Wright

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright testified before a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, on May 7, to answer questions about the DOE budget and priories for fiscal year 2026.

Wright’s testimony: Wright said that the DOE was taking steps to accelerate innovation in commercial nuclear development. “In the past 100 days, DOE has issued two disbursements to support the reopening of Michigan’s Palisades nuclear energy plant. We allocated high-assay low-enriched uranium material to five U.S. advanced nuclear reactor developers to boost domestic reactor deployment.”

He added that it was imperative for the nation to strengthen its nuclear future and that he would take immediate action to accelerate the deployment of small modular reactors.

Ur-Energy Inc. has secured approval from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Land Quality Division to construct and operate up to six additional mine units at its Lost Creek in situ uranium mine in south-central Wyoming. With that late April approval in hand, “we await only final concurrence and approval of the related aquifer exemption from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” the company said. That approval was granted just three days later, on May 1, but Ur-Energy doesn’t plan to expand Lost Creek for “several years.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has concluded—with an assist from a Department of Energy environmental assessment released in February—that no environmental impact statement is needed for an exemption request from TerraPower that would allow the company to begin construction of the energy island of its planned Natrium sodium fast reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo. The NRC’s EA and finding of no significant impact (EA/FONSI), published on May 7, could clear the way for significant construction to begin while the NRC continues to review TerraPower’s construction permit application.

Ontario Power Generation GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced May 8 that Ontario authorities have approved construction plans for the first of four BWRX-300 small modular reactors at the Darlington New Nuclear Project site on Lake Ontario, less than 50 miles east of Toronto, Canada. The first new nuclear construction project in Ontario in more than three decades is also the first SMR construction project in North America.

In a bid to tackle the primary obstacle in nuclear deployment—construction costs—those in industry and government are moving away from traditional methods and embracing innovative construction technologies.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

NAC International has announced that it has received certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its new high-capacity Volunteer packaging system for transporting nonfissile or fissile-exempt radioactive materials.

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.

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.

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.

. . . 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.