GLE begins TRL-6 demonstration enrichment

Global Laser Enrichment has commenced uranium enrichment demonstration testing at its test loop pilot facility at the company’s headquarters in Wilmington, N.C. The technology readiness level-6 testing program is expected to be a pivotal validation of large-scale enrichment performance under operationally relevant conditions, according to the company.

Elementl and Google agree on site-first approach to three nuclear projects

Elementl Power Inc. is a “technology agnostic” nuclear project developer looking to bring more than 10 gigawatts of new nuclear power on line in the United States by 2035, and Google wants to see more baseload nuclear power supplying its data centers. The two companies announced May 7 that they have signed a strategic agreement to “pre-position” three project sites for advanced nuclear energy.

SHINE to acquire Lantheus’s SPECT business line

SHINE Technologies, a fusion company building what is set to be the world’s largest medical isotope production facility at its Wisconsin campus, announced that it has agreed to acquire the single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) business from Lantheus, a radiopharmaceutical-focused company based in Massachusetts.

First concrete marks start of safety-related construction for Hermes test reactor

Drilling begins. (Photo: Kairos Power)

Kairos Power announced this morning that safety-related nuclear construction has begun at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., site where the company is building its Hermes low-power test reactor. Hermes, a scaled demonstration of Kairos Power’s fluoride salt–cooled, high-temperature reactor technology, became the first non–light water reactor to receive a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 2023. The company broke ground at the site in July 2024.

Applications open for 2026 ANS Congressional Fellowship

Thu, May 8, 2025, 4:59PMANS News

The American Nuclear Society’s Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship application process is open, and ANS strongly encourages interested members to apply.

ANS Congressional Fellows can directly contribute to the federal policymaking process, working in either a U.S. senator’s or representative’s personal office or with a congressional committee. They are responsible for supplying Congress with their expertise in nuclear science and technology, having a hand in the creation of new laws while gaining a deeper understanding of the legislative process.

Marviken–The world’s only oil-fired nuclear power plant

Thu, May 8, 2025, 2:30PMNuclear NewsJeremy Hampshire
Cutaway diagram of Marviken. (Image: Vattenfall)

In the late 1950s, the Swedish government decided to undertake a large-scale nuclear energy project. Situated about 75 miles southwest of Stockholm on the Baltic coast, Marviken was located on a peninsula, allowing for the cooling water intake and outlet to be located on either side of the peninsula. The coastal location also allowed the large reactor pressure vessel to be delivered by ship.

The State of Nuclear: The industry today

Wed, May 7, 2025, 8:00PMANS News

American Nuclear Society Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy recently hosted the latest installment of “The State of Nuclear,” the Society’s periodic webinar series that explores current events with an eye toward their impact on the future of nuclear technology and professionals.

Oak Ridge’s Isotek dramatically increases world supply of Th-229

Wed, May 7, 2025, 5:02PMNuclear News
Isotek employees load canisters of Th-229 that will go to TerraPower to support cancer treatment research. (Photo: DOE)

Workers with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management contractor Isotek have surpassed a significant milestone in the supply of medical radioisotopes, extracting more than 15 grams of rare thorium-229 through the Department of Energy’s Thorium Express Project.

Tokyo high school students visit NEA headquarters

Wed, May 7, 2025, 2:31PMNuclear News
William Magwood (center, yellow tie) and the visitors from Japan. (Photo: OECD NEA)

As part of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s engagement with the next generation of nuclear energy scholarship, Director General William Magwood IV and Deputy Director General Nobuhiro Muroya hosted students earlier this year from Tokyo Metropolitan Toyama High School.

My story: ANS member Steve Rae

Wed, May 7, 2025, 1:35PMNuclear NewsSteve Rae

. . . and today.

Steve Rae in 1980 . . .

There I was at the promising age of 16 years old in 1973, standing before an audience of about 100 adults in Goldsboro, N.C., explaining what BWRs, breeder reactors, and PWRs were. The Goldsboro High Advanced Chemistry class teacher, Dr. Joseph Mitchener, had introduced his class of eight students to the topic of nuclear energy. I found the topic fascinating. So, when Dr. Mitchener looked for class volunteers to make public presentations like to the Goldsboro audience, I grabbed the topic of nuclear energy and ran with it. Little did I know that one action would lead to my future career.

Next up was North Carolina State University, starting in 1975, where seven out of the eight students from Dr. Mitchener’s class matriculated to the Wolfpack College of Engineering. There, I focused my interest on utility energy systems including nuclear energy.

Tenn. legislature funds monument for Oak Ridge civil rights pioneers

Tue, May 6, 2025, 8:00PMANS News

In a historic photo, students gather at the Oak Ridge high school in Tennessee. (Photo: DOE)

The Tennessee legislature has approved a $3.2 million proposal to fund a monument that will honor a group of 85 black former students known as the Scarboro–Oak Ridge 85 who, with support from the Atomic Energy Commission, became the first students to enter a previously white-only public school in the southeastern United States.

