Ho Nieh, TVA board members, and nuclear fuel recycling bill head to Senate floor

October 29, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

Nieh

Ho Nieh, the Trump administration’s nominee to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and four new board members of the Tennessee Valley Authority were approved in a vote today by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and head to the Senate floor for a final vote.

The committee also voted to advance to the Senate floor the Nuclear REFUEL Act of 2025 (S. 2082), which would smooth the regulatory pathway for recycling used nuclear fuel.

President Donald nominated Nieh on July 30 to serve as NRC commissioner for the remainder of a term set to expire June 30, 2029, which was held by former NRC commissioner Chris Hanson, who Trump fired in June.

Santee Cooper opts to reboot Summer reactor project

October 24, 2025, 12:01PMNuclear News
In historic photo, one of two unfinished Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Summer construction site. (Photo: SCE&G)

The board of directors of South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper voted today to approve the proposal from Brookfield Asset Management to complete two new AP1000 power reactors at the V.C. Summer site in Jenkinsville, S.C.

Amazon provides update on its Washington project with X-energy

October 20, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News
Annotated concept art of the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, depicting three reactor buildings that each house four units. (Source: Amazon)

A year ago this month, Amazon led a $500 million investment in X-energy, alongside Citadel founder Ken Griffin, the University of Michigan, and other investors. In addition to that financing, Amazon pledged to support the development of an initial four-unit, 320-MW project with Energy Northwest in Washington state.

Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow

May 26, 2025, 9:50AMUpdated October 17, 2025, 4:55PMNuclear NewsCory Hatch
Commercial nuclear fuel rods being unloaded from cask inside a HFEF hot cell. (Photo: INL)

At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.

Nano to begin drilling next week in Illinois

October 16, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News
Image: Nano

It’s been a good month for Nano Nuclear in the state of Illinois. On October 7, the Office of Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that the company would be awarded $6.8 million from the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois Act to help fund the development of its new regional research and development facility in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.

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.

DOE, NNSA open process to select energy suppliers for AI data centers

October 8, 2025, 12:03PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration issued requests for proposals last month, seeking plans from companies to build AI data centers at the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Savannah River Site, and Idaho National Laboratory.

Senate EPW Committee to hold Nieh nomination hearing

October 7, 2025, 3:00PMNuclear News

Nieh

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a nomination hearing Wednesday for Ho Nieh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Trump nominated Nieh on July 30 to serve as NRC commissioner the remainder of a term that will expire June 30, 2029, as Nuclear NewsWire previously reported.

Nieh has been vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear since 2021, though since June 2024 he has been at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations as a loaned executive.

A return to the NRC: If confirmed by the Senate, Nieh would be returning to the NRC after three previous stints totaling nearly 20 years.

NRC grants Disa license for novel environmental remediation tech

October 7, 2025, 9:33AMRadwaste Solutions
A Disa HPSA test unit used in a study in the Navajo Nation. (Photo: Disa Technologies)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a license application submitted by Disa Technologies to use high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology for remediating abandoned uranium mine waste at inactive mining sites.

Urenco USA gets OK to enrich uranium up to 10 percent

October 2, 2025, 9:35AMNuclear News
Urenco USA staff outside the Eunice, N.M., enrichment facility. (Photo: Urenco)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized Urenco USA to enrich uranium up to 10 percent U-235 following changes to plant systems and procedures and an operational readiness review. The company announced the news today, two days after the NRC issued its authorization on September 30 and said that all existing and future cascades at its Eunice, N.M., enrichment facility will be licensed to produce both low-enriched uranium, typically enriched to 5 percent fissile U-235, and LEU+, between 5 and 10 percent U-235.

Andrea Kock to head NRC’s Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards Office

October 1, 2025, 7:03AMNuclear News

Kock

Andrea Kock was named director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards.

Kock was previously the Region I administrator in King of Prussia, Pa., and had been serving recently as temporary head of the NMSS.

NMSS licenses and regulates the facilities and materials associated with the processing, transport, and handling of nuclear materials, including uranium recovery activities and the fuel used in commercial nuclear reactors. The office also implements the NRC’s Agreement State program; liaises with American Indian tribal governments; and supports agency rulemaking, environmental review, and financial assurance projects.

Valar Atomics breaks ground in Utah

September 25, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News
The golden ground-breaking shovels for Valar’s USREL site are posed dramatically in front of an American flag hung on a Kiewit excavator. (Source: Valar Atomics)

El Segundo, Calif.–based reactor start-up Valar Atomics recently announced that it has broken ground on its test reactor, the Ward 250, at Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company participating in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program to do so.

NRC to hold workshop on improving realism in probabilistic risk assessment

September 12, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a two-day public workshop September 30–October 1 to discuss efforts to improve realism in probabilistic risk assessment. The hybrid workshop, which will be held in person and online, will focus on enhancing risk-informed decision-making for nuclear power plants by making PRA models more realistic and reflective of reactor design, operations, and real-world behavior.

David Wright officially sworn in for third term at the NRC

September 10, 2025, 2:55PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently announced that David Wright, after being nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate, was ceremonially sworn in as NRC chair on September 8.

This swearing in comes more than a month after Wright began his third term on the commission; he began leading as chair July 31. His term will conclude on June 30, 2030.