Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy

September 12, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News

A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.

When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.

NRC to hold workshop on improving realism in probabilistic risk assessment

September 12, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a two-day public workshop September 30–October 1 to discuss efforts to improve realism in probabilistic risk assessment. The hybrid workshop, which will be held in person and online, will focus on enhancing risk-informed decision-making for nuclear power plants by making PRA models more realistic and reflective of reactor design, operations, and real-world behavior.

DOE-EM sees nearly $2M in savings in naval reactor D&D recycling

September 12, 2025, 10:03AMNuclear News
Idaho Cleanup Project crews separate noncontaminated metal for recycling at INL’s Naval Reactors Facility. (Photos: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) has recycled more than 2,100 tons of noncontaminated metal debris since 2022 as it works to demolish three legacy Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program prototypes at the Idaho National Laboratory Site, saving taxpayers nearly $2 million in disposal costs while advancing the project’s environmental goals.

NNSA’s CIRP checks Kansas off its list

September 12, 2025, 6:56AMNuclear News

Kansas in now one of 11 U.S. states and territories that is free of cesium-137 irradiators—the others being Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced on September 10 that it had completed the removal of all of these medical devices from Kansas as part of its ongoing effort to reduce radiological threats in the United States.

DOE awards $134M for fusion research and development

September 11, 2025, 2:57PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it has awarded $134 million in funding for two programs designed to secure U.S. leadership in emerging fusion technologies and innovation. The funding was awarded through the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program in the Office of Science and will support the next round of Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives and the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) awards.

Atomic Canyon partners with INL on AI benchmarks

September 11, 2025, 11:58AMNuclear News

As interest and investment grows around AI applications in nuclear power plants, there remains a gap in standardized benchmarks that can quantitatively compare and measure the quality and reliability of new products.

Nuclear-tailored AI developer Atomic Canyon is moving to fill that gap by entering into a new strategic partnership with Idaho National Laboratory to develop and release the “first comprehensive benchmark suite for evaluating retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and large language models (LLMs) in nuclear applications.”

Energy secretary denies reports of DOE plans to axe Hanford’s WTP

September 11, 2025, 9:27AMNuclear News
An aerial view of the Hanford Site’s 200 Area and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant. (Photo: DOE)

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 Washington state.

David Wright officially sworn in for third term at the NRC

September 10, 2025, 2:55PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently announced that David Wright, after being nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate, was ceremonially sworn in as NRC chair on September 8.

This swearing in comes more than a month after Wright began his third term on the commission; he began leading as chair July 31. His term will conclude on June 30, 2030.

Nano Nuclear wins Air Force contract for Kronos MMR

September 10, 2025, 12:03PMNuclear News

New York City–based advanced nuclear technology developer Nano Nuclear Energy has been awarded a Direct-to-Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract for its Kronos micro modular reactor (MMR) by AFWERX, the innovation and venture arm of the U.S. Air Force. The contract calls for AFWERX, with the 11th Civil Engineering Squadron, to explore the feasibility of deploying the Kronos MMR Energy System at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) in Washington, D.C.

Fermi America looks to go public as NRC accepts COLA for AP1000s

September 10, 2025, 9:28AMNuclear News
Preliminary site map for Project Matador from Fermi America’s SEC filing (Source: Fermi America)

Texas Tech University and Fermi America are now one step closer to realizing their massive vision for the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus in Amarillo, Texas, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted the first two parts of its combined license application (COLA) for four Westinghouse AP1000s.

Applications open to women for IAEA fellowship program

September 9, 2025, 9:28AMNuclear News
IAEA Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Program fellows and Lise Meitner Program participants at a 2024 event. (Photo: IAEA)

The application period for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Program (MSCFP) has opened. Women interested in studying nuclear-related subjects at the master’s degree level should apply by October 31, 2025.

More information on how to apply can be found here.

NRC to conduct environmental review of GLE’s enrichment facility

September 9, 2025, 6:36AMNuclear News
GLE’s PLEF would be sited next to the DOE’s Paducah plant, which stopped operating in 2013. (Photo: DOE)

As part of its environmental review of Global Laser Enrichment’s planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it will conduct a scoping process ahead of preparing an environmental impact statement for GLE’s license application. Announced in the September 5 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking written comments on the scope of the EIS until October 6.

Deep Fission raises $30M in financing

September 8, 2025, 3:13PMNuclear News

Since the Department of Energy kicked off a 10-company race with its Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program to bring test reactors on line by July 4, 2026, the industry has been waiting for new headlines proclaiming progress. Aalo Atomics broke ahead of the pack first by announcing last week that it had broken ground on its 50-MWe Aalo-X at Idaho National Laboratory.

DOE awards $35M to help commercialize national lab technologies

September 5, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy announced recently it will provide more than $35 million for 42 projects to help move emerging energy technologies from DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites related to grid security, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing to the marketplace. The selected projects will leverage over $21 million in cost-share from private and public partners, bringing total funding to more than $57.5 million.

A full list of the FY2025 selections is available here.

Flowserve receives U.S. approval for pump manufacturing in India

September 5, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News

Flowserve Corporation, headquartered in Irving, Texas, has “received official approval from the U.S. Department of Energy (10 CFR Part 810) to be able to manufacture safety-critical pumps for India’s new reactors at our Coimbatore, India facility,” according to a post on the company’s LinkedIn profile.

Constellation appoints new nuclear chief

September 5, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News

Rhoades

Mudrick

Longtime nuclear industry executive Chris Mudrick has been named the new chief nuclear officer at Constellation Energy, effective September 29. He will take over the position from Dave Rhoades, who is retiring from the role.

History: Mudrick has been Constellation’s senior vice president of generation growth since December 2024, a position that marked his return to the company after serving as executive vice president and CNO at Bruce Power in Ontario, Canada, for more than four years. Prior to joining Bruce Power, Mudrick was at Constellation/Exelon for more than 32 years, ending his time there as senior vice president of operations–East and chief operating officer. He began his career with the company as a nuclear power plant operator in Pennsylvania in 1987.

General Atomics marks completion of ITER’s superconducting fusion magnet

September 4, 2025, 3:03PMNuclear News
The sixth ITER central solenoid module is prepared to be shipped to France. (Photo: General Atomics)

General Atomics last week celebrated the completion of the central solenoid modules for the ITER reactor being built in southern France. Designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power, the ITER tokamak will be the world’s largest experimental fusion facility.

Industry Update—September 2025

September 4, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

Progress continues on ITER vacuum vessel construction

Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a $180 million contract with the ITER Organization for the assembly of ITER’s vacuum vessel. Westinghouse has been collaborating with ITER for more than a decade, including in the manufacturing of sectors for the tokamak device’s vacuum vessel, in cooperation with its partners in the AMW consortium, Ansaldo Nucleare and Walter Tosto. After all the vacuum vessel sectors are in place, Westinghouse plans to simultaneously weld the nine sectors to form one circular ring-shaped torus.

ANS's webinar on security in floating and offshore nuclear power

September 4, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News

The American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) held a webinar recently exploring the security aspects of floating and offshore nuclear power.

Moderator Shikha Prasad, CEO of Srijan LLC and immediate past chair of the NNPD, began the discussion by recapping the recent exponential growth in the field and its future economic potential before introducing the presenters, each of whom spoke about the work they and their organizations are doing to advance the field.

Below are brief summaries of each speaker’s presentation. To see their thoughts and the ensuing Q&A, click here.