As human factors specialists working at the intersection of human performance and nuclear operations, we are witnessing one of the nuclear sector’s most significant transitions in decades. The emergence of small modular reactors, microreactors, and other advanced designs is reshaping the industry’s landscape. Digital instrumentation and controls, passive safety systems, and increased automation are creating opportunities for greater safety margins and more flexible operation. These same features also fundamentally redefine what it means to “operate” a nuclear plant. Interactions among human roles, automation, and passive systems shape how people maintain awareness, exercise judgment, and intervene when necessary. These developments affect both operational realities and the regulatory foundations on which nuclear safety is built.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have reported evidence that small adjustments to a material’s atomic-level ordering can significantly affect the rate and extent of corrosion, even with identical baseline chemical compositions.

For the study, published recently in Corrosion Science, the team ran simulations for nichrome-based alloys, which have excellent strength, creep resistance, and tolerance to radiation-induced degradation, making them top candidates for use in molten salt reactors and other advanced energy systems.

X-energy subsidiary TRISO-X has received an economic development grant valued at $11 million from Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Supply Chain Investment Fund, which was established in 2023 to “support nuclear energy business investment, workforce development programs, and site development across Tennessee.” The grant will be used for the ongoing construction of TRISO-X’s fuel fabrication campus at the Horizon Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

In the span of just over a week in late June and early July, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission published three proposed rules on modernizing security requirements, low-level radioactive waste disposal requirements, and fuel cycle and materials licensing.

This week, NRC staff led separate virtual public information meetings on each of the proposed rules, providing details to the public on what each one would change.

At the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam, the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has inaugurated a hydrogen production facility based on the copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle that uses nuclear process heat generated by the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR).

Areg Danagoulian of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is proposing a mechanism for verifying that Earth-orbiting satellites are in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons in space. Danagoulian’s “concept and feasibility study,” titled “Verification of the Outer Space Treaty with cosmic protons,” was published recently in the journal Nature.

Michael Goff

I don’t think we’ve ever had a busier year in the Office of Nuclear Energy, and it’s probably been decades since we’ve had this much momentum within the overall U.S. nuclear industry.

President Trump and Energy Secretary Wright have made very clear the important role that nuclear must play in meeting our energy needs, and that’s well demonstrated by the four executive orders that the president signed [more than] 375 days ago. In nuclear, we’re now talking about days, not years.

Those EOs set a goal for the United States to quadruple the amount of nuclear that we have. We need to go from the 94 reactors that we have operating right now, which generate roughly 100 gigawatts of electricity, to 400 gigawatts by 2050.

Two nuclear fusion companies are setting up shop in disused industrial buildings. Realta Fusion just named a Madison, Wis., location for its “Realta Forge.” Meanwhile, last week, Inertia Enterprises announced the opening of its new headquarters in Livermore, Calif.

A new irradiation experimental system is ready for deployment. The rig, which is the focus of In-Core Real-Time Mechanical Testing of Structural Materials (INCREASE-I), an OECD Nuclear Energy Agency project, will be used to conduct stress-relaxation tests of stainless steel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR), according to the OECD NEA.

On July 13, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the Power NJ Act, a bill that directs the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU), in collaboration with the state’s Economic Development Authority, to establish an “advanced nuclear energy procurement program.”

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy introduced six nuclear permitting reform bills back in June. The mostly bipartisan bills returned to the subcommittee on Tuesday for markups—and with strong backing from both sides of the aisle.

Despite some lingering concerns in areas like federal transparency, the role of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and staff attrition in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the subcommittee advanced all six pieces of legislation to the full committee with bipartisan support.

The remote, automatic, real-time adjustment of a research reactor’s power by a geographically distributed control system has been reported by researchers from Idaho National Laboratory, the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, and Purdue University. The investigators first used an automatic adjustment “digital control loop” system to demonstrate remote adjustments of Purdue’s PUR-1 research reactor. They then applied a reinforcement learning model that simulates the interaction of physical forces inside the reactor, making the loop system more autonomous.

Now is a good time to register for the 15th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 23rd American Nuclear Society Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (ICRS15-RPSD2026), which will be held October 25–29.

Researchers have reported using a combination of quantum and classical computing to calculate chemistry connected to tritium speciation in a FLiBe—lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride—molten salt blanket, demonstrating a promising direction for unlocking tritium breeding in fusion machines.

On July 9, the American Nuclear Society hosted the third installment of its “Nuclear in the States” webinar series. This time, the webinar looked to the current landscape of Utah’s nuclear sector—from its policy developments to ongoing projects to workforce needs.

ANS CEO Craig Piercy, who led the discussion, was joined by Chris Hayter, cofounder of Hi Tech Solutions and founder of Fulcrum Point Energy; Emy Lesofski, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s energy advisor and director of the Utah Office of Energy Development (OED); and Jeff Richardson, president of D&D and chief projects officer at EnergySolutions.

Following up on an agreement that was signed 12 years ago, Australia and India have finalized the details by which Australian uranium will be exported to India for peaceful purposes and under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Administrative Arrangement to enable the long-term exports was reached at the Third India–Australia Annual Summit, held in Melbourne on July 9. The summit coincided with a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Westinghouse has cleared a hurdle in its quest to renew and update the standard design certification (DC) for its AP1000 reactor with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of an exemption from scheduling requirements that limit when an applicant can apply for a DC renewal.

On July 1, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed removing the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle from its radiation protection regulations and replacing it with a graded approach. The agency also proposed increases to effluent dose limits and adjusting how it handles allowances for exceeding dose limits.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has upheld and finalized a “white” safety finding at V.C. Summer power plant in Jenkinsville, S.C., over the plant’s failure to properly preplan and perform maintenance on its turbine-driven emergency feedwater pump (TDEFW) governor valve linkage. The 966-MWe three-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactor at Summer started commercial operation in 1982.

Sizewell B, on the Suffolk coast of England, has been granted a 20-year life extension. The nuclear power plant, which began operating in 1995, will now remain in operation until 2055. Sizewell B owner and operator EDF Energy agreed to make extra investments to maintain the facility, with additional investment funds coming from Centrica, which owns a 20 percent share in EDF’s U.K. reactors.