GAO report looks at climate change and nuclear power

April 9, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

A new study by the Government Accountability Office researched potential impacts of climate change–related hazards on the U.S. nuclear fleet and found clear risks. In the report, which was released to the public last week, the GAO recommends that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission address these possible threats during the licensing process.

Giving back: Helping disadvantaged high school students discover nuclear engineering

April 9, 2024, 7:01AMNuclear News

Charles Harper (seated) with son Jeff (right) and grandson Phillip (left). (Photo: Otis Waters)

Charles L. Harper understands disadvantage. It was his personal drive and love for learning that pushed him to leave inner-city Detroit, join the U.S. Navy, earn degrees in psychology from Wayne State University and the University of Detroit, and enjoy a successful career as a clinical psychologist. He served as a strong role model for his son Jeffrey, who is an entrepreneur and international energy executive.

The Harper men have many things in common. According to Jeffrey, “Both my dad and I share a common self-motivation and a love for learning, but the most critical thing we share is the continual quest for opportunity, which led us both to moments of predestination that changed our lives.” And now, in honor of his father, the younger Harper has used these qualities to found Charles Harper Charities (CHC) with the aim of introducing disadvantaged youth to the world of nuclear engineering.

One CHC offering helps rising high school seniors attend a summer program to prepare them for college and introduce them to nuclear engineering. This summer’s Nuclear Engineering Opportunity Program, which will be CHC’s inaugural course, will be held at the University of Michigan in conjunction with the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) and the College of Engineering’s Office of Culture, Community, and Equity. The monthlong residential course will host rising seniors from Detroit at no cost to them and will introduce them to STEM subjects and provide tours of nearby nuclear facilities.

Nonproliferation proponents call on Biden to oppose SHINE's proposed recycling plant

April 8, 2024, 3:01PMRadwaste Solutions

A group of 29 nonproliferation supporters sent a letter to President Biden asking that he withhold federal support for a proposed pilot plant for recycling spent nuclear fuel to be built by the Wisconsin-based fusion tech company SHINE Technologies. The experts further asked that Biden “discourage” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from licensing the plant, claiming it would extract enough weapons-grade plutonium to build 100 atomic bombs a year.

Kentucky governor vetoes nuclear bill

April 8, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

Beshear

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed legislation last week that would have supported a push to bring nuclear energy to the Bluegrass State.

The governor said his objection to Senate Bill 198 is due to how voting members for the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority would be selected—and that it is not a reflection on his views toward nuclear power. The bill as written would designate members of the board from the private sector, bypassing the appointment authority of the governor or other state constitutional officers.

“The legislature can’t just say, ’You in this position in the private sector and you in that position on a private sector association are automatically on a board,’ and then [be] given governing authority,” Beshear said at a news conference. “That’s not the way the executive branch works, not the way that the power can be delegated to carry out the law.”

House E&C subcommittee to hold hearing on spent fuel management

April 8, 2024, 7:00AMRadwaste Solutions

The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a public hearing on improving the U.S. management of spent nuclear fuel. The hearing, titled “American Nuclear Energy Expansion: Spent Fuel Policy and Innovation,” will be held on April 10 by the E&C Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee.

The hearing will be livestreamed on the E&C Committee website.

The case for nuclear energy in Kazakhstan

April 5, 2024, 3:01PMNuclear NewsErlan Batyrbekov

As the world shifts toward clean and sustainable energy, Kazakhstan stands on the cusp of a significant move into nuclear energy. Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has suggested a national referendum to gauge the country’s position on building a nuclear power plant, setting the stage for an in-depth discussion about the nation’s energy trajectory.

SRMC funds STEM scholarships for Voorhees University

April 5, 2024, 12:01PMRadwaste Solutions
SRMC’s Dave Olson (left) presents a $10,000 check to Voorhees University president Ronnie Hopkins. (Photo: SRMS)

Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), the liquid waste contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, recently presented a $10,000 check to Voorhees University to fund science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) scholarships.

U.K. nuclear funding awarded to X-energy, Cavendish

April 5, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

X-energy UK Holdings and Cavendish Nuclear together received a government award of £3.34 million ($4.23 million) for further development of advanced modular reactors. The award, which was announced earlier this week, is from the U.K. government’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund.

Hanford lab upgrades for hot work and waste treatment

April 5, 2024, 7:01AMUpdated April 5, 2024, 7:00AMRadwaste Solutions
Upgrades are under way at the Hanford Site's 222-S Laboratory, including replacing the Cold War-era windows in the labs hot cells. Photo: DOE)

Upgrades are underway at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site to prepare its 222-S Laboratory to treat tank waste under the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program.

New Jersey plants seek subsequent license renewals

April 4, 2024, 3:00PMNuclear News
The Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants. (Photo: PSE&G)

PSEG Nuclear LLC announced this week it will pursue subsequent license extensions to keep the three reactors at its Hope Creek and Salem plants operating for an additional 20 years. Both plants had been granted initial life extensions years ago by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Salem-1 and -2 on June 30, 2011, and Hope Creek on July 20, 2011.

