Nevada-based Eagle Nuclear Energy said it will conduct a 27,000-foot investigative drill program at its flagship Aurora Uranium Project along the Oregon–Nevada border beginning in July.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s International Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab) Project, which brings together experts from across the nuclear field to examine the potential impact of emerging technologies, has released a report on its first cycle that details the outcomes of a RegLab focused on the use of artificial intelligence in real-time monitoring of nuclear power plants.

Participants started out with an initial problem/opportunity statement, from which they developed a use case and a mock safety, security, safeguards, and environmental protection (SSSE) case. Then, over the course of two workshops, participants considered these cases in depth.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright has spent the past week courting members of Congress to approve his agency’s $53.9 billion discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2027. On Tuesday, Wright spoke before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. On April 15, Wright testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development and Related Agencies. And on April 16, he testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee.

On Friday, two of the four cofounders at Fermi America unexpectedly exited their roles at the company. Those were Toby Neugebauer, former CEO and chairman of the board of directors, and Miles Everson, former chief financial officer.

While both Neugebauer and Everson will still serve on the board of directors, this reshuffling has raised questions regarding the overall stability of Fermi’s flagship Project Matador, which aims to deploy four AP1000s on a massive data center campus in Texas.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving forward with its plans to reorganize around three core business lines: new reactors, operating reactors, and nuclear materials and waste. In order to do that, the agency will establish two new offices: the Office of Advanced Reactors (OAR) and the Office of the Chief Nuclear Reactor Inspector (CNRI).

Earlier today, Zeno Power announced the completion of the final design review for an americium-241–fueled radioisotope power system (RPS) developed for Harmonia RPS, a NASA Artemis Tipping Point project.

The Harmonia RPS project will now begin the build and fabrication phase. Zeno plans to complete a terrestrial demonstration of an electrically heated system in early 2027 and is aiming for flight qualification for lunar missions beginning in 2028.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

In this month’s issue of Nuclear News, readers will find coverage of the “other” areas where nuclear technology is pushing into new frontiers. From marine nuclear propulsion to nuclear systems that enable planetary exploration, the articles in these pages are a reminder that the influence of applied nuclear science extends far beyond the electric grid.

When many people hear the phrase “civil nuclear technology,” they still think first of power plants—an understandable association. Nuclear power has been one of the most reliable sources of large-scale electricity for decades. It is our storefront.

But nuclear technology has always been bigger than electrons.

On April 17, Kairos Power broke ground on its Hermes 2 demonstration plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for which it received test reactor construction permits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November 2024. Kairos expects Hermes 2 to begin operations by 2030, when the fluoride salt–cooled high temperature reactor could become the first NRC-licensed non–light water reactor to produce power.

Heavy metal rods are placed into large stainless steel TRIGA spent fuel canisters to test their load-bearing capabilities. (Photo: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced last week that it is preparing to receive a shipment of spent nuclear fuel from Penn State University’s research reactor. The fuel is being shipped to Idaho National Laboratory for research purposes.

DOE-EM said crews with the Idaho Cleanup Project recently fabricated and tested four stainless steel canisters that will be used to receive and store the used TRIGA fuel. (“TRIGA” stands for “Training, Research, Isotope, General Atomics.”)

Commercial operations have resumed at Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced.

Last week’s commercial restart of Unit 6, a 1,315-MWe boiling water reactor, is the first for a TEPCO nuclear facility since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami triggered an accident at the utility’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The American Nuclear Society’s 2026 Annual Conference is coming up fast. From May 31 to June 3, leaders from across the nuclear industry will gather in Denver, Colo., to discuss the state of the industry and emerging opportunities.

To register for the conference, make hotel reservations, and explore the full program, visit ans.org/meetings/ac2026/.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has signed an agreement with Chicago-based Clean Core Thorium Energy to manufacture demonstration irradiation bundles of Clean Core’s ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life) fuel. The fuel is made with a combination of thorium and high-assay low-enriched uranium and is designed for use in pressurized heavy water reactors, such as Canada’s CANDU fleet.

A comparison of real SEM tungsten microstructures (left column) with machine learning–generated synthetic microstructures (right) for different values of the model setting parameters. Adjusting the model setting controls how diverse or sharp the synthetic microstructures appear. (Image: ORNL, DOE)

Researchers have developed a model to generate images that serve as synthetic data close-ups of tungsten surfaces under fusion reactor conditions.

Tungsten is a top-choice material for plasma-facing components (PFCs) in fusion machines, so understanding tungsten’s performance is critical to the safety and longevity of component designs.

The predawn darkness on a cool Florida night was shattered by the ignition of nine Merlin engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The thrust of the engines shook the ground miles away. From a distance, the rocket appeared to slowly rise above the horizon. For the cargo onboard, the launch was anything but gentle, as the ignition of liquid oxygen generated more than 1.5 million pounds of force. After the rocket had been out of sight for several minutes, the booster dramatically returned to Earth with several sonic booms in a captivating show of engineering designed to make space travel less expensive and more sustainable.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has signed a nonbinding letter of intent that will see the state’s Office of Energy Development (OED) and Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly collaborate to explore potential nuclear projects.

The focus of these projects—perhaps surprisingly—is not connected to medical radioisotope production. Rather, it will focus on “small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies” that could provide “baseload power for industrial, research, and community uses,” according to the LOI.

The European Commission has begun an open public consultation and call for evidence to help shape European Union policy on radioactive waste and spent fuel for the decade ahead. The public consultation lasts until June 19, while the call for evidence ends April 24.

Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) has begun production activities at its Burke Hollow in situ recovery (ISR) mining operation in southern Texas after receiving approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Uranium from the site will be processed at the Hobson Central Processing Plant, which serves as the hub to five satellite ISR projects (referred to as “spokes”) in the Texas Uranium Belt.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy recently awarded about $49.7 million to 10 university-led projects aiming to develop nuclear workforce training programs around the country.

DOE-NE issued its largest award, $19.2 million, to the newly formed Great Lakes Partnership to Enhance the Nuclear Workforce (GLP). This regional consortium, which is led by the University of Toledo and includes the American Nuclear Society, will use the funds to fill a variety of existing gaps in the nuclear workforce pipeline.

A White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum released on Tuesday guides NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense on their roles in deploying near-term space nuclear power.

This follows a series of NASA announcements last month—driven by the executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority,” issued by Trump in December—including an ambitious timeline for establishing a moon base, which would rely on fission surface power (FSP) to survive the long lunar night at the moon’s south pole, and plans for a nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) rocket to be launched in 2028.

The communities in and around Duane Arnold had a chance on Tuesday evening to hear from Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials on the progress to restart Iowa’s only nuclear power plant in early 2029.

Licensing, inspections and assessments, the noticing process, and the role of the restart panel were among the topics discussed at the public meeting, which was held in Cedar Rapids, Ia., with an option for virtual attendance.