Radiation protection specialists agree that clear communication of radiation risks remains a vexing challenge that cannot be solved solely by finding new ways to convey technical information.

Earlier this year, an article in Nuclear News described a new radiation risk communication tool, known as the Radiation Index, or, RAIN (“Let it RAIN: A new approach to radiation communication,” NN, Jan. 2025, p. 36). The authors of the article created the RAIN scale to improve radiation risk communication to the general public who are not well-versed in important aspects of radiation exposures, including radiation dose quantities, units, and values; associated health consequences; and the benefits derived from radiation exposures.

Teams from the Department of Energy’s Offices of Environmental Management and Nuclear Energy recently collaborated on the Road Ready Demonstration Project by testing new equipment to seal spent nuclear fuel into a safe and transportable system for future shipments out of Idaho.

A reactor vessel has been installed by Kairos Power for its third Engineering Test Unit (ETU 3.0) at the company’s campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Idaho National Laboratory has announced that it will collaborate with Microsoft on the use of artificial intelligence technologies to streamline the nuclear permitting and licensing application process. Using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform, INL will generate the engineering and safety analysis reports that are required to be submitted for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants.

Following the signing of a new agreement, Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, is officially the lead constructor for Oklo’s first commercial Aurora powerhouse, which will be built at Idaho National Laboratory.

Representatives across all levels of Pennsylvania government convened at Carnegie Mellon University on July 15 with investors and key leaders in the energy community at the behest of Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.).

The American Nuclear Society hosted a webinar this week featuring key leaders from the nuclear community in Texas to discuss the shape of the industry today and where it is heading.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which currently has three serving commissioners and—according to recent media reports—a detailee from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is accelerating licensing timelines to meet the requirements of President Trump’s May 23 Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” and the ADVANCE Act. On top of that, the agency is preparing for an anticipated rush of applications while dealing with a reduced workforce.

The Boston-based Deon Policy Institute has published a white paper that examines the applications of nuclear energy in the maritime sector—specifically, floating nuclear power plants and nuclear propulsion for commercial vessels. Topics covered include available technologies, preliminary cost estimates, and a status update on the regulatory framework.

Unique opportunity: The paper points out that nuclear energy has the potential to benefit the shipping industry with high energy efficiency, lower operating costs, and zero carbon emissions. The report has a special focus on Greece, a nation that controls about 20 percent of the global commercial fleet and thus has an opportunity to take a leading role in the transition to nuclear-powered shipping.

When ABET visits universities for accreditation purposes, it’s crucial that a qualified nuclear expert performs the assessment of that school’s nuclear engineering, radiological engineering, and/or health physics programs. The Accreditation Policies and Procedures Committee (APPC) of the American Nuclear Society works to ensure that a program evaluator (PEV) from the Society leads these ABET assessments.

For 2,300 hours, the molten salt pump Shaft Seal Test Facility (SSTF) operated at the University of Michigan’s Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory, according to an article from UM. The large-scale experiment was designed to evaluate shaft seal performance in high-temperature pump systems. Fewer than 10 facilities worldwide have successfully operated fluoride or chloride salts for more than 100 hours using over 10 kilograms of material.

By Craig H. Piercy, CEO and Executive Director of the American Nuclear Society

Eighty years ago today, at exactly 5:29:45 a.m. local time* on July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the world’s first nuclear bomb in the Jornada del Muerto desert of southern New Mexico. The searing flash and thunderous shockwave marked the culmination of the Manhattan Project, a secret, three-year national effort to harness nuclear fission and hasten the end of the Second World War.

The Trinity Test, overseen by Manhattan Project director Major General Leslie Groves and Los Alamos Laboratory director Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, was the final act of that race to build the atomic bomb. Hoisted atop a 100-foot steel tower, the plutonium implosion device, known as the Gadget, unleashed a blast equal to 21,000 tons of TNT and temperatures hotter than the center of the sun.

From ten miles away, observers wearing darkened welder goggles looked on in stunned silence. “We knew the world would not be the same,” recalled Oppenheimer.

Brown

The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.

Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.

Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a technique called cryogenic decay energy spectrometry capable of detecting single radioactive decay events from tiny material samples and simultaneously identifying the atoms involved. In time, the technology could replace characterization tasks that have taken months and could support rapid, accurate radiopharmaceutical development and used nuclear fuel recycling, according to an article published on July 8 by NIST.

A subcontract has been signed with NQA-1 qualified fabricator AvanTech to support TerraPower’s Natrium project in Kemmerer, Wyo. AvanTech will design advanced sodium processing system modules and supporting skids for the Natrium plant as well as fabricate and deliver the test and fill facility’s cold trap skid.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Tennessee Valley Authority’s construction permit application for a BWRX-300 small modular reactor at its Clinch River site in Tennessee. The NRC expects to complete its review by December 2026.

An article in the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s July news bulletin noted that a first test has been completed for the High Burnup Experiments in Reactivity Initiated Accident (HERA) project. The project aim is to understand the performance of light water reactor fuel at high burnup under reactivity-initiated accidents (RIA).

The Manhattan Project is usually considered to have been initiated with Albert Einstein’s letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in October 1939. However, a lesser-known document that was just as impactful on wartime nuclear history was the so-called Frisch-Peierls memorandum. Prepared by two refugee physicists at the University of Birmingham in Britain in early 1940, this manuscript was the first technical description of nuclear weapons and their military, strategic, and ethical implications to reach high-level government officials on either side of the Atlantic. The memorandum triggered the initiation of the British wartime nuclear program, which later merged with the Manhattan Engineer District.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, a nuclear future for Malaysia is back on the table.

Helical Fusion, a private fusion start-up based in Japan, announced it has closed its first round of venture capital financing, securing ¥2.3 billion ($15.6 million) in funding. According to Helical Fusion, this brings the company’s total capital investment—including grants and loans—to ¥5.2 billion ($35.3 million).