The program featured a panel of experts in digital twin research, including Manuel Kreutle of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Nick Luciano of the University of Texas–Austin, Ryan Stewart of Idaho National Laboratory, and Pavel Tsvetkov of Texas A&M University. Luis Ocampo Giraldo of the National Nuclear Security Administration moderated the talk.

In an interesting twist, the project at issue in this interconnection dispute was, until now, unknown to the public.

Existing plants are extending operating lives beyond their original design expectations. New reactor technologies are moving from concept to construction. Investment in domestic manufacturing and fuel production is accelerating, and utilities are strengthening supply chains to support decades of future operation.

At the same time, another transition is taking place.

The commencement of fuel loading places the Covert, Mich., facility in Mode 6—or the refueling stage—under the plant’s technical specifications, plant owner and operator Holtec International said in a news release. The Palisades reactor core consists of 204 fuel assemblies that include new fuel and partially used fuel from the plant’s most recent operating cycles. According to Holtec, the fuel loading is being conducted in accordance with plant procedures and technical specifications.

The Onkalo repository received a favorable safety assessment from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland earlier in August.

For the second year in a row, NECX brought together utilities, advanced reactor developers, suppliers, regulators, policymakers, investors, engineers, and innovators for a wide range of discussions pertaining to the present and future of the industry.

That trend continues: On Wednesday, the Department of the Army announced that it has selected five nuclear reactor developers—Antares Nuclear, BWXT Advanced Technologies, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Radiant Industries, and Westinghouse Government Services—each paired with a different military installation, for its Janus Program.

This week, the nuclear community descended on Dallas, Texas, for the second annual Nuclear Energy Conference and Expo, the premier industry-focused nuclear conference cohosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute. Among the plenary panelists was Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy, and environment. Waksman has been closely involved in the development of the Janus Program, and the morning before the program’s new selections were unveiled, he provided insights on its ultimate goals at NECX 2026.

Moderator Jon Colby told attendees to think positively about the long term.

A simulation from the study shows density (top) and temperature (bottom) just before the time when fusion reactions peak in an asymmetric implosion. The hottest point coincides with the densest point of fuel, illustrating the direct ignition of a dense jet of fuel driven by asymmetry. The image was recently selected for the cover of Physics of Plasmas. (Image: LLNL)

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used simulations to show that inertial fusion power plants could tolerate significant low-mode asymmetries, such as those caused by laser alignment being off-center, revealing a trade-off between robustness and yield that could impact how power plants are brought on line.

Mark Reidmeyer

It is the convergence of urgency, innovation, and modernization that is reshaping nuclear licensing and compliance today.

For decades, nuclear licensing operated in a relatively stable environment built around large light water reactors, predictable review cycles, and well-established regulatory pathways. Today, that model is evolving rapidly. Advanced reactors, AI-enabled tools, digital engineering platforms, grid reliability concerns, and aggressive decarbonization goals are all pushing the industry—and regulators—to move faster and think differently.

The focus of THUNDER is fabricating TRISO made with kernels of thorium rather than the usual uranium. LLNL and Ampera will evaluate and optimize liquid metal–jetting technology to produce highly uniform, spherical kernels of thorium-232 for later processing into TRISO fuel.

“By working with industry to demonstrate, validate, and qualify advanced manufacturing technologies, we can reduce risk, accelerate deployment, and strengthen the domestic supply chains essential to America’s energy future,” said Robert Wagner, ORNL associate laboratory director for energy science and technology.

Both standards are available for purchase in the ANS Online Store.

In Wednesday’s opening plenary session, representatives of three of the four companies that reached criticality on or before Executive Order 14301’s July 4 target date—Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear, and Deployable Energy—talked about the run-up to meeting the deadline. Following the opener, officials from Kentucky, New York, and Utah discussed ambitious plans to expand nuclear power in their respective states.

The company said it plans to continue prototyping the system, aiming to provide further validation of the performance, operability, and manufacturability of the microreactor.

The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.

According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.

NECX, the premier nuclear industry conference cohosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute, is all about leveraging those opportunities.

Cut-away schematic and example radiograph of the fusion fuel capsule, showing the outer spherical carbon shell and the D-T fuel “ice” layer with a gas core. For Inertia, this capsule has a diameter of about 4–5 mm. Formation of a sufficiently smooth D-T ice layer is crucial for ignition. (Image: Inertia)

Inertia Enterprises and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a manufacturing process for the thin layer of cryogenically frozen deuterium-tritium (D-T) used in its target design, reducing production time from days to hours, according to the company.

The advance makes target fueling cheaper and reduces the amount of tritium that Inertia would need to hold at a pilot plant, which lowers material handling costs, regulatory burden, and dependence on scarce fuel inventories.

By April, 26 states had expressed interest in hosting such a facility. At the end of July, the DOE signed memorandums of understanding with five states—Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah—to more closely explore the possibilities of state-federal partnerships. These MOUs are not firm commitments from either the federal or state governments. Time will tell which—if any—of the five states develop projects through the program. In the meantime, today, we are taking a close look at what Utah, Idaho, Tennessee can offer in terms of a preexisting nuclear sector that could support new fuel cycle developments.

The MOC pairs the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas with MARAD to explore SMRs, microgrids, and advanced vessel propulsion systems for maritime applications. Last week, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, MARAD Administrator Stephen Carmel, Port of Corpus Christi CEO Kent Britton, and Port of Corpus Christi Commission Chair Gabe Guerra signed the MOC at a ceremony.

Landmark status was conferred on HFEF last October. It is INL’s 10th landmark on the list and one of 101 the Society has honored since 1985. ANS’s Nuclear Historic Landmark Award memorializes sites and facilities where outstanding physical accomplishments that advanced the peaceful uses of nuclear energy have taken place. The award recognizes facilities that were in service at least 20 years ago.

Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.

Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.

To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.

Earlier this week, the American Nuclear Society’s Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Division hosted Global 2026, with the theme of “Deploying Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Cycles.”

During one plenary session, “Fueling the Future of Nuclear,” panelists from Urenco USA, Centrus Energy, General Matter, and Global Laser Enrichment shared with attendees how the companies were contributing to the front end of the fuel cycle—more specifically, by launching or expanding their respective enrichment services.

Loumis

Lockhart

The American Nuclear Society is excited to announce that it has officially selected two of its members to serve as the 2027 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows. Madeline Lockhart and Aristidis Loumis will provide key support to one of the Society’s four strategic pillars of action: informing policymakers to enable better decisions and stronger policies. They will achieve this by serving a one-year term on Capitol Hill either in a congressional member’s personal office or with a congressional committee, starting next January.

Some context: ANS Congressional Fellows are among the nearly 30 scientists and engineers who participate annually in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship Program. More than 2,000 fellows have served through the overarching program since its inception in 1973. ANS initiated its program in 2000, and in 2023, expanded it to host two fellows per year.

Zeno, which has already been working on an americium-241–fueled radioisotope power system for Harmonia RPS, will provide a lightweight, compact 5-Wt Am-241 RHU that includes communications, electrical power, command and data handling, and thermal management subsystems.

The publication of the FR notice marked the start of a 60-day period in which a member of the public can file a request for a hearing. If contentions are adjudicated, the NRC intends to not hold a second, uncontested hearing before issuing a license on the $5 billion Project Ike Enrichment Facility, where Orano plans to reenrich depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) tails and enrich natural-grade UF6 to a maximum of 8-weight percent uranium-235.

Kairos has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Barnard Construction, Roane State Community College, Chattanooga State Community College, and Oak Ridge Schools to form the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast, or NuCAMP.