From the pages of Nuclear News: Industry Update April 2024

April 4, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

INL completes NANO reactor design review

Idaho National Laboratory has completed its preconceptual design review of NANO Nuclear Energy’s ODIN low-pressure-coolant microreactor. INL and NANO signed a strategic partnership agreement in April 2023, after which a review panel of laboratory engineers and scientists examined the design and provided its recommendations to NANO. The company added that INL is expected to perform a similar design review of its ZEUS solid--core battery microreactor.

Bringing Part 53 across the finish line

April 4, 2024, 9:26AMNuclear NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Information Conference—“the RIC” as it’s commonly known—is an annual rite of spring for many nuclear energy professionals. Each year, 2,000 industry people crowd into the Montgomery County Conference Center to hear the commissioners give their annual plenary speeches, attend technical sessions on regulatory topics, and kibitz with friends in the expansive foyer during breaks.

And as always, there are two distinct conversations at the RIC: the one that emanates from the stage, and the other that unfurls organically in the hallways. The official conversation is in the public record for anyone to read or watch. The hallway topic du jour this year was Part 53 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, of course—specifically, the Staff Requirements Memo (SRM) handed down by the commission the week before that instructed staff to produce a new proposed rule for public comment and set a six-month countdown clock to finish it.

Remembering Clyde Jupiter

April 4, 2024, 7:00AMNuclear News

Jupiter

Clyde Peter Jupiter passed away peacefully March 31, 2024, at the age of 95. Born October 31, 1928, in New Orleans, La., Jupiter attended public and parochial schools in New Orleans, graduating from Xavier University in 1948. He was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was noted as one of the first African Americans to attend Notre Dame University in 1949.

Following graduation, Jupiter pursued a career in the field of physics, where he was renowned for his contributions to nuclear radiation detection and the advancing of nuclear energy. His career in the nuclear field included working for such agencies as the Atomic Energy Commission, Lawrence Laboratories, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

He also served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956 at the Chemical Corps Laboratory, in Fort Detrick, Md.

WIPP marks 25 years of TRU waste operations

April 3, 2024, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
A screen shot of a video marking the 25th anniversary of operations at the WIPP disposal facility. (Image: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management celebrated a major milestone for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant last week, marking the 25th anniversary of the receipt of the first waste shipment at the disposal facility in New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert.

Utilities Services Alliance’s Christensen to retire

April 3, 2024, 12:01PMNuclear News

Christensen

John Christensen, president and chief executive officer of Utilities Service Alliance (USA), has announced his retirement effective at the end of 2024. His career spans more than 41 years in the nuclear industry.

“The last 17 years have been some of the most challenging and gratifying years in my career,” he said. “The people I’ve had the opportunity to work with have been a great inspiration. I am extremely proud of everything we have accomplished since I joined USA.”

Ken Peters, USA’s chair of the board, noted, “John’s service and drive in helping the members of USA improve safety, plant operations and financial performance is a testament to his commitment to our industry. We wish John the very best in his retirement.”

AI and data center growth equal power demand

April 3, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear NewsKen Petersen

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

Nuclear has been on a good roll lately and it is getting better. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides a nuclear power production tax credit. This has stopped the early retirement of deregulated units. The IRA also provides a benefit for the clean production of hydrogen. Many utilities have committed to a net-zero goal by 2050. Duke and other utilities have plans to transition coal plants to nuclear with small modular reactors.

And now, nuclear has a new supporter—tech companies.

The big U.S. utility companies (like Exelon, Duke, Dominion, Southern, and Entergy) are all projecting growth in electricity demand—primarily in the commercial sector but some residential growth is also expected. Commercial growth is being driven by new factories (thank you, IRA and CHIPS, that is, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act). It is also being driven by data centers.

Court vacates Holtec’s license for New Mexico spent fuel facility

April 3, 2024, 7:27AMNuclear News
Concept art of Holtec’s proposed HI-STORE CISF in New Mexico. (Image: Holtec)

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated Holtec International’s license to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the license for the Holtec facility, called the HI-STORE CISF in May 2023.

New DOE guidance on coal-to-nuclear opportunities

April 2, 2024, 3:06PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy issued new guidance this week for converting coal-fired plants to nuclear units—an idea that has gained traction in recent years as the United States looks to cut carbon emissions.

A 2022 DOE study found potential for more than 300 coal-to-nuclear conversions across the country. While the process is complex, it would result in significant environmental and reliability benefits to the grid.

Become a knowledge manager at UWC 2024

April 2, 2024, 12:16PMANS News

The American Nuclear Society is now accepting applications for knowledge managers to work during the 2024 Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo. This year’s UWC, “Nuclear Momentum: Advancing Our Clean Energy Future,” will be held August 4–7, 2024, at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort on Marco Island, Fla.

ANS’s Operations & Power Division is sponsoring up to six knowledge managers by covering the registration fee and a three-night stay at the resort.

Further details on the conference are available online.