technology

In yet another major set of deals spearheaded by a tech giant in support of nuclear power development, Amazon will back the deployment of 5 GW of new X-energy small modular reactor (SMR) projects by 2039, starting with an initial four-unit 320-MWe Xe-100 plant with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington. Separately, Amazon signed […]

The power generation industry has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past several years, with the shift from regulated monopolies to a competitive landscape introducing new complexities and

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 […]

The Texas Energy Fund (TEF), a flagship loan program designed to boost the state’s dispatchable generation, faced its first setback on Sept. 4 when the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) denied Aegle Power’s loan application for a 1,292-MW combined cycle generating facility in Harlingen—its second-largest shortlisted facility. The PUCT said Aegle Power’s application, filed […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has doubled down on its stance that carbon capture is “adequately demonstrated” in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of a bid to urge the high court to allow the agency’s contentious Carbon Pollution Standards to remain in effect while legal challenges continue. The Supreme Court […]

According to the Global Geothermal Power Tracker (GGPT), a comprehensive dataset of geothermal power facilities, about 14 GW of geothermal power is operational worldwide. The U.S. has the largest installed capacity at 3,900 MW, followed by Indonesia (2,418 MW), the Philippines (1,952 MW), Türkiye (1,691 MW), New Zealand (1,042 MW), and Kenya (985 MW). Most […]

Construction of Hermes, Kairos Power’s 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor, has officially kicked off in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The effort marks another major step for the burgeoning advanced nuclear industry, which celebrated the groundbreaking of TerraPower’s Kemmerer 1, a pioneering sodium-cooled fast reactor demonstration, in June. Site work and excavation for the Hermes […]

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 […]

Mexico is ramping up its use of natural gas for power generation, with several plants coming online in recent years, and at least 10 more (Table 1) expected to come online this year, next year, or in 2026. The

The utility industry is an unsung hero for nearly every community—until the power falters. A prime example is the extreme weather that passed through much of the central U.S. this spring. In Houston, where my company is based, we recently experienced severe storms that left around a million businesses and homes without power. These acts […]