Hanford looks inside sealed nuclear reactors using modern technology

August 28, 2025, 12:04PMNuclear News
Lidar technology creates detailed imaging by scanning the interior structure of cocooned reactors at the Hanford Site, supporting future monitoring and safety planning. (Image: DOE)

A new imaging technology is being used on decommissioned reactors at the Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington state, revealing a detailed look inside the sealed enclosures.

Constellation-Meta agreement ensures future of Clinton plant

August 28, 2025, 9:31AMNuclear News
The Clinton nuclear power plant. (Photo: Constellation)

Constellation has reported that its employees were joined by hundreds of community members and labor leaders on August 26 at the Clinton Clean Energy Center to celebrate a power purchase agreement between Constellation and Meta that supports the relicensing, continued operation, and expansion of Clinton for another two decades. The rally was held at the plant site, located in rural DeWitt County, Ill.

General Atomics makes $20M investment in Canadian fusion venture

August 28, 2025, 7:07AMNuclear News
UNITY-2 fuel cycle test facility. (Image: FFC)

San Diego, Calif.–based General Atomics has announced a $20 million, 10-year strategic investment in Canada’s Fusion Fuel Cycles Inc. (FFC), a joint venture between Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering. The investment will help accelerate the development of FFC’s flagship project, the Unique Integrated Testing Facility (UNITY-2), a deuterium-tritium fuel cycle test facility located at CNL’s Chalk River Laboratories.

A busy week in Utah for nuclear development

August 27, 2025, 2:57PMNuclear News

Almost every day this week has featured headlines concerning announcements, signings, and progress across Utah’s nuclear sector.

At a glance: TerraPower, Flagship, and the state signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on siting a Natrium reactor; $5 million may come to Camp Williams for General Matter–related site preparation work; and Nusano cut the ribbon on a radioisotope production facility.

DOE allocates HALEU to Antares, Standard Nuclear, and ACU/Natura

August 27, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy made conditional commitments yesterday to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium to three companies: reactor developer Antares Nuclear; fuel fabricator Standard Nuclear; and Natura Resources, which is backing Abilene Christian University’s development of a small Molten Salt Research Reactor and pursuing a commercial reactor design of its own. Following a contracting process, some of the companies “could receive their HALEU later this year.”

New World screwworm officially crosses border into . . . Maryland?

August 27, 2025, 9:31AMNuclear News
Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins annouces plans to establish a SIT facility at Moore Air Base. (Photo: USDA)

Ranchers in Texas, alongside the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have been bracing for the return of the New World screwworm (NWS), a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the wounds of warm-blooded animals and, once newly hatched, eats living flesh.

From quad to grid: Where thought leadership sparks civic dialogue

August 27, 2025, 7:05AMNuclear NewsSukesh Aghara

Sukesh Aghara

In an era when affordable, clean energy is as much an economic imperative as it is an environmental one, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has an opportunity to lead not just through legislation but through partnership—between state leadership and its world-class universities.

Massachusetts has long led on decarbonization through electric vehicle adoption, rooftop solar, and offshore wind. We have reduced energy consumption through efficiency investments. From 2022 to 2024 alone, the state’s Mass Save programs facilitated energy savings equal to the annual usage of over 852,000 homes, avoided 684,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and delivered $2.3 billion in customer incentives. But to meet growing demand and industrial needs, it’s time to invite universities to help craft a bolder vision—one that includes advanced nuclear technologies.

DOE-NE’s newest fuel consortium includes defense from antitrust laws

August 26, 2025, 3:23PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy is setting up a nuclear fuel Defense Production Act Consortium that will seek voluntary agreements with interested companies “to increase fuel availability, provide more access to reliable power, and end America’s reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium and critical materials needed to power the nation’s nuclear renaissance.” According to an August 22 DOE press release, the plan invokes the Defense Production Act (DPA) to give consortium members “defense from antitrust laws when certain criteria are met” and “allow industry consultation to develop plans of action.” DOE-NE is looking for interested companies to join the consortium ahead of its first meeting, scheduled for October 14.

Overcoming the challenge of obsolete pressure transmitters in aging nuclear power plants

August 26, 2025, 12:00PMSponsored ContentCurtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright’s strength in nuclear qualified pressure and temperature products is supported by its recent acquisition of Weed Instrument Company, Inc., one of the original specialists in that field. A great example of our organization helping customers overcome the challenge of aging and obsolescence is our DTC3™ pressure transmitter, which was designed as a drop-in replacement for the almost ubiquitous but now discontinued Rosemount™ 1151.

