Industry

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency in late November reported on a range of “New at the NEA” activities.

Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has acquired a 665-acre parcel of land for its planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky.

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

Startup Longview Fusion signs CRADA with LLNL

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Longview Fusion Energy Systems have reached a cooperative research and development agreement that builds upon the LLNL National Ignition Facility’s repeated demonstrations of fusion energy gain and supports Longview’s efforts toward the commercialization of fusion energy. The agreement calls for the national lab and the California company to combine their laser fusion science and technology expertise for the purpose of developing a performance/economic model that can optimize Longview’s fusion power plant designs. In addition, critical requirements are established for Longview’s fusion technology systems and facilities, while a technology road map to mature these systems is being developed. The new agreement complements a set of Department of Energy programs involving LLNL and Longview that are designed to accelerate the delivery of laser fusion energy according to the Biden administration’s Bold Decadal Vision for fusion commercialization.

Diablo Canyon will host a commercial installation of the first on-site generative artificial intelligence deployment at a U.S. nuclear plant.

Pacific Gas & Electric is deploying Atomic Canyon’s Neutron Enterprise to assist the utility’s management of datasets associated with operations of Diablo Canyon. The software, which runs on Nvidia’s full-stack AI platform, enables intelligent document processing, computation of semantic embeddings, and generative capabilities. Its infrastructure allows nuclear facilities to process and analyze vast amounts of complex documentation with unprecedented speed and accuracy, according to the company.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has awarded a $2.3 billion operations and site mission support services contract for the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) to Mission Conversion Services Alliance (MCSA), a limited liability company made up of Atkins Nuclear Secured, Westinghouse Government Services, and Jacobs Technology, with Swift & Staley and Akima Centerra Integrated Services as teaming subcontractors.

NorthStar Group Services announced it will work with Modern American Recycling Services (MARS) to pursue work dismantling and disposing of decommissioned U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carriers at the Port of Mobile, Ala. The work is to be performed by NorthStar subsidiary NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services and MARS subsidiary Modern American Recycling and Radiological Services.

The discovery of a rare species of bee by environmental regulators has blocked the plans of tech conglomerate Meta to build an artificial intelligence data center powered by nuclear energy—at least temporarily. Numerous media outlets, including Popular Science, have reported that the unnamed species of bee was detected by regulators who were surveying the land designated for the new data center—land that is located next to an unnamed nuclear power plant from which Meta had planned to obtain electricity.

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

October 11, 2024, marked the 70th anniversary of the American Nuclear Society. Taking a long view, we have not looked back and instead have tackled challenges and moved forward with lessons learned. Whether we pull examples from energy or nonenergy aspects of our nuclear enterprise, our planet has benefited from nuclear science and technology, and ANS has been there every step of the way.

As the Society reflects on its own history, let us remember:

• The first commercial nuclear power stations started operation in the 1950s.
• Nuclear energy now provides about 9 percent of the world’s electricity from about 440 power reactors.
• Nuclear provides about 25 percent of the world’s low-carbon electricity.
• Nuclear is the world’s second-largest source of low-carbon power.
• More than 50 countries utilize nuclear energy in about 220 research reactors. In addition to research, these reactors are used for training and for the production of medical and industrial isotopes.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced it has awarded a 10-year, $3 billion contract to West Valley Cleanup Alliance (WVCA) for decommissioning and demolition work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York. WVCA is a newly formed limited liability company made up of BWXT Technical Services Group, Jacobs Technology, and Geosyntec Consultant. Teaming subcontractors include Perma-Fix Environmental Services and North Wind Portage.

Kairos Power and Google announced over the weekend a new power purchase agreement to provide the tech giant with 500 megawatts of clean energy by 2035.

Under the agreement, California-based Kairos Power will develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental benefits to Google. Plants will be sited in “relevant service territories” to supply clean electricity to Google data centers. The first reactor is planned to be deployed by 2030 to support Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy and net-zero goals.

