The Department of Energy introduced a Fusion Science & Technology (S&T) Roadmap on October 16 as a national “Build–Innovate–Grow” strategy to develop and commercialize fusion energy by the mid-2030s by aligning public investment and private innovation. Hailed by Darío Gil, the DOE’s new undersecretary for science, as bringing “unprecedented coordination across America's fusion enterprise” and advancing President Trump’s January 2025 executive order, “Unleashing American Energy,” the road map echoes plans issued by the DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) in 2023 and 2024, with a new emphasis on the convergence of AI and fusion.

The road map release coincided with other fusion energy events held this week in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Here is a recap of recent industry happenings:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

New international partnership to speed Xe-100 SMR deployment

X-energy, Amazon, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Doosan Enerbility have formed a strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactors and TRISO fuel in the United States to meet the power demands from data centers and AI. The partners will collaborate in reactor engineering design, supply-chain development, construction planning, investment strategies, long-term operations, and global opportunities for joint AI-nuclear deployment. The companies also plan to jointly mobilize as much as $50 billion in public and private investment to support advanced nuclear energy in the U.S.

It’s been a good month for Nano Nuclear in the state of Illinois. On October 7, the Office of Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that the company would be awarded $6.8 million from the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois Act to help fund the development of its new regional research and development facility in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.

American Fuel Resources, a provider a nuclear fuel cycle solutions headquartered in Spokane, Wash., has submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting transfer of a materials license from Idaho-based radioisotope manufacturer International Isotopes for a depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) deconversion plant in Lea County, N.M.

Members of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Second Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) joint undertaking gathered from September 29 to October 3 in Ketchum, Idaho, for the technical advisory group and governing board meetings hosted by Idaho National Laboratory. The FIDES-II Framework aims to ensure and foster competences in experimental nuclear fuel and structural materials in-reactor experiments through a diverse set of Joint Experimental Programs (JEEPs).

The American Nuclear Society recently announced the designation of three new nuclear historic landmarks: the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), the Neely Nuclear Research Center, and the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Today’s article, the first in a three-part series, will focus on the historical significance of HFEF.

Radiant Industries will build its first portable nuclear reactor at the site of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The land for Radiant’s new factory includes portions of the K-27 and K-29 Manhattan Project sites. The company plans to test Kaleidos, a 1-MW nuclear microreactor, in 2026, with first deployments expected soon after.

Sellafield Ltd., the site license company overseeing the decommissioning of the U.K.’s Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, England, announced the award of £2.9 billion (about $3.86 billion) in infrastructure support contracts to the companies of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Costain, and HOCHTIEF (UK) Construction.

On day 10 of the government shutdown, the National Nuclear Security Administration has yet to furlough workers, but a spokesperson said that could change if members of Congress don’t agree on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.

Should that be the case, the NNSA will resort to keeping only essential unpaid workers at some point if the government shutdown continues, an agency spokesperson told Nuclear Newswire.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to accelerate the state’s leadership in both fission and fusion, and earlier this month asked the University of Massachusetts–Lowell to develop road maps to support research, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced nuclear and fusion energy in the state to “affordably, reliably, and sustainably” meet growing electricity demand in New England.

The world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, the NS Savannah, will have a public site visit in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, November 15.

To register for the event and find up-to-date details on the event’s address, time, and more, click here.

Russia’s lower house of Parliament, the State Duma, approved a measure to withdraw from a 25-year-old agreement with the United States to cut back on the leftover plutonium from Cold War–era nuclear weapons.

The American Nuclear Society recently hosted a Supplier Showcase webinar, “License Renewal: Smarter, Faster, Better,” featuring two industry experts from Excel Services Corporation, a regulatory and consulting services firm, and GSE Solutions, a nuclear engineering and software company, who both shared a variety of insights into how to go through the license renewal process efficiently.

International Atomic Energy Agency researchers have helped scientists on the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius to develop a variety of cauliflower that is resistant to black rot disease. The cauliflower was developed through innovative radiation-induced plant-breeding techniques employed by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.

Hoffman

Nuclear chemist Darleane D. Hoffman, who was renowned for her research on transuranium elements that advanced the understanding of nuclear fission, died on September 4 at her home in Menlo Park, Calif. She was 98.

Iowa origins: Hoffman was born on November 8, 1926, in Terril, Ia. She attended Iowa State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1948 and a doctorate in physical (or nuclear) chemistry in 1951. She then began working as a chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Los Alamos research: In 1953, Hoffman began a research position at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she conducted pioneering work on spontaneous fission. She served as the lab’s first female division leader in charge of the Chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry Division.

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 maintain the agency’s independence regardless of political pressure from the Trump administration.

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 from companies to build AI data centers at the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Savannah River Site, and Idaho National Laboratory.

Nieh

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a nomination hearing Wednesday for Ho Nieh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Trump nominated Nieh on July 30 to serve as NRC commissioner the remainder of a term that will expire June 30, 2029, as Nuclear NewsWire previously reported.

Nieh has been vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear since 2021, though since June 2024 he has been at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations as a loaned executive.

A return to the NRC: If confirmed by the Senate, Nieh would be returning to the NRC after three previous stints totaling nearly 20 years.

Duke Energy is looking to add large light water reactors and small modular reactors to its fleet in the coming years to meet increased energy demands expected in its southeast region.

Earlier this year, Nuclear Waste Services, the radioactive waste management subsidiary of the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, hosted a group of five teenagers for a week of exposure to real-world work environments at its facilities in Calderbridge, Cumbria. The students learned about career opportunities and leadership responsibilities at the company while they engaged with senior management and performed activities with several NWS teams, including employees in the environmental, waste characterization, cybersecurity, human resources, and geological disposal facility grants departments.