Industry Update—December 2025

The Tennessee Valley Authority has issued a letter of intent to Type One Energy expressing interest in the potential deployment of the company’s fusion technology at the former Bull Run fossil fuel plant site, after the technology becomes commercially available. Type One Energy is developing its Infinity Two 350-MWe baseload power plant featuring its stellarator fusion technology. The stellarator technology is based on a twisted figure-eight shape rather than the toroid shape of tokamaks. Compared with a tokamak, a stellarator requires less injected power to sustain the plasma, has greater design flexibility, and allows for simplification of plasma control.

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy has formed a strategic alliance with construction and engineering firm Samsung C&T to advance the deployment of GVH’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor outside North America. The two companies agreed to develop supply chain and project delivery solutions for strategic global deployment of the BWRX-300, including the potential deployment of five units in Sweden. The completion of GVH’s first BWRX-300, which is currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Ontario, is expected by 2030.

Further, Canadian construction firm Aecon has signed a three-year teaming agreement with Estonia’s Fermi Energia to advance its cooperation on the development and deployment of GVH’s BWRX-300 SMR technology in Estonia. Aecon and Fermi Energia agreed to collaborate during the SMR development phase to create a qualified domestic nuclear capability for BWRX-300 deployment in Estonia, including the development of strategies, plans, and evaluation paths. They will also work together, along with local and international partners, on preconstruction scheduling and cost planning and on forming a capable reactor-building deployment team.

Nano Nuclear Energy has signed a letter of intent to sell its Odin microreactor design and all associated intellectual property to U.K.–based advanced reactor developer Cambridge AtomWorks. This firm, which is led by University of Cambridge researchers, has been developing Odin for Nano Nuclear on an outsourced consulting basis. Nano Nuclear stated that the Odin sale would allow it to streamline its product line to concentrate on its portfolio of gas-cooled, highly modular microreactors, which includes the Kronos MMR Energy System, the Loki MMR, and Zeus.

Italian micro-modular reactor developer Terra Innovatum and Texas-based GSR III Acquisition Corp. have signed a memorandum of understanding with energy firm Ameresco to establish a comprehensive framework for the siting, development, construction, integration, operation, and decommissioning planning of Terra Innovatum’s Solo micro-modular reactor. The intent of the collaboration is to identify siting opportunities for the Solo reactor on public and private land, with the goal of securing the deployment of 50 reactor units at federal and commercial sites across the United States.

Another Terra Innovatum–GSR III Acquisition collaboration is accelerating its go-to-market plans for using the Solo reactor to produce medical radioisotopes.

France-based Framatome has signed an MOU with the Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Development to explore advanced nuclear reactor technologies for powering future settlements on the moon. The agreement covers three areas of study: development of reactor fuel to ensure efficiency and safety, development of materials capable of withstanding the extreme conditions of space and the lunar surface, and the use of additive manufacturing for reactor components.

NAAREA (Nuclear Abundant Affordable Resourceful Energy for All), a French developer of molten salt fast neutron microreactors, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. The agreement focuses on the training of students in the fields of fast neutrons and molten salts. NAAREA’s XAMR, still in development, is a Gen IV fast neutron microreactor that can generate 40 MW of electricity and 80 MW of high-temperature heat by burning spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The company plans to bring the reactor to market in the 2030s.

Compact fast reactor developer Oklo Inc. and Swedish lead-cooled SMR developer Blykalla have finalized a joint technology development agreement under which the companies will share knowledge and technology on materials, components, nonnuclear supply chain sourcing, fuel fabrication, and licensing best practices. The companies will also examine shared suppliers for reactor-agnostic equipment to improve availability, schedules, and cost.

Oklo has also signed an agreement with French company Newcleo, a developer of lead-cooled fast reactors and mixed oxide fuel, to collaborate on advanced fuel fabrication and manufacturing infrastructure in the United States. Under the agreement, Newcleo will invest as much as $2 billion in the collaboration. Sweden’s Blykalla plans to coinvest in some of these same projects and to procure fuel-related services from them.

Swedish companies Studsvik, Blykalla, and Evroc have signed an MOU to explore development of the country’s first nuclear-powered data centers, to be located at Studsvik’s licensed nuclear site in the city of Nyköping. The agreement establishes a framework for corporate collaboration with the goal of assessing the commercial and technical viability of co-locating data centers and SMRs at the Nyköping location.

Russia’s Rosatom has signed an MOU with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization for cooperation on the building of SMRs and the promotion of sustainable development, energy security, and technological advancement in Iran.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

Arkansas commissions feasibility study on new nuclear

The state of Arkansas has hired Maryland-based consultancy firm Excel Services Corporation to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on the development of new nuclear energy generation within the state. Excel Services is to provide interim findings, a draft report, and a final report within 10 months of the October 2025 start of the feasibility study.

