concept design for a nuclear fusion pilot plant (FPP). The pilot, announced by Canada-based Canada-based AtkinsRéalis on July 10 as part of Type One Energy’s FusionDirect program, will be a commercial-scale FPP. It will use […]