Nuclear News

Between the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses and Nuclear Energy Launch Pad programs, August has already been a busy month for federal partnerships with the nuclear 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.

Based on attendee reactions at yesterday’s final plenary session of the Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX 2026) in Dallas, Texas, the response is mixed as to whether the United States can fulfill its ambitious plans to quadruple the country’s nuclear generating capacity by 2050. When asked whether the nation would reach that goal, a number of hands in the room went up. But when asked the opposite, several hands also went up.

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.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has formed a strategic partnership with Ampera to develop the company’s nuclear fuel concept through a project named THUNDER, for Thorium Unimodal Droplet Ejection for Reactors.

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.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory have announced they will collaborate to help industry develop a process for wire arc 3D printing of industrial pressure vessels used for nuclear energy and chemical processing.

“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.

In an amendment to a 1998 record of decision, the Department of Energy is expanding the available space at its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant deep geological repository for defense-related radioactive waste, and is also now planning to accept waste at the facility for 50 more years than previously planned. The amended decision, which was signed on August 18 by Tim Walsh, assistant secretary for Environmental Management, commits the DOE to a WIPP operating horizon extending to about 2083.

The second day of the Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX 2026) kicked off with success stories on the start-up and state levels.

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.

Yesterday, Westinghouse announced it had completed zero-power criticality testing for its eVinci test reactor in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center, validating the models and core design assumptions of the technology.

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 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has given Bruce Power approval to operate the company’s hot cell facility in Tiverton, Ontario, for medical radioisotope processing. This approval allows the facility to conduct Target Carrier Removal (TCR), a key step in the production of lutetium-177, an isotope used to treat prostate and gastric cancers.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has successfully tested a new laser-based maintenance technology developed by engineers at the University of South Florida. The technology involves the use of a precision laser during regular inspections of ice condenser systems that are part of the emergency core cooling systems at certain nuclear power plants.

The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.

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.

The Government Accountability Office has released a report to Congress titled “Nuclear Fuel: Actions Needed to Enhance Cost Reporting and Economic Analysis for Federal Uranium Supply Efforts.” The report describes National Nuclear Security Administration estimates of enriched uranium supplies and demands, examines the NNSA’s plans to meet enriched uranium needs, and describes potential challenges to meeting supply goals. It also examines Department of Energy efforts to support the front-end fuel cycle for the commercial nuclear industry.

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.

In January, the Department of Energy announced its new Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus (NLIC) program, inviting states via a request for information to express their interest in hosting a facility supporting work from the front to the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

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.

Last week in Chicago, the American Nuclear Society’s Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Division hosted Global 2026, where it was abundantly clear that there are many exciting fuel-related developments in the nuclear power industry. Developments announced last week run the gamut of the fuel cycle, including enrichment, fabrication, and recycling and reprocessing.

The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has signed its second memorandum of cooperation with a U.S. seaport to advance the development of small modular reactors to power commercial vessels, ports, and other maritime assets—this time, shifting its attention to the Gulf coast.

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.

Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.

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.

What fuels the future of nuclear? Whether it is low-enriched uranium, LEU+, or high-assay low-enriched uranium, one of the answers is in the question itself: 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.

This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced a new coordinated research project (CRP) to improve understanding of the safety of edible insects and other novel foods and to use nuclear and related technologies to assess risks.