Workers move a container of treated tank waste as part of Hanford’s Test Bed Initiative to grout around 2,000 gallons of LAW for off-site disposal. (Photo: DOE)

Grouting Hanford’s low-level radioactive liquid tank waste could cost between $480 million and $1.1 billion, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, which has repeatedly found that grouting (immobilizing waste in a concrete-like mixture) can accelerate cleanup at the Hanford Site and save billions of dollars when compared to mixing the waste with molten glass through the vitrification process.

Blue Castle Holdings and Fulcrum Point Holdings—founded by the owner of Hi Tech Solutions, a company behind a separate Utah nuclear project—announced last week a joint venture to advance the Blue Castle project in Green River, Utah, the origins of which trace back almost 20 years.

That growing momentum manifested last week in Kazakhstan’s announcement that it has officially partnered with Russia on a new nuclear power plant project. Prior to these new agreements, Russia, which borders Kazakhstan to the north, was already engaged in extensive preliminary work on the project.

The schedule was well defined. Cost projections were within expectations. Engineering milestones were aligned with procurement and construction plans. On paper, everything pointed toward success. But as construction progressed, challenges began to emerge.

Nielson

The renewed global interest in nuclear power is often framed as a policy story driven by decarbonization goals, energy security concerns, and surging electricity demand from digital infrastructure and electrification. While these forces are real and durable, they materially understate the challenge at hand. The practical constraint on nuclear deployment today is not strategic will, but execution. Specifically, the challenge lies in how nuclear projects are financed, how risk is allocated, and how investors assess credibility in a sector defined by long timelines and asymmetric downside risk.

Once a docket is established, Curio will develop a license application to meet all applicable regulations for a nuclear fuel recycling facility under 10 CFR Part 70.

The state-run Nuclear Power and Energy Agency said on May 23 it will conduct a “robust, transparent, and multilayered educational campaign to address all anxieties regarding safety, livelihoods, and land,” and that no infrastructure would be built without “broad, informed consent of the community.”

Hash Hashemianpresident@ans.org

Kindergarten classrooms, the control rooms of newly completed reactors, and the meeting rooms of ANS local sections all have one thing in common: they are only made useful once they are filled with hardworking and passionate people.

In March, I had the privilege of engaging with some of the people in these spaces: the students, regulators, lawmakers, and fellow scientists from across several states who are working to build up the nuclear industry every day. These interactions served as yet another reminder that people serve as the bedrock of our work to push nuclear energy forward.

The month began here in my home city of Oak Ridge, where I welcomed a group of kindergartners from Woodland Elementary School to tour both the headquarters of AMS and the Roane State Community College Nuclear Technology Lab.

According to multiple reports, three other companies—Exodys Energy, Shine Technologies, and Standard Nuclear—have also been selected for advanced negotiations under the program, which is being led by the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

Nicolas Stauff

Data centers power our digital lives—along with many aspects of our economy and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Electricity demand is rising rapidly, with the domestic data center load projected to increase from 4 percent to 9 percent of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030. This surge is already reshaping utility planning, grid interconnection queues, and the market for reliable power nationwide.

Nuclear energy is well matched to data center needs, because it provides reliable, 24/7 electricity with stable long-term costs. Modern hyperscale data center campuses can require hundreds of megawatts for IT equipment and cooling, and many applications demand maximum uptime. At the same time, leading hyperscalers have aggressive decarbonization commitments that limit reliance on fossil generation. Data centers also require fiber connectivity, a skilled workforce, and local acceptance—yet they can deliver meaningful tax base and employment impacts, especially when coupled with a major energy project.

Recently, the country has been restarting its nuclear power plants. Among its current fleet of 33 operable reactors, fewer than half have been restarted. Nuclear power is currently providing about 8.5 percent of Japan’s electricity (with natural gas and coal accounting for more than 60 percent).

The Japanese government’s present energy plan, announced last year, calls for nuclear power to meet 20 percent of the country’s electricity needs by 2040. While the government views nuclear as a crucial asset toward meeting its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, public support for nuclear energy also continues to increase. A 2012 Pew Research poll—conducted one year after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster—indicated that 70 percent of the public opposed nuclear power. However, a 2022 poll by Nikkei Business Publications suggests that now, more than 50 percent of the public supports nuclear power—if safety can be ensured.

Contributing their expertise to these restarts in recent years are young nuclear industry professionals who were trained a decade ago in a mentorship/training program involving U.S. institutions.

This “Super Engineer Project” was sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry and Hokkaido University from 2015 to 2017. METI sponsored the project to improve the Japanese nuclear safety culture by learning from the U.S. safety culture.

Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org

May is a month when we pause—briefly—to recognize something that too often goes unsaid: the extraordinary performance of the existing U.S. nuclear fleet. Capacity factors remain above 90 percent (with a median of 91.29 for the three-year period 2023–2025—see Nuclear News, May 2026, p. 24), an impressive figure delivered at a scale unmatched anywhere else on the globe. That level of sustained output is not an accident of design; it is a daily achievement. It reflects the discipline, professionalism, and pride of the men and women who operate and maintain these facilities, often without fanfare.

In this issue, you will also read about the important work researchers at our national laboratories are doing to extract even greater efficiency from the plants we already have. That effort deserves more attention, because it points to a fundamental truth: the fastest, most reliable way to expand nuclear generation in the United States is not solely through new builds—it is by maximizing the assets already on the grid.

On Tuesday, the National Reactor Innovation Center hosted an industry day for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, providing a forum for companies to learn more about how the program works, timelines, collaboration with the various entities involved, and available resources.

The launch pad is a long-term program stemming from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program. It aims to fast-track regulatory processes for new reactors and fuel facilities that meet certain milestones.

PNNL’s Jamin Trevino works with a capsule containing Ra-226. (Photo: Jamin Trevino/PNNL)

A collaboration between the Department of Energy’s Office of Isotope R&D and Production and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology has recovered large quantities of radium-226—valued for its use in medical radioisotope production—from radiological waste stored at NIST facilities. Ra-226 is an important element in developing therapies for patients fighting cancer.

Subject-matter experts and the chief sponsors of the legislation shared details on three items at a hearing Wednesday before the EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety: the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act—introduced just last week—and discussion drafts of the Revitalizing Energy Communities by Hosting Advanced Reactors and Generating Energy (RECHARGE) Act and Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act.

Now, the second ARDP-backed demonstration project, which aims to see the deployment of X-energy’s Xe-100 at a Dow chemical facility, has reached a new milestone of its own. On May 18, X-energy announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its environmental assessment of the proposed Long Mott Generating Facility and issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI).

As published in the May 18 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking public comment on this proposed rule and draft interim guidance until July 2.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Efficient and Innovative Nuclear Materials and Technology Solutions,” and many of the scheduled panels and technical sessions revolved around how nuclear growth and technological advancements are affecting the back end of the fuel cycle, as well as how the cleanup of legacy sites is enabling new nuclear development.

"The American Nuclear Society condemns today's drone attack on the outer perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates. The IAEA has confirmed that radiation levels are normal and no injuries have been reported. The safety systems performed as designed, a demonstration of the layered protections built into robust modern nuclear facilities. Incidents like this reinforce the importance of the IAEA's calls for maximum military restraint around nuclear power reactors, and of full adherence by all combatants to the IAEA's seven pillars for nuclear safety and security during armed conflict."

In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.

Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.

Together, the companies now plan to jointly develop, test, and license FANCO’s EAGL-1 reactor design. For FANCO, the agreement comes as a chance to bring in a partner with decades of experience in nuclear project development. For AtkinsRéalis, the partnership provides the opportunity to establish a presence in Indiana.