"We want to make sure that Oak Ridge and the Scarboro 85 get their rightful place in the civil rights history timeline; we do not want to be left out," said John Spratling, chair of the Scarboro 85 Monument Committee.

ANS recognition: The American Nuclear Society officially recognized and honored the Scarboro 85 in 2021 by awarding the group with the inaugural Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award at that year’s Annual Winter Meeting.

Former NASA official discusses the need for nuclear power in space

Tue, May 6, 2025, 5:01PMANS Nuclear Cafe

A recent episode of the podcast Space Minds features a discussion about the uses of nuclear power in space with Bhavya Lal, former associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy at NASA. Lal, who has master’s degrees in nuclear engineering and in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is currently a professor at the RAND School of Public Policy and a strategy consultant for Idaho National Laboratory.

TVA files for construction permit for Clinch River SMR

Tue, May 6, 2025, 2:29PMNuclear News

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week shared a portion of the construction permit application from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a small modular reactor at the Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

In anticipation of TVA’s filing, NRC staff scheduled two public meetings in Oak Ridge for today, to discuss the agency’s process for licensing nuclear power plants.

Student encounters

Tue, May 6, 2025, 12:01PMNuclear NewsLisa Marshall

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

There is much I could have written about for this month’s issue of Nuclear News, and I have decided to reflect on conversations with our greatest asset: students. When we consider what the industry needs, I think about what students need to thrive. The educational ecosystem requires both enthusiasm and resources in and out of the classroom.

To attract and retain students, we must pay attention to cocurricular programming. Scholarships, fellowships, travel grants, internships, and co-ops—as well as our time and efforts—make a difference. Whether at schools, meetups and student conferences, or national and international meetings, we must continue to pour into our students at all levels. We also need to create an environment that pays attention to external factors that impact academic performance. This lift is a mightier one but just as important.

Fusion Energy Week begins today

Mon, May 5, 2025, 8:01PMNuclear News

Excitement around fusion has only grown this year since the French magnetic confinement fusion tokamak known as WEST maintained a plasma for 1,337 seconds in February, toppling the 1,006-second record set by China’s EAST a few weeks prior. Investment, legislation, and new research are riding this new surge of attention, but fusion development has a long history.

What does the nuclear supply chain need now?

Mon, May 5, 2025, 2:29PMNuclear NewsDoug VanTassell

Doug VanTassell

Certainty!

As CEO of Paragon, I’m excited by the momentum in our industry. But like every nuclear business leader, I grapple with the challenges of delivering projects on time amid capacity and investment constraints. While the industry’s future is bright, the timing of good news doesn’t always align with commitment orders.

Market uncertainty

For the commercial operating fleet, the past five years have been overwhelmingly positive. The private and public sectors recognize nuclear power as a reliable and clean energy source. Rising power rates have made deregulated nuclear plants profitable, while regulated markets have increased support from public utility commissions.

Hanford completes 2,000-gallon TBI waste shipment

Mon, May 5, 2025, 12:00PMRadwaste Solutions
Hanford workers move a 330-gallon double-wall transport container of treated tank waste. (Photo: DOE)

As part of its Test Bed Initiative (TBI) demonstration project, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management completed two shipments of treated, low-activity tank waste from the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash. The approximately 2,000 gallons of TBI waste will be solidified in grout and permanently disposed of at Waste Control Specialists’ (WCS) federal disposal facility in Andrews County, Texas, and at EnergySolutions’ disposal facility in Clive, Utah.

U.S. nuclear capacity factors: Stability and energy dominance

Fri, May 2, 2025, 7:57PMNuclear NewsSusan Gallier
Fig. 1. Median capacity factor of all reactors. The median DER net capacity factor of the 92 reactors included in this survey for the three-year period 2022–2024 is 90.96 percent. The 92 reactors in this survey are being compared with 94 reactors in 2019–2021 (when Indian Point-3 and Palisades were also included); 98 in 2016–2018; 99 in 2013–2015. There were 104 reactors in the five three-year periods prior to that. There were 53 reactors in the database in 1980–1982, and in the five subsequent periods there were 60, 77, 97, 102, and 103.

Nuclear generation has inertia. Massive spinning turbines keep electricity flowing during grid disturbances. But nuclear generation also has a kind of inertia that isn’t governed by the laws of motion.

Starting—and then finishing—a power reactor construction project requires significant upfront effort and money, but once built a reactor can run for decades. Capacity factors of U.S. reactors have remained near 90 percent since the turn of the century, but it took more than a decade of improvements to reach that steady state. The payoff for nuclear investments is long-term and reliable.