IAEA meeting focuses on nuclear science and food safety

August 26, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News
IAEA deputy director general Najat Mokhtar (second from right) delivers welcoming remarks at the joint IAEA/WHO/FAO food safety meeting. (Photo: S. Ramirez/IAEA)

A recent three-day meeting organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency drew representatives from 14 countries to discuss links between foodborne contaminants like mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticide residues, and microplastics, as well as such health issues as impaired growth, gut health, hormone regulation, nutrient absorption, chronic diseases, and malnutrition.

Fermi America announces three new partnerships

August 26, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News
Concept art of the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus (Source: Fermi America)

Less than a week after the news of Fermi America’s first collaboration for its Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus being built in partnership with Texas Tech University, the company has announced three more industry partners: Parkhill, Lee Lewis Construction, and Westinghouse.

The Nuclear Company forms partnership with University of South Carolina

August 25, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Company, which in April opened its primary engineering and construction office in Columbia, S.C., announced a partnership with the University of South Carolina’s Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, whereby the company will invest up to $5 million in the college over five years. USC is to match the private investment with funds from federal grants, industry partners, and other donors.

New report lays out path to U.S. nuclear energy dominance

August 25, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The new report “How America Can Achieve Nuclear Energy Dominance,” from the Working Group on U.S. Nuclear Energy Dominance, outlines a plan of action for the Trump administration that includes deploying new nuclear reactors, developing domestic supply chains, promoting nuclear exports, reforming regulations, and developing the workforce.

Working group chair Todd Abrajano said, “We welcome the Trump administration’s bold moves to kick-start the U.S. nuclear energy sector, but we recognize that President Trump’s executive orders alone can’t achieve our goals.”

A nuclear icebreaker first: Female captain takes the helm

August 25, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News
Marina Starovoitova. (Photo: Rosatom)

Navigation engineer Marina Starovoitova has been named captain of a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom has announced. Starovoitova is the first woman to hold that position, Rosatom said. She was officially appointed on August 20 during a ceremony in Nizhny Novgorod that marked the 80th anniversary of Russia’s nuclear energy industry. The evening event, “Era of Dreamers,” was attended by about 30,000 spectators, including more than 20,000 employees of Rosatom.

University adds electrochemical boost in pursuit of cold fusion

August 25, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News
Thunderbird, the University of British Columbia’s benchtop-scale particle accelerator and electrochemical reactor. (Photo: UBC)

Researchers at the University of British Columbia seeking the energy grail of cold fusion—alias lattice confinement fusion or low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR)— used electrochemistry to load extra deuterium ions into a metal lattice and found a “modest” performance boost of 15 percent, compared with experiments without the electrochemical loading technique, according to the university.

Nuclear Dirigo

August 22, 2025, 2:57PMNuclear NewsPaul A. Wlodkowski
Rendering of a floating nuclear power plant concept, in foreground. (Image: American Bureau of Shipping/Herbert)

On April 22, 1959, Rear Admiral George J. King, superintendent of the Maine Maritime Academy, announced that following the completion of the 1960 training cruise, cadets would begin the study of nuclear engineering. Courses at that time included radiation physics, reactor control and instrumentation, reactor theory and engineering, thermodynamics, shielding, core design, reactor maintenance, and nuclear aspects.

From remediation to renaissance: Our nuclear future begins with cleanup

August 22, 2025, 9:35AMNuclear NewsHash Hashemian and Ken Rueter
A view of the East Tennessee Technology Park after core cleanup was completed. (Photo: DOE)

ANS Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy’s reflection on the 80th anniversary of the Trinity Test (Nuclear Newswire, July 16) was a thoughtful and fitting remembrance of the achievements and legacy of the World War II generation of nuclear pioneers. We also see legacy environmental cleanup as a vital next step as our industry launches what Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has defined as “Manhattan Project 2.0.”

NRC, DOE to hold webinar on HALEU fuel cycle

August 22, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy will hold a webinar on August 27 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EDT) to discuss commercial-scale facility and transportation criticality analyses for the high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel cycle.

Those interested in attending the workshop can register using this link.