CNL investigates alloy with potential reactor applications

July 24, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News

A research team led by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is studying a type of high-entropy alloy (HEA) that seems to withstand a cascade-involved irradiation environment at elevated temperatures better than stainless steel exposed to similar conditions. In a paper published in the Journal of Nuclear Materials, the researchers describe an HEA made of chromium, iron, manganese, and nickel (CrFeMnNi) that has the potential to improve the safety and functionality of nuclear reactors, as well as of spacecraft.

Savannah River Site could produce 3.1 MT of HALEU as downblending plan okayed

July 24, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News
H Canyon under construction in the early 1950s (left) and in 2010. (Photos: Savannah River Site)

From 2003 to 2011, staff at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site downblended high-enriched uranium in the site’s H Canyon, producing over 300 metric tons (MT) of low-enriched uranium that was fabricated into fuel. The facility has since been idled, but downblending could soon begin again—this time to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

NCRP—The nation’s council

July 24, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear NewsKathryn Higley

Kathryn Higley

For nearly a century, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements has served as the United States’ leading authority on radiation protection. Established in 1929 as the Advisory Committee on X-ray and Radium Protection, the NCRP was created in response to growing concerns about the health risks of radiation exposure following the discoveries of X-rays and radioactivity.

It was formally chartered by Congress in 1964 through Public Law 88-376, also known as the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Charter Act. The NCRP has provided science-­based guidance for the public, workers, and the environment. Its work spans a wide range of topics, including protecting patients and workers in medical, industrial, and environmental settings; supporting emergency preparedness; developing risk models for low-dose exposures; guiding safe practices for new technologies such as advanced nuclear reactors; and providing information on wireless communication devices.

BWXT advances on TRISO project

July 24, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News
The chemical vapor infiltration furnace at BWXT’s Lynchburg Technology Center in Lynchburg, Va. (Photo: BWXT)

BWX Technologies (BWXT) has achieved a key milestone in its project to additively manufacture advanced forms of TRISO fuel for Generation IV advanced nuclear reactors. The Lynchburg Technology Center of subsidiary company BWXT Advanced Technologies, located in Lynchburg, Va., has successfully installed and tested a chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) furnace that solidifies pre-forms that are then filled with TRISO particles, a fuel consisting of carbon and silicon layers surrounding a uranium kernel.

Oklo announces plans to collaborate with Vertiv and Liberty

July 23, 2025, 3:03PMNuclear News
Vertiv and Oklo plan to collaborate on modular, energy-efficient power and cooling systems and designs developed to support data centers driven by nuclear power. (Image: Oklo)

In back-to-back press releases, Oklo recently announced two new partnerships that seek to advance the deployment of its commercial power reactors in the data center market.

These partnerships, one with Ohio-based Vertiv Holdings and one with Colorado-based Liberty Energy, continue Oklo’s trend in working to position their Aurora powerhouse as a key part of the energy solution for powering the AI boom.

Join ANS and NEI at NECX 2025 in Atlanta

July 23, 2025, 12:00PMANS News

The Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX) is a new joint conference hosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. The inaugural offering of the conference, NECX 2025, will be held September 8–11 in Atlanta, Ga.

To register for the event and reserve your room at the host hotel, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, click here.

Trump expels all but one member of nuclear waste oversight board

July 23, 2025, 9:31AMRadwaste Solutions

The Trump administration has dismissed seven of the (formerly) eight board members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the independent federal agency tasked with evaluating the technical and scientific validity of Department of Energy activities related to managing and disposing of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

Argonne’s Aurora sets the stage for AI and nuclear energy executive summit

July 23, 2025, 7:00AMNuclear News
Energy Secretary Chris Wright (center) and leaders from Argonne, Intel, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise cut the ribbon to celebrate the Aurora exascale supercomputer. (Photo: Argonne)

Leaders from private companies, government, and national laboratories gathered at Argonne National Laboratory on July 17 and 18 for an exclusive AI x Nuclear Energy Executive Summit that the Department of Energy called a first-of-its-kind forum to “align next-generation nuclear systems with the needs of digital infrastructure.”

New model simulates radionuclide migration in geologic disposal systems

July 22, 2025, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
(A) Computational domain and material distribution used in the simulations. The domain is rotated so that the Opalinus Clay strata are vertical. (B) 3D contour plots of neutral uncharged tritiated water (left) and charged 36Cl− (right) solutes at 900 days. (C) Comparison of observed (symbols) and simulated (lines) borehole concentrations using the 3D model. (Image: Sarsenbayev et al.)

Researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Orléans, have modeled radionuclide behavior in deep geologic formations, offering a tool for developing a defensible safety case for the underground disposal of radioactive waste.

