The Department of Energy announced last week that Melter 1 at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant, has hit its operational temperature of 2,100ºF. The DOE began heating Melter 1 in October 2022, but was soon forced to pause when abnormalities in the heaters’ power supply were encountered.
NRC nominee Nieh commits to independent safety mission
During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing today, Ho Nieh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was urged to...
DOE, NNSA open process to select energy suppliers for AI data centers
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration issued requests for proposals last month, seeking plans...
NEA report calls for more accurate data on SNF heat decay
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has issued a report calling for more-detailed information on tracking the decay heat of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors. According to the NEA, the...
Deep Isolation licenses its disposal technology to fed contractor Navarro
Nuclear waste disposal technology company Deep Isolation Nuclear announced it has signed a technology licensing agreement with government contractor Navarro Research and Engineering, giving...
Energy secretary denies reports of DOE plans to axe Hanford’s WTP
Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued a statement on September 9 denying reports that the Department of Energy plans to terminate the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in...
DOE, NRC prepare for government shutdown
The Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will furlough thousands of employees and operate at reduced capacity under a government shutdown that started after midnight on...
Four companies picked for fast-tracked fuel fabrication
The Department of Energy has fast-tracked its selections for the Fuel Line Pilot Program. Four companies—Oklo, Terrestrial Energy, TRISO-X, and Valar Atomics—were named September 30 as...
Oklo breaks ground at INL on Aurora reactor
Following the same milestones from Aalo Atomics and Valar Atomics, Santa Clara, Calif.–based reactor start-up Oklo has become the third company participating in the Department of Energy’s...
Centrus says Ohio stands to gain 300 jobs as enrichers await federal contracts
Centrus Energy announced a plan yesterday to add 300 new jobs at Centrus’s uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio, “in advance of federal funding decisions.” The company envisions...
Orano to supply Zeno with Am-241 to power space missions
Zeno Power, a developer of nuclear batteries, is to receive americium-241 recovered from Orano’s La Hague nuclear fuel recycling site in Normandy, France, under a strategic agreement...
