Nuclear News

Hash Hashemian
president@ans.org

In November, I flew to Paris, France, to speak at the World Nuclear Exposition. This wasn’t my first time at WNE, but it’s safe to say that the 2025 Expo was markedly different from years past. Excitement was palpable, and attendance was high—there were more than 25,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors. This enthusiasm reflects the growing nuclear momentum across Europe.

My opening remarks at the expo spotlighted the similar nuclear momentum on this side of the Atlantic, focusing on the recent strides made by both U.S. industry and government. I also highlighted the key challenges we still face: namely, workforce development, supply chains, fuel, and financing.

Pfluger

Levin

Rep. Mike Levin (D., Calif.) and Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas) are urging Energy Secretary Chris Wright to establish a safe, effective, and long-term management program for spent nuclear fuel. In a January 15 letter to Wright, the two U.S. representatives asked the DOE to “break the current impasse over nuclear waste and develop a workable solution that encourages state collaboration.”

The letter was sent ahead of the DOE’s anticipated release of a new report that will recommend an updated national policy on spent nuclear fuel, as directed in Executive Order 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base.”

The past few years have seen a concerted effort from many U.S. states to encourage nuclear development. The momentum behind nuclear-friendly policies has grown considerably, with many states repealing moratoriums, courting nuclear developers and suppliers, and in some cases creating advisory groups and road maps to push deployment of new nuclear reactors.

Nuclear power in space is back in the news for the second time this week as microreactor start-up Nano Nuclear has released a request for information to identify organizations that may support the company in the development of its Loki micro modular reactor. The company’s goal is eventual deployment of Loki on the lunar surface.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have developed a multiphysics simulation modeling tool to predict how feedwater heater (FWH) tubes in a nuclear power plant break down over time. The model, which has the potential to improve maintenance schedules and save operating costs at nuclear facilities, is described in a paper titled “Numerical Analysis with Experimental Validation of Tube Fatigue Failure in Feedwater Heaters,” published in a recent issue of Engineering Failure Analysis.

A uranium enrichment monitor developed by a team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will soon be undergoing testing for nonproliferation applications at the International Atomic Energy Agency Centre of Excellence for Safeguards and Non-Proliferation in the United Kingdom. A recent PNNL news article describes how the research team, led by nuclear physicist James Ely, who works within the lab’s National Security Directorate, developed the UF₆ gas enrichment sensor (UGES) prototype for treaty verification and other purposes.

Today, a bipartisan group of experts including energy consultant Lake Barrett and former NRC chair Allison Macfarlane have published a report titled The Path Forward for Nuclear Waste in the U.S.

The report recommends a new solution for managing domestic nuclear waste—one that centers around the foundation of an independent corporation led by reactor owners. Responsibility for waste management transport, storage, and disposal would be managed by this corporation rather than the Department of Energy.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced the establishment of the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR), to be hosted at the Idaho National Laboratory and focused on spent nuclear fuel performance, canister aging, and the fostering of innovation and collaboration.

According to the DOE, the CUFR is designed to be a national and international hub for applied research that supports and maintains compliance and advances public confidence in the safe storage and transportation of both commercial and DOE-managed spent fuel.

In June of last year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on the New York Power Authority—the state's public power utility—to add at least 1 GW of new capacity to the electrical grid through the construction of an advanced nuclear power plant in upstate New York to support the state’s decarbonization goals.

It was good news for the nuclear community, to be sure, but in Hochul's State of the State address in Albany earlier this week, she made that objective sound almost unambitious.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that, to date, 14 countries have made 14 transfers of disused radium to be recycled for use in advanced cancer treatments under the agency’s Global Radium-226 Management Initiative. Through this initiative, which was launched in 2021, legacy radium-226 from decades-old medical and industrial sources is used to produce actinium-225 radiopharmaceuticals, which have shown effectiveness in the treatment of patients with breast and prostate cancers and certain other cancers.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

Recently, a colleague related to me a conversation overheard at an industry forum in which ANS was referred to as a group of “academics” who were of limited use in expanding the workforce needed to deliver a nuclear resurgence.

While not new, this criticism still gets me hypertensive when I hear it. Many still see ANS as a bunch of academics and “labbies” disconnected from the day-to-day commercial nuclear race.

Yet, I also understand the charge is not entirely without foundation. Pop your head into a technical session at an ANS national conference, and you’re bound to hear academics presenting research that, to nontechnical ears, sounds esoteric.

NASA and the Department of Energy have announced a “renewed commitment” to their mutual goal of supporting research and development for a nuclear fission reactor on the lunar surface to provide power for future missions. The agencies have signed a memorandum of understanding that “solidifies this collaboration and advances President Trump’s vision of American space superiority.”

On New Year’s Eve, Holtec International submitted Part 1 of a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking a limited work authorization (LWA) to begin construction of a two-unit SMR-300 plant at the company’s site in Covert, Mich.

Named Pioneer-1 and -2, the twin 340-MWe pressurized water reactors would join the 777-MWe Palisades PWR that began operating in 1971, shut down in 2022, and is expected to reconnect to the grid—slightly delayed—early this year. According to Holtec’s application documents, Part 2 of its construction permit will be filed no later than mid-2027.

Tech giant Meta is making big bets on TerraPower and Oklo. With the former, the hyperscaler could support the deployment of up to eight new reactors. With the latter, it could be as many as sixteen.

For both start-ups, Meta hopes its demand bolsters supply chains, the workforce, and the nuclear industry generally. For itself, the company is aiming to secure more generation to cleanly power its AI ambitions.

With last Friday's announcement regarding its vision for nuclear energy, Meta has entered into 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for more than 2,600 MW of electricity from a combination of three Vistra-owned nuclear plants to support the tech behemoth's planned operations in the PJM region.

Eight communities and 23 companies, including reactor developers, construction firms, and utilities, have expressed interest in participating in New York state’s plan to develop at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear power in the upstate area. The communities and companies are responding to solicitations from the New York Power Authority for developers and partners who want to support the agency’s advanced nuclear power projects and are able to provide viable project concepts, as well as for communities to host nuclear facilities and backers that could support such projects.

On January 9, tech giant Meta made waves by announcing three new agreements with Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo. These deals aim to see Meta supporting both uprates at existing nuclear power plants and the development of new advanced reactor projects, and in total could see the company financing up to 6.6 GW of new and existing energy by 2035. These projects will support the hyperscaler’s ever-growing data center– and AI-driven energy needs.

Nuclear energy is entering a new era—and policymakers are driving that shift. Governors, energy advisors, legislators, and regulators play a critical role in shaping state policies and regulations that can support the existing nuclear fleet and can accelerate the development, demonstration, and commercial deployment of next-­generation nuclear energy.

As Nuclear News has done since 2022, we have compiled a review of the nuclear news that filled headlines and sparked conversations in the year just completed. Departing from the chronological format of years past, we open with the most impactful news of 2025: a survey of actions and orders of the Trump administration that are reshaping nuclear research, development, deployment, and commercialization. We then highlight some of the top news in nuclear restarts, new reactor testing programs, the fuel supply chain and broader fuel cycle, and more.

Thursday was a busy news day for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with three significant announcements.

In the span of a few hours, the NRC released the news of Ho Nieh’s promotion to chair, the reversal of the plan to sunset its aircraft impact assessment provisions, and new guidance for interagency collaboration.