Diagram showing the structure of Lightbridge Fuel. (Image: Lightbridge)
Lightbridge Corporation has fabricated samples of nuclear fuel materials made of an enriched uranium-zirconium alloy, matching the composition of the alloy that the company intends to use for its future commercial Lightbridge Fuel product. The fuel is designed to improve the performance, safety, and proliferation resistance of nuclear reactors, according to the company. The enriched coupon samples will now be placed into capsules for irradiation testing in Idaho National Laboratory’s Advanced Test Reactor.
The new carriers for the HFIR spent fuel have a thinner bail made of a more easily dissolvable alloy than the previously used bail. (Photo: DOE)
Employees at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina have demonstrated their resourcefulness and capabilities by implementing a newly created carrier to transport spent nuclear fuel, reducing the time needed to process the material for permanent disposal in coming years.
Workers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers perform gamma walkover surveys along Coldwater Creek near St. Louis, Mo. (Photo: USACE)
A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association claims to have found an increased rate of cancer for people who grew up living close to Coldwater Creek near St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri.
July 31, 2025, 12:06PMANS NewsGeoffrey Rothwell Left: noted economist Milton Friedman (left) presented the “best graduate
student paper” prize from the Western Economics Association to Rothwell in 1984. Right: Rothwell in 2018, the year of his retirement.
When I was 10, in October 1963, my family moved to Richland, Wash., so that my father could work for Vitro-Hanford Engineering Services, later for Bechtel, on the design of the Fast Flux Test Facility. I was a “new” kid throughout my excellent education in the Richland School District. It was the mid-1960s, and I wanted to be a rocket scientist or aerospace engineer. I took all the math and science that Richland High School (RHS) had to offer. What struck me during our tour of Hanford’s N-reactor with my physics class was the loudness of the steam turbine room compared to the hydro turbine rooms in the dams along the Columbia River. I am now establishing a residence on Columbia Point Drive in Richland.
N.S. Savannah, the first commercial nuclear-powered cargo vessel, en route to the World’s Fair in Seattle in 1962. (Photo: U.S. National Archives)
The world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, the NS Savannah, will have a public site visit in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, August 23.
To register for the event and find up-to-date details on the event’s address, time, and more, click here.
North Carolina's State Legislative Building in Raleigh.
I have been a North Carolinian for 62 years and involved in the state’s nuclear energy industry from my high school days to today. I have seen firsthand how North Carolina has flourished. This growth has been due to the state’s enterprising people and strong leaders. Clean, competitive, and always-on nuclear power has also played an important role.
The 3D-printed forms—inside of which concrete is poured—are used to build radiation shielding columns for Kairos Power’s Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor. (Screen capture from ORNL video)
The Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Kairos Power and Barnard Construction, has successfully developed and validated large-scale, 3D-printed polymer composite forms for casting complex concrete structures.
The test took place at Kairos Power’s Oak Ridge, Tenn., campus, where the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor is currently under construction.
See a video of construction activity here.
Acting director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Greg Bowman (seated, left) and Holtec president Kelly Trice (seated, right) and other NRC officials celebrate the Palisades license restoration at the NRC headquarters. (Photo: NRC)
The Palisades nuclear power plant has been formally transitioned from decommissioning status to holding an operating license following the completion of an extensive technical review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It’s a historic move; before this, no U.S. nuclear plant had ever made the transition from shut down to approved for restart.