Published since 1959, Nuclear News is recognized worldwide as the flagship trade publication for the nuclear community. News reports cover plant operations, maintenance and security; policy and legislation; international developments; waste management and fuel; and business and contract award news.
Ontario Power Generation’s expansive refurbishment project on its four 878-MWe CANDU units at the Darlington nuclear power plant is proceeding faster than expected, OPG announced on September 17.
Westinghouse Electric Company has completed the front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) for a prototype microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory, the Department of Energy recently announced. The one-fifth scale version of eVinci, Westinghouse’s 5-MWe sodium-cooled heat pipe design, is one of three reactors that could be tested at the National Reactor Innovation Center’s (NRIC) DOME test bed “as early as 2026,” the DOE said.
Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member Board of Governors for the 2024–2025 term. The election took place on September 19 at the plenary session of the 68th IAEA General Conference.
Nuclear powerhouse Constellation announced today the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will pave the way for the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1—under a new name to honor Chris Crane, former chief executive of Exelon when Constellation was part of the larger company.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week that it has restored the expiration dates of Turkey Point nuclear power plant's Units 3 and 4 subsequent license renewals (SLRs) to July 19, 2052, and April 10, 2053, respectively.
Nuclear science and technology is uniquely positioned to be a gateway for curiosity and exploration for students in grades K–12. Its study examines the literal fabric of reality, it has applications from the tiniest to the grandest of scales. It’s a constantly evolving industry with a bright future of discoveries and new technologies, and it’s an essential factor in our global effort to reduce carbon emissions and transition to cleaner energy sources. Frankly, learning about and doing things with atoms is pretty cool, from a kid’s perspective.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced criminal charges this week against two men for allegedly smuggling and conspiring to violate export controls relating to the sale of laser equipment to the Russian nuclear industry.
Microreactor developer Aalo Atomics and municipal electric utility Idaho Falls Power have developed a memorandum of understanding that could lead to the siting of seven sodium-cooled microreactors and a power purchase agreement for Idaho Falls.
The Department of Energy has released a notice of a funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0003422) for the department’s Office of Environmental Management Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). With an estimated value of $15.5 million, the funding opportunity is a set-aside for minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and will result in multiple financial assistance awards ranging from one year to three years in length.
I really think so. Especially after visiting Abilene Christian University’s new Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, the home of the Nuclear Energy Experimental Testing (NEXT) Lab and where the university will test its new molten salt research reactor design. The visit was part of the 12th Thorium Energy Alliance Conference. NEXT Lab director and program manager Rusty Towell anticipates that the research reactor will be operational in two years, and I believe it will. What was most impressive is that the reactor is suited to be scaled to any size from small to large—a key feature in any decarbonized world.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction permit yesterday to Abilene Christian University, giving ACU and its partners the go-ahead to build the Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility on its Abilene, Texas, campus. The 1-MWt research reactor is the first molten salt–fueled reactor to get a construction permit from the NRC. After Kairos Power’s Hermes, it is the second non–light water reactor construction permit issued by the NRC.
New research into the dynamics and structure of high-temperature liquid uranium trichloride (UCl3) salt—a potential fuel for molten salt reactors—has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. A recent news release from Oak Ridge National Laboratory describes how researchers from ORNL, Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of South Carolina used ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) to document the unique chemistry of liquid UCl3 “for the first time.”
Start talking about dust in a vacuum, and some people will think of household chores. But dust has featured in recent nuclear science and engineering headlines in curious ways: ITER is deploying oversized dust covers inspired by space satellites in the south of France, while at Yale University, researchers have watched every move of a dust-sized particle levitating in a laser beam for telltale twitches that indicate radioactive decay.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission began a special inspection last week at South Texas Project nuclear power plant into two incidents at the site, which led to separate, unplanned shutdowns of both Units 1 and 2.
The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Chevron doctrine marks a significant shift in the landscape of federal decision-making. For more than 40 years, this doctrine has provided a framework wherein courts deferred to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous laws in recognition of the specialized expertise these agencies bring to policy and regulatory development.
Tennessee is serious about nuclear energy.
The Volunteer State’s governor and representatives have made clear their intention to position Tennessee at the forefront of a nuclear energy growth surge over the next several years. They’re making the financial investment to back up this commitment, pledging $50 million to recruit the innovative and invest in the existing nuclear companies in the state.
In an interview with advocacy group Nuclear Matters, Gov. Bill Lee expressed his excitement and optimism for Tennessee’s nuclear future.
“Tennessee is one of the fastest growing states in the country,” he said. “Because of that, we have people and companies moving here and we need to have a dependable, reliable energy source.”
The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee spent more than an hour questioning Matthew Marzano on Wednesday as part of his nomination process to become a commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Idaho National Laboratory has completed substantial construction of the first new hot cell facility at the lab site in 49 years—a Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL) that will accelerate research, development, and qualification of structural nuclear materials for both existing and new nuclear reactors. In an announcement last week of the milestone and the ribbon-cutting ceremony held to mark it, INL said the SPL is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
When a SpaceX rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on September 10 (see video here), sending a crewed commercial mission into low Earth orbit, an experiment designed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was onboard. Several high-purity metal samples will orbit Earth and absorb cosmic radiation for five days—including that from the Van Allen radiation belt—to help the lab answer questions about the radiation environment for manned space missions, according to a news release from PNNL.
The American Nuclear Society was formed in 1954 in the wake of President Eisenhower’s seminal Atoms for Peace speech. Around the same time that Congress was debating the Atomic Energy Act and John Landis was helping establish ANS, the National Security Council began deliberating about adding a nuclear-powered merchant ship to the nascent Atoms for Peace program. We like to imagine that the idea germinated after Mamie Eisenhower christened the U.S.S. Nautilus, but the truth seems much drier. Regardless, Ike championed the project and announced it to a surprised crowd in an April 1955 speech in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Landis would become the principal architect of the ship’s nuclear power plant. Although Savannah’s reactor now rests in the low-level radwaste repository in Clive, Utah, the ship’s prospects are as bright as the future of ANS itself.