Advanced Reactors

Hawthorne, Calif.–based reactor start-up Valar Atomics recently announced that it has raised $130 million in its Series A funding round, led by venture capital groups Snowpoint, Day One, and Dream.

Newcomer reactor start-up First American Nuclear (FANCO) has partnered with the state of Indiana to develop three projects: its company headquarters, new manufacturing facilities, and a nuclear energy park.

Constellation is considering adding 2,000 MW of nuclear energy at Calvert Cliffs, located on Chesapeake Bay near Lusby, Md., which would effectively double the site’s output, according to the company’s near- and long-term project proposals submitted to the Marland Public Service Commission this week.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy have updated a 2019 memorandum of understanding to coordinate on the review of advanced nuclear reactors and advanced reactor fuel technologies.

The European Investment Bank recently announced that it is providing €90 million ($103.8 million) in financing to Finnish nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO). The funding is to be used by TVO to support new upgrades and maintenance at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

New York is going after nuclear in a big way. The New York Power Authority is releasing its first solicitations for plans to develop advanced nuclear reactors in the state’s upstate communities, the power authority announced on October 30.

Four nominees to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that they support the build-out of new advanced nuclear reactors to meet the increased energy demand being shouldered by the country’s largest public utility.

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.

The U.S. Army is moving forward with additional advanced reactor programs—building on multiple military efforts already underway as well as a separate pilot program at the Energy Department.

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.

Radiant Industries will build its first portable nuclear reactor at the site of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The land for Radiant’s new factory includes portions of the K-27 and K-29 Manhattan Project sites. The company plans to test Kaleidos, a 1-MW nuclear microreactor, in 2026, with first deployments expected soon after.

Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy–sponsored Microreactor Program recently conducted a comprehensive phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) exercise aimed at advancing heat pipe technology for microreactor applications.

New York City–based advanced nuclear technology developer Nano Nuclear and the Office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Tuesday that Nano will receive $6.8 million in state funding to establish its new manufacturing and research and development facility in Illinois.

Following the same milestones from Aalo Atomics and Valar Atomics, Santa Clara, Calif.–based reactor start-up Oklo has become the third company participating in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program to break ground on its fast-tracked project at Idaho National Laboratory.

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.

The nuclear regulators of Belgium, Italy, and Romania signed on this week to the first “prelicensing” project under the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI) during the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 69th General Conference, pledging to work with the EAGLES Consortium to clarify regulatory requirements for a lead-cooled reactor ahead of formal licensing.

Texas Tech University and Fermi America are now one step closer to realizing their massive vision for the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus in Amarillo, Texas, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted the first two parts of its combined license application (COLA) for four Westinghouse AP1000s.

The Tennessee Valley Authority and Houston, Texas–based energy production company Entra1 Energy recently announced the signing of an agreement to collaborate on the deployment of six new nuclear power plants equipped with NuScale small modular reactors.

Eight days after Aalo Atomics released the details of its securing of $100 million in Series B funding, the company announced that it has broken ground on the 10-MWe Aalo-X. Sited in the desert beside Idaho National Laboratory, it will be the company’s first nuclear power plant, and it remains on track to go on line by July 4, 2026.

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor and the British Rolls-Royce SMR have been downselected by Sweden’s state-owned Vattenfall as it evaluates the construction of new reactors for its Ringhals nuclear power plant site in Sweden.