Operation Gigawatt looks to Brigham City, Holtec, and Hi Tech Solutions

November 19, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News
Concept art of a Holtec SMR-300 in Brigham City, Utah. (Image: Build Brigham City)

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox joined Brigham City Mayor D. J. Bott this week to announce a new partnership among the state, city, Hi Tech Solutions, and Holtec International. The partnership plans to develop a “full-scale nuclear energy ecosystem” based in Brigham City that will feature advanced manufacturing, workforce development, and Holtec’s SMR-300.

Beyond Nuclear brings interim storage case back to Supreme Court

November 13, 2025, 7:03AMRadwaste Solutions

The U.S. Supreme Court may once again scrutinize the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license consolidated interim storage facilities for commercial spent nuclear fuel. The antinuclear group Beyond Nuclear has filed a petition with the court for a writ of certiorari review of an August 2024 appeals court decision rejecting the group’s lawsuit against the licensing of Holtec International’s New Mexico storage facility, the HI-STORE CISF.

St. Lucie dry storage campaign completed in record time, Holtec says

November 10, 2025, 7:00AMRadwaste Solutions
The St. Lucie ISFSI with Holtec’s HI-STORM casks installed in the foreground. (Photo: Holtec)

Holtec International has completed a spent nuclear fuel dry storage campaign at NextEra Energy’s St. Lucie nuclear power plant in record time, according to the company. Twelve of Holtec's HI-STORM FW cask systems were loaded to the plant’s independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) in little over one month. In total, 144 spent fuel assemblies were moved from St. Lucie’s used fuel pools to the ISFSI pad.

ANS announces 2026 Presidential Citations

November 6, 2025, 6:59AMANS News

One of the privileges of being president of the American Nuclear Society is awarding Presidential Citations to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding effort in some manner for the benefit of ANS or the nuclear community at large. Citations are conferred twice each year, at the Annual and Winter Meetings.

ANS President Hash Hashemian has named this season’s recipients, who will receive recognition at the upcoming 2025 Winter Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C.

Holtec pulls out of New Mexico SNF interim storage project

October 10, 2025, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions
The location of Holtec’s proposed HI-STORE facility. (Image: Holtec)

Holtec International has confirmed it is canceling plans to build a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico. Named the HI-STORE CISF, the facility would have stored up to 10,000 canisters of commercial SNF on land owned by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) near the towns of Carlsbad and Hobbs.

A wave of new U.S.-U.K. deals ahead of Trump’s state visit

September 15, 2025, 3:04PMNuclear News
The now-closed Cottam coal-fired power station, where Holtec and EDF plan to deploy SMR-300s alongside new data centers. (Photo: Holtec)

President Trump will arrive in the United Kingdom this week for a state visit that promises to include the usual pomp and ceremony alongside the signing of a landmark new agreement on U.S.-U.K. nuclear collaboration.

Oyster Creek submits plan to terminate its NRC license

August 19, 2025, 7:10AMNuclear News
Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. (Photo: Holtec International)

Holtec International has submitted a license termination plan (LTP) for Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a milestone in the decommissioning of the boiling water reactor, which operated from 1969 to 2018. Holtec took over Oyster Creek’s license from Exelon Generation in 2019 for the immediate decommissioning of the plant, located in Forked River, N.J.

Palisades gets a key green light from NRC

July 28, 2025, 9:32AMNuclear News
Acting director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Greg Bowman (seated, left) and Holtec president Kelly Trice (seated, right) and other NRC officials celebrate the Palisades license restoration at the NRC headquarters. (Photo: NRC)

The Palisades nuclear power plant has been formally transitioned from decommissioning status to holding an operating license following the completion of an extensive technical review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It’s a historic move; before this, no U.S. nuclear plant had ever made the transition from shut down to approved for restart.

U.K.’s own Rolls-Royce wins SMR competition

June 10, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News
Concept art of Rolls-Royce SMR’s reactor design. (Image: Rolls Royce)

Rolls-Royce SMR has emerged as the United Kingdom’s preferred bidder to build the country’s first small modular reactors following a two-year competition, the U.K. government announced June 10. Rolls-Royce SMR expects to build three SMRs with Great British Energy–Nuclear, subject to contracting later this year and regulatory approvals. Great British Energy–Nuclear will “aim to allocate a site later this year and connect projects to the grid in the mid-2030s.”

NRC issues Palisades’ final environmental assessment of no significant findings

May 30, 2025, 12:01PMNuclear News

The Palisades nulear power plant received a final “clean bill” of environmental assessment impact from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today.

The findings of the NRC staff's EA showed no significant environmental impact for the Covert, Mich., plant, which plans to restart after operations were halted three years ago this month due to economic hardships in the energy market.

Will Palisades be the “comeback kid”?

April 11, 2025, 3:03PMNuclear News
Palisades nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan, at night. (Photo: Holtec)

Mike Mlynarek believes in this expression: “In the end it will be OK; and if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”

As the site vice president at Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert Township, Mich., Mlynarek is overseeing one of the most exciting projects in the United States nuclear power industry. If all goes according to plan, Holtec’s Palisades plant will be splitting atoms once again by the end of 2025 and become the first U.S. nuclear facility to restart after being slated for decommissioning.

Holtec and Hyundai expand SMR-300 fleet plans, starting with Palisades

February 25, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News
A rendering of Holtec’s dual-unit SMR-300. (Image: Holtec)

Leaders from Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction gathered at the Palisades site in western Michigan today to announce an “expanded cooperation agreement” to build a 10-GW fleet of Holtec-designed SMR-300s in North America. That fleet’s first builds would be at Palisades, where Holtec is now focused on restarting the site’s shuttered 777-MWe pressurized water reactor by the end of this year. Under the “Mission 2030” plan launched today, Holtec would then build a pair of SMR-300 PWRs at the Palisades site—targeting operation in 2030.

NRC issues Palisades’ draft environmental review, seeks public comment

February 4, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for public comments until March 3 on its environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding of no significant impact at Michigan’s Palisades nuclear power plant, where Holtec hopes to restart operations by the end of 2025.

Diablo Canyon completes dry storage campaign, seeks ISFSI license renewal

November 12, 2024, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The Diablo Canyon ISFSI cask loading team from Holtec, PG&E, and Diablo Canyon. (Photo: Holtec)

Holtec International announced that it has completed the campaign to transfer Diablo Canyon’s spent nuclear to dry storage ahead of its planned schedule, paving the way for the continued operation of the central California nuclear power plant.

Industry experts discuss nuclear’s role in powering data centers, meeting climate goals

November 7, 2024, 9:30AMANS News

As a primer to the American Nuclear Society Winter Conference and Expo, ANS Executive Director/Chief Executive Craig Piercy hosted a panel discussion titled “The State of Nuclear,” sponsored by the ANS Trustees of Nuclear. The October 29 discussion, the first in a two-part series, featured five thought leaders from the nuclear community as they reviewed the current state of nuclear power. The second panel will take place during the ANS Winter Conference in Orlando, Fla., on November 18.