Nuclear technology for today and tomorrow

July 22, 2025, 11:59AMNuclear NewsHash Hashemian

Hash Hashemian
president@ans.org

I am deeply honored and grateful to have been elected president of the American Nuclear Society. Your support and confidence in me are truly humbling, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.

As president, my top priority is to expedite the deployment of new nuclear reactors, beginning with small modular reactors and eventually progressing to Generation IV systems. I will also work to ensure that the United States keeps its global leadership in this field. For the U.S. to do that, the federal government must maintain and expand its financial support of the nuclear industry by preserving critical incentives, tax provisions, and infrastructure investments.

Bahrain signs a nuclear collaboration MOU with the U.S.

July 22, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News

Less than a week after news broke of the U.S. entering into civil nuclear talks with Malaysia, the U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani have also signed a memorandum of understanding concerning civil nuclear cooperation.

ANS leadership lays groundwork for new 10-year strategic plan

July 21, 2025, 3:00PMANS News

The last time the American Nuclear Society Board of Directors approved a strategic plan was back in 2018 under the direction of past president Bob Coward. Realizing a lot has changed with both ANS and the wider nuclear community, the current Board of Directors decided it was time to give our strategic plan a fresh look. Following the November 2024 ANS Conference, the Board has undertaken a comprehensive strategic planning process to align the Society’s direction with the realities of the rapidly changing energy and technology landscape.

Test reactor fuel fabrication will be fast-tracked by DOE under new pilot program

July 21, 2025, 12:12PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy has announced a program to accelerate nuclear fuel fabrication for new test reactors. The Fuel Line Pilot Program would see the DOE approve facilities developed by U.S. companies to produce the fuel needed for test reactors the DOE expects to authorize under the Reactor Pilot Program announced in June. Like the reactors they’re meant to fuel, the fabrication facilities would be built on sites outside the DOE’s national laboratories but authorized by the DOE under “a fast-tracked approach to enable future commercial licensing activities for potential applicants.”

House Oversight Committee schedules hearing on nuclear energy

July 21, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News

Burlison

Rep. Eric Burlison (R., Mo.), the chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, has announced a hearing on “The New Atomic Age: Advancing America’s Energy Future.”

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, July 22, at 1:00 pm (ET). Witnesses include Alex Epstein, president and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, and Joshua Smith, energy policy lead at the Abundance Institute.

Details: According to the chairman’s office, the hearing will explore recent developments in nuclear energy technology, the commercial viability of advanced reactors, supply chain challenges, and policy pathways for Congress to strengthen nuclear power in the United States.

IAEA launches infographic design contest on nuclear preparedness and response

July 21, 2025, 7:03AMNuclear News

The International Atomic Energy Agency has launched an infographic design contest for young professionals aged 18 to 35 to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and response (EPR) in nuclear and radiological contexts.

Contest guidelines and terms can be found here.

The RAIN scale: A good intention that falls short

July 18, 2025, 3:28PMNuclear NewsAmir A. Bahadori

Radiation protection specialists agree that clear communication of radiation risks remains a vexing challenge that cannot be solved solely by finding new ways to convey technical information.

Earlier this year, an article in Nuclear News described a new radiation risk communication tool, known as the Radiation Index, or, RAIN (“Let it RAIN: A new approach to radiation communication,” NN, Jan. 2025, p. 36). The authors of the article created the RAIN scale to improve radiation risk communication to the general public who are not well-versed in important aspects of radiation exposures, including radiation dose quantities, units, and values; associated health consequences; and the benefits derived from radiation exposures.

DOE tests new sealing system for spent fuel canisters

July 18, 2025, 12:04PMRadwaste Solutions
Team members and the new closure welding system that seals canisters containing spent fuel. (Photo: DOE)

Teams from the Department of Energy’s Offices of Environmental Management and Nuclear Energy recently collaborated on the Road Ready Demonstration Project by testing new equipment to seal spent nuclear fuel into a safe and transportable system for future shipments out of Idaho.

Kairos project moves ahead at Oak Ridge

July 18, 2025, 9:29AMNuclear News
The ETU 3.0 reactor vessel was lowered into position using construction cranes and mounted on a support structure attached to the building’s foundation. (Photo: Kairos Power)

A reactor vessel has been installed by Kairos Power for its third Engineering Test Unit (ETU 3.0) at the company’s campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

INL to use Microsoft’s AI to streamline nuclear licensing

July 18, 2025, 7:08AMNuclear News
Image: INL

The Idaho National Laboratory has announced that it will collaborate with Microsoft on the use of artificial intelligence technologies to streamline the nuclear permitting and licensing application process. Using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform, INL will generate the engineering and safety analysis reports that are required to be submitted for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants.