The Tennessee Valley Authority has posted a video of the implosion of a 1970s-era, 540-foot-tall hyperbolic cooling tower at its Hartsville site in Tennessee, which once was to have hosted a nuclear power plant. The tower crashed to the ground at the hands of a demolition crew on September 18 as part of TVA’s actions to get rid of old, obsolete, and unused structures in the Tennessee Valley region and make room for future projects that are expected to add more than 6,200 megawatts of power.

Zeno Power, a developer of nuclear batteries, is to receive americium-241 recovered from Orano’s La Hague nuclear fuel recycling site in Normandy, France, under a strategic agreement announced by the companies on September 24.

Kim

Recently, Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization Chair Seungjin Kim talked with Nuclear News about NEDHO’s current condition, governmental funding for NEDHO and university research, the impact of artificial intelligence and other technologies in the classroom, the influence of advanced reactors in nuclear engineering education, and other issues.

Kim, who is an ANS Fellow, is the Captain James F. McCarthy Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind. He began his 2025–2026 term as NEDHO chair earlier this year. He took over from the previous chair, Sukesh Aghara, professor and director of the Nuclear and Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts–Lowell.

The American Nuclear Society’s ANS Cares Committee recently hosted a webinar examining and exploring ways to overcome the common cost barriers to pursuing a nuclear education.

WM Symposia, which hosts the annual Waste Management Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., announced it has signed a practical arrangement with the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at strengthening international collaboration in the safe management of radioactive waste, decommissioning, and environmental remediation.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has issued a letter of intent to fusion energy start-up Type One Energy regarding the utility’s interest in the potential deployment of Type One Energy’s fusion power plant technology at TVA’s former Bull Run fossil plant site once it is commercially ready.

Demand is increasing dramatically for carbon-free reliable power to support data center growth and ensure energy security. This creates a clear opportunity to accelerate new nuclear plant builds as well as optimize and extend plant life.

That’s where AI can help.

It soon will be time for the American Nuclear Society to hold its second annual conference of the year. The 2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo will take place November 9–12 in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Hilton.

Click here to register for the meeting and be sure to do so before October 17 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

Tyler Folse, a nuclear engineer with more than 10 years of experience, is bringing his unique spin and sense of humor to the masses as he debunks common nuclear misconceptions online.

The American Nuclear Society is hosting a Supplier Showcase webinar, “License Renewal: Smarter, Faster, Better,” tomorrow, September 23, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET) on the increasing urgency of submitting license renewals and subsequent license renewals both efficiently and accurately.

The webinar is free for all viewers and requires registration.

Last week saw a wave of U.S. and U.K. nuclear companies and organizations forging new transatlantic ties, with even the American Nuclear Society and the U.K.’s Nuclear Institute reaching a new agreement.

The University of New Mexico School of Engineering held its first-ever nuclear engineering camp, Experience Nuclear Engineering 2025, a free program for high school students.

Global engineering company Amentum announced plans on Thursday to create 3,000 new jobs over the next four years on the back of growth in nuclear power and defense in the United Kingdom.

The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K., during which a number of deals between the two countries were announced.

Despite the emergence of new projects, technologies, and commercial ventures, the rate of actual deployment worldwide has been relatively slow—but not necessarily for the reasons people might think.

Williams

Garrish

Theodore “Ted” Garrish is the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for nuclear energy and Brandon Williams is the DOE’s undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration following their confirmations yesterday by the U.S. Senate.

While awaiting confirmation, Garrish has been serving since January as senior advisor to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. He assumes the duties of NE-1 that Michael Goff has held as interim assistant secretary since Kathryn Huff stepped down from the NE-1 role in May 2024. The post of acting NNSA administrator has been held by Teresa Robbins since January 20; Jill Hruby held the post from 2021 to 2025.

The nuclear regulators of Belgium, Italy, and Romania signed on this week to the first “prelicensing” project under the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI) during the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 69th General Conference, pledging to work with the EAGLES Consortium to clarify regulatory requirements for a lead-cooled reactor ahead of formal licensing.

The International Atomic Energy Agency presented its 2025 Global ISOP Innovation Award for AI to Blue Wave AI Labs, Constellation, and the Southern Company subsidiary Southern Nuclear for the companies’ collaborative work on Blue Wave's ThermalLimits.ai. The technology is an AI application that provides accuracy in online thermal limit forecasting for boiling water reactors.

Applications are now open for the fall 2025 testing period for the American Nuclear Society’s Certified Nuclear Professional (CNP) exam. Applications are being accepted through October 14, and only three testing sessions are offered per year, so it is important to apply soon. The test will be administered from November 12 through December 16. To check eligibility and schedule your exam, click here.

In addition, taking place tomorrow (September 19) from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. (CDT), ANS will host a new webinar, “How to Become a Certified Nuclear Professional.” More information is available below in this article.

With President Trump on a state visit to the U.K., in part to sign a landmark new agreement on U.S.-U.K. nuclear collaboration, a flurry of transatlantic partnerships and deals bridging the countries’ nuclear sectors have been announced.

The American Nuclear Society is taking an active role in this bridge-building by forming a reciprocal membership agreement with the U.K.’s Nuclear Institute.

Nuclear Waste Services, the radioactive waste management subsidiary of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, has reported on its inaugural year of the National Youth Forum on Geological Disposal. NWS set up the initiative, in partnership with the environmental consultancy firm ARUP and the not-for-profit organization The Young Foundation, to give young people the chance to share their views on the government’s plans to develop a geological disposal facility (GDF) for the safe, secure, and long-term disposal of radioactive waste.