uranium

As the global demand for clean energy intensifies, nuclear power is enjoying a resurgence not seen in decades. However, this renewed interest has exposed a critical vulnerability in the U.S. energy sector: a massive disconnect between uranium consumption and domestic production. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Thomas Lamb, president and CEO of Myriad […]

Over nearly five decades, nuclear waste has been treated as an intractable problem, locked in dry casks, relegated to repositories that are slow to materialize, and generally viewed as a costly liability

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded contracts with a total potential value of $8 million to four nuclear fuel companies to further U.S. enrichment capabilities for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), a critical piece of the next-generation nuclear supply chain. The selected companies include Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Operating, URENCO’s Louisiana Energy Services, Orano […]

India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will allow the country’s flagship 500-MWe/1,250-MWth prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, to approach criticality. The nuclear energy safety watchdog on July 30 granted state-owned Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI) permission to embark on the final stage of core loading following assessments, extensive safety reviews, and plant […]

The U.S. Senate on April 30 passed—by unanimous consent—a bill to ban imports of unirradiated low-enriched uranium (LEU) produced in Russia. The bill now heads to the president’s desk for signature into law. The Senate passed the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act (H.R. 1042), which the House of Representatives passed (also by unanimous consent) by […]

Iran’s state-run news service said the country has started construction on four new nuclear power units. The IRNA agency on Feb. 1 reported that the four reactors would have expected total generation capacity of about 5,000 MW. Iran, whose nuclear program continues to be closely watched by the United Nations and others, has one operating […]

There are many reasons to be excited about the U.S. nuclear power industry and its potential for growth. For activists focused on climate change, its carbon-free attribute makes it a viable long-term power resource. Additionally, its around-the-clock generating capability makes it a vital option in a world increasingly filled with intermittent renewables. Furthermore, new technology […]

Advanced nuclear energy can, and should, play a major role in meeting the societal goal of 100% clean energy by mid-century. Advanced nuclear energy would complement other energy sources like wind and solar

Uranium has been one of the best-performing asset classes in 2022, according to data supplied by HANetf’s Sprott Uranium Miners UCITS ETF (URNM). In fact, the uranium spot price has increased 24.12% during the year through Oct. 31, according to the fund. October was a particularly strong month for uranium oxide (U3O8), which is used […]

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Aug. 2 gave Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) the green light to commission the experimental 2-MWth thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR-LF1) at

Nothing gets your attention like a crisis. It exposes what you haven’t done to prepare for it, and what you must do so it never happens again. So it is with the war in Ukraine. We now have a clearer picture of where we’ve grown too comfortable with the status quo. Countries dependent on Russian […]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications over the longer term, however, require urgent action, officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said. NEI CEO and President Maria Korsnick told reporters at the ongoing CERAWeek by […]

Eighteen bipartisan U.S. Senators are backing a bill that would direct the president to declare a national emergency and prohibit imports of Russian energy commodities, including crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. While the measure does not include Russian uranium, a senior Department of Energy official said addressing U.S. reliance on […]

The first Russian-made nuclear reactor fuel bundles with experimental ATF (Advanced Technology Fuel) rods have been loaded into Unit 2 at the Rostov nuclear power plant (NPP) in southwest Russia. The reactor resumed operations earlier this month after a scheduled maintenance and refueling outage. The Rostov site is home to four VVER-1000 reactor units (Figure […]

Poland’s push for nuclear power could include repurposing of coal-fired power plants with small modular reactor (SMR) technology from NuScale Power. NuScale on Sept. 23 announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two Polish companies, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (KGHM), and Piela Business Engineering (PBE), to explore how NuScale’s technology could be […]

Centrus Energy, a firm under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) with domestic technology, says it expects to begin producing the advanced nuclear fuel material by June 2022 at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Centrus President and CEO Daniel Poneman said on March […]

The U.S. will attempt to regain its international standing as a world leader in nuclear energy through a three-pronged strategy that will essentially seek to strengthen the full domestic nuclear fuel cycle, possibly deny imports of nuclear fuel fabricated in Russia or China, and promote advanced reactor technologies. The strategy is outlined in the White […]

Though much attention has been focused on the exciting realm of nuclear reactor technology innovation, major efforts to improve nuclear fuels—and boost power generation safety and economics—are underway

An Australian federal inquiry last December recommended partially lifting a nationwide ban on nuclear energy, urging that the government pursue a “goal-oriented” and community-focused strategy as it

Efforts to commercialize production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, which is needed for an array of advanced reactors, ramped up this week with two major announcements.  As the Department of Energy (DOE) contracted Centrus Energy to demonstrate production of HALEU fuel for advanced reactors at the DOE’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, private […]

Fast neutron reactor systems have the potential to extract 60 times more energy from uranium compared to existing thermal reactors, and they contribute to a significant reduction in the burden of radioactive

To propel interest and bolster development of advanced nuclear reactor designs, the Department of Energy (DOE) will demonstrate—by October 2020—the production of high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel in a first-of-its-kind $115 million project at the agency’s uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  HALEU is nuclear fuel that is enriched to a higher degree […]

  Scientists appear to have unraveled the mystery of uranium ore found at a mine in Oklo region of the Central African state of Gabon that exhibits a lower proportion of uranium-235 (U-235)—the fissile sort. According to an August 10 bulletin from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the first response that physicists had when […]

The nuclear power industry is struggling in the U.S. Several reactors are at risk of early closure due to difficulty competing in the wholesale power markets. New units being built in South Carolina have been abandoned, while the only other nuclear construction project in the U.S.—the Plant Vogtle expansion in Georgia—is behind schedule and over […]

Uranium oxide, the basic fuel for nuclear power plants, has recently sold at prices not seen in the past 13 years. In fact, the price is less than the cost of production in many cases. That could be a problem, because little is being done to increase the fuel supply, even though the world is […]

While GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) confirmed it hasn’t made a formal decision to proceed with licensing or construction of a laser enrichment facility at Paducah, Ky., the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it has agreed to sell depleted uranium to the company over a 40-year period to help produce nuclear power plant fuel. The […]

Domestic uranium production is falling to levels not seen since the early 2000s, which are themselves equal to production during the dawn of the nuclear age in the 1950s. Prospects for any sort of rebound look bleak, as a joint venture between GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba is looking to import Russian-designed fuel assemblies for use in […]

Late last year, Japanese engineers and technicians accomplished a major milestone nearly four years after the most damaging light-water reactor accident in history at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station

Dominion Virginia Power found two damaged nuclear fuel rods in Unit 2 of its North Anna Power Station located in Louisa County northwest of Richmond. The discovery was made during a regularly scheduled refueling outage that began on Sept. 7. The company believes the fuel rods were damaged as the result of “baffle jetting.” The […]

On June 9, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced six recommended actions designed to improve transparency of Department of Energy (DOE) uranium transactions. The recommendations were developed following a review of four transactions that took place in 2012 and 2013 between the DOE and USEC Inc. USEC is a supplier of nuclear fuel to […]