The basemat is suspended from a heavy crawler crane before being lowered to the bottom of an excavated and prepared 35-meter-deep reactor shaft. (Photo: OPG)
“The nuclear renaissance is real here,” said Ontario Power Generation’s Subo Sinnathamby on May 8, one year to the day after OPG secured a final investment decision to build the first of four planned BWRX-300 reactors at its Darlington nuclear power plant, and shortly after the new reactor’s foundation was lifted into place. “We got our license to construct in April and our [final investment decision] in May, and we’ve been off to the races since.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. (Photo: Prime Minister of Canada)
The governments of Canada and India agreed to multiple long-term deals this month, extending a partnership that will impact sectors including energy and critical minerals, technology and AI, talent and culture, and defense.
One of the more significant deals is a long-term agreement that would supply nearly 22 million pounds of Canadian uranium concentrate (U3O8) to India’s burgeoning nuclear reactor fleet over the next decade.
From left: GLE’s Stephen Long, Scott Steuer, Jesus Diaz-Quiroz, Nima Ashkeboussi, and Timothy Knowles, with the NRC’s Matt Bartlett, Samantha Lav, Robert Sun, Shana Helton, Andrea Kock, and Kimyata Morgan-Butler. (Photo: GLE)
Global Laser Enrichment announced that it has submitted its safety analysis report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF). This follows GLE’s December 2024 submission of the plant’s environmental report, now completing GLE’s full license application for NRC review.
Graph: Nuclear News; data source: U.S. EIA
U.S. uranium production increased throughout 2024, with more growth planned in 2025. The producers who can make that happen, however, were burned before by a “renaissance” that didn’t take off. Now they are watching and waiting for signals from Washington, D.C., including the impacts of tariffs, shifting relationships with global uranium producers, and funding for the enrichment task orders designed to boost demand for U.S. uranium.