Dominion Engineering, a nuclear engineering division of Allied Power, has established a strategic partnership with construction technology developer PowerN. The partnership, which is designed to help nuclear construction projects remain on schedule and within budget, combines Dominion Engineering’s engineering and project management expertise with PowerN’s CPMS (construction performance modeling and simulation) platform.

The Texas Nuclear Alliance, which is dedicated to the advancement of nuclear technology in the state, has added Red Post Energy to its list of members. Red Post Energy is an independent power producer headquartered in Houston that has more than 100 years of global experience in oil and gas, chemicals, power generation, clean technologies, and energy transitions.

Canada’s IsoEnergy Ltd. has announced its acquisition of Australian company Toro Energy. The acquisition creates a development-ready platform with a uranium resource base in Australia and North America.

CONTRACTS

Zeno Power gains access to Orano supplies

Nuclear battery developer Zeno Power has reached an agreement with France’s Orano to get priority access to americium-241 supplies from Orano’s La Hague recycling site in France. The agreement follows the companies’ ongoing mutual work to explore the potential production of Am-241.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has awarded the next phase of decommissioning work for the Monju Prototype Fast Reactor in Fukui Prefecture to Alkali Metal Processing Limited, a joint venture between U.S. engineering firm Amentum and U.K.-based Cavendish Nuclear, a subsidiary of Babcock International Group. Alkali Metal Processing will construct, commission, and secure regulatory permissions for a new facility in the United Kingdom that will treat sodium coolant removed from the Monju reactor. The new JAEA award builds on a previous JAEA contract, awarded in 2023, that focused on the design and engineering phase of the Monju decommissioning project.

The United Kingdom’s Sellafield Ltd. (a subsidiary of the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company have extended their agreement on nuclear decommissioning cooperation by as much as 10 additional years. The companies’ original agreement, signed in 2014, enabled the sharing of operational and technical knowledge to support decommissioning work being performed at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi site and the U.K.’s Sellafield site.

London-based Sizewell C has awarded a contract to EDF subsidiary Arabelle Solutions for the supply and installation of two complete turbine islands at the planned Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, England.

In addition, Sizewell C and the U.K.-based Urenco Group have signed a six-year uranium enrichment services supply contract for fuel for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Also, Sizewell C and France’s Framatome have signed a long-term fuel fabrication contract for the nuclear plant.

Romania’s Nuclearelectrica has signed an agreement with Arabelle Solutions on the refurbishment of Unit 1 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in southeastern Romania. The Romanian utility has also signed an agreement with Framatome on the advancement of medical radioisotopes production at Cernavoda. Arabelle Solutions is to provide equipment and services for the refurbishment of Cernavoda-1’s turbine generator as part of the 30-year life extension project at the power plant. Framatome and Nuclearelectrica agreed to collaborate on the production of lutetium-177 at Cernavoda, the operation of equipment and infrastructure resulting from this production, and the development of other projects related to the production of medical radioisotopes.

Nuclearelectrica also has signed a $630 million financing contract with a banking syndicate led by J.P. Morgan for the refurbishment of Cernavoda-1, and it has obtained a $90 million loan for the next stage of the Cernavoda-3 and -4 project. Infrastructure work on the Unit 1 project began in September. The subsequent stage includes preparation for implementation of the project.

Brazil’s National Nuclear Energy Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with Argentinian technology systems developer Invap that establishes terms and conditions to guide negotiations on an engineering, procurement, and construction agreement for the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) as well as for the technology complex that will house this reactor. The RMB will be similar to Argentina’s RA-10 multipurpose reactor, a 30-MWt open-pool research reactor that is currently under construction and scheduled for operation by 2027.

Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro has obtained an order from Nuclear Power Corporation of India to construct Russian-supplied 1000-MWe pressurized water reactors at the Kudankulam site in Tamil Nadu. The order, with a reported value of as much as $285 million, consists of the full mechanical package for Kudankulam Units 5 and 6, including installation of the reactor and turbine systems, seawater systems, polar and trestle cranes, and related equipment. The order also covers accessories, piping, supports, structural steelwork, painting, anticorrosion coating, insulation, and full testing for the buildings and other structures at the site.

NEW PRODUCTS

GNF offers new fuel product

Global Nuclear Fuel, part of the GE Vernova-Hitachi alliance, has introduced GNF4, a next-generation nuclear fuel product. The 11×11 GNF4 product features two advanced components that have been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Ziron cladding and aluminosilicate-doped uranium dioxide pellets. GNF said that Ziron cladding resists corrosion, ensuring that fuel remains safe and reliable, and that it is an enhancement to the Zircaloy 2 cladding that has previously been used in more than 175,000 GNF fuel assemblies. The product is being fabricated at GNF’s manufacturing facility in Wilmington, N.C. The first lead use assemblies of GNF4 are contracted for deployment in 2026, with full reload quantities expected in 2030.