The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the government agency charged with cleaning up the United Kingdom’s nuclear sites, has awarded three contracts totaling £30 million (about $39 million) for research into new decommissioning techniques.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has issued a final request for proposals for an infrastructure support services (ISS) contract at the department’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, which is the former home of the Paducah gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant. DOE-EM has conducted extensive cleanup and environmental remediation activities at the site since the late 1980s.

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Radiant purchases nuclear-grade graphite for its microreactor

Microreactor startup Radiant Industries and Amsted Graphite Materials, the largest American-­owned synthetic graphite producer, have reached an agreement to collaborate on reducing U.S. reliance on foreign sources of nuclear-grade graphite. The collaboration began with Radiant placing a purchase order with Amsted for its Kaleidos microreactor, a 1-MW high-temperature, gas-cooled portable microreactor that has a graphite core and uses TRISO fuel.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $630 million to Louisiana-based Aptim Federal Services for deactivation and decommissioning work at two U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program sites in New York.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management once again awarded a 10-year, $45 billion contract to Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C) of Lynchburg, Va., for the cleanup of tank waste at the Hanford Site.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has issued a final request for proposals for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) technical support services contract. The PPPO manages the department’s cleanup efforts at the two gaseous diffusion plant sites in Ohio and Kentucky.

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UAE prepares for advanced nuclear

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the United Arab Emirates’ nuclear energy development organization, has signed several agreements regarding advanced reactors, many of which were signed at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, UAE.

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DOE, DOD support X-energy’s microreactor work

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has signed a one-year cooperative agreement with X-energy designed to advance the development of a design for a transportable mobile microreactor. Under the agreement, the DOE will support X-energy’s work on the architecture and technology for the 3- to-5-MWe microreactor’s preliminary design. X-energy is also the recipient of a Department of Defense contract to develop an enhanced engineering design for a transportable microreactor that will be suitable for both defense and commercial applications.

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SMR power barge designs approved

The American Bureau of Shipping has approved in principle the designs for an offshore small modular reactor power barge from Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering and Kepco Engineering and Construction. Another collaborator on the project is the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry, which assisted ABS in design reviews. The SMR barges are designed to provide electricity for islands and other remote communities.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has issued a draft request for proposal for technical support services contract for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO), which manages the department’s cleanup efforts at the two gaseous diffusion plant sites in Ohio and Kentucky.

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Centrus-Oklo partnership expands

Oklo, a California-based developer of next-generation fission reactors, has expanded its partnership with Centrus Energy, a Maryland-based supplier of nuclear fuel and services. The two companies have been cooperating since 2021 on the development of Centrus’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel. According to the companies’ new memorandum of understanding, Centrus will manufacture certain components for Oklo’s Aurora “powerhouse” reactor, a fast neutron reactor designed to generate up to 15 MW of power and operate for at least 10 years without refueling. The Aurora is also designed to produce usable heat. Centrus also has agreed to purchase electricity generated by the Aurora reactors, while Oklo has agreed to purchase HALEU fuel from the Piketon facility. The facility is expected to begin fuel production before the end of the year.

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TerraPower signs contracts to advance Natrium

TerraPower and Centrus Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their collaboration in the development of commercial-scale production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to fuel TerraPower’s Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor, which is designed with a molten salt–based energy storage system. TerraPower is planning its Natrium demonstration project for a site in Kemmerer, Wyo., with a target operational date of 2030. Centrus plans to produce as much as 20 kilograms of fuel by the end of 2023 at its production facility in Piketon, Ohio, and to further scale up production with additional centrifugal cascades.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has issued a draft request for proposal for a contract covering the next phase of cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York.

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International SMR collaboration launched

The nine member states of the International Nuclear Regulators’ Association (INRA)—Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States—have agreed to collaborate on the generic design assessment and licensing of small modular reactor technologies. According to a statement released by the organization, the internationally standardized reactor designs would aid in the facilitation of efficient regulatory reviews, although local issues such as siting and environmental factors must be addressed by national regulatory agencies. The INRA members expressed their support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Harmonisation and Standards Initiative, but they stressed that independent, national regulatory reviews should not be replaced by an international approach.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $5.87 billion to Southern Ohio Cleanup Company (SOCCo) of Aiken, S.C., for the decontamination and decommissioning of the DOE’s Portsmouth site in southern Ohio. SOCCo is a newly formed limited liability company comprising Amentum Environment and Energy, Fluor Federal Services, and Cavendish Nuclear (USA) Inc.

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Paragon to supply I&C for Xe-100 SMR

Paragon Energy Solutions and X-energy Reactor Company have entered into a preferred supplier agreement by which Paragon will be the exclusive worldwide supplier for three crucial instrumentation and control systems for X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors: the reactor protection system, post-event monitoring system, and neutron instrumentation system. The new agreement builds on an existing partnership between the two companies in the areas of critical safety mechanisms, which also includes Paragon’s HIPS FPGA system.

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Partnership formed to study X-energy’s SMR in commercial conditions

X-energy and Kinectrics have launched a partnership to design, build, and operate a commercial-scale test facility to study the performance of the Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor in helium--based high-temperature, high--pressure operating conditions. The test facility, the site for which is to be announced sometime this summer, may be completed and operational by 2025.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is seeking proposals from small businesses for a nationwide contract to perform deactivation, decommissioning, and removal (DD&R) work, along with waste management and program support services.