Boemeke

Gebbia

A philanthropic gift recently established the Nuclear Scaling Initiative (NSI)—a collaborative effort to spur a new nuclear energy ecosystem to increase the rate of reactor deployment by 10 times by the 2030s.

A gift of $5 million to the NSI will support a host of resources and work to socialize first-of-a-kind technologies with governments, stakeholders, and opinion leaders needed to bring nuclear energy facilities to market. A second $5 million matching fund will incentivize additional philanthropic support from individuals and institutional donors.

The funding comes from Joe Gebbia, cofounder of Airbnb, and Isabelle Boemeke, a Brazilian fashion model, social media influencer, and executive director of advocacy organization Save Clean Energy.

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

Collaboration on SMR-powered ships

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Korea Ship & Offshore Plant Research Institute (KRISO) have formed a collaboration to advance the commercialization of ships powered by small modular reactors, as well as floating SMR power-generation platforms. ABS is to provide an analysis of regulatory guidelines and international standards for the design of SMR-powered ships. KRISO is to develop the core technologies for the ships, such as conceptual designs and propulsion systems, as well as a framework for integrated ship and nuclear power safety analysis. KRISO will also design a floating SMR power-generation platform together with a commercialization model for supplying stable power to island areas.

Beginning last week, the two Department of Energy offices responsible for the environmental cleanup of the department’s Hanford Site have been combined under a new name: the Hanford Field Office. Previously, management of the 586-square-mile site near Richland, Wash., was split between the Richland Operations Office and the DOE Office of River Protection (ORP).

As evidenced by the well-attended Climate Week NYC, there is a growing awareness that nuclear energy must be incorporated into national energy strategies if net-zero goals are to be achieved. In recent years, green bonds have found solid footing in the world of energy finance. These eco-friendly issuances have evolved from supporting just wind and solar projects and are increasingly being used to power much-needed growth in the civil nuclear sector. Green bonds that have been issued over the past several years in Canada, France, Finland, and the United States are now being used to support investment in nuclear projects, from breathing new life into old reactors to in certain instances supporting nuclear new build projects. However, a question remains: Can this liquidity be deployed where and when it is needed most—to support ambitious new nuclear project buildouts?

Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that it will create two new global business units from its Operating Plant Services business. Effective January 1, 2025, the new units will be Long-Term Operations and Outage & Maintenance Services.

Nearly six years after it was first announced, the Department of Energy has transitioned landlord responsibilities at the Savannah River Site from the Office of Environmental Management to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The shift will align with the start of federal fiscal year 2025.

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

BWXT advanced nuclear reactor agreement signed

Burns & McDonnell, a family of construction and design companies, has entered into an agreement with BWX Technologies to further advance the design and development of the BWXT BANR microreactor, which has a “passively safe design” for powering remote facilities while providing a carbon-free source of heat and electricity. The two companies completed the first phase of their collaboration in early 2024 and intend to complete the second phase by the third quarter of 2025. Burns & McDonnell is helping BWXT develop the balance-of-plant systems for the BANR, generate the power plant layout, and perform preconstruction planning. Its scope of work also includes developing power cycle architecture, identifying critical components, integrating site design, and supporting steam and power distribution infrastructure and reactor building structures. The Wyoming Energy Authority is currently evaluating the feasibility of using the BANR in a state nuclear market for baseload heat and power deployed for remote industrial users, such as mining operations.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has released a new report estimating that there may be the potential to install 60 GWe–95 GWe of new capacity at currently operating and recently retired nuclear power plants in the United States. The report also evaluated the potential of building new nuclear plants near current and retired coal power plants. The report, titled Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant and Coal Power Plant Sites for New Nuclear Capacity, was prepared as part of DOE-NE’s Systems Analysis and Integration (SA&I) campaign.

Oneid

EnergySolutions announced that it has launched Management Consultants International (MCI) to provide specialized consulting services for the nuclear, energy, chemical, oil, gas, technology, and manufacturing sectors. Operating separately from EnergySolutions, MCI will provide expertise to clients addressing multiplex issues before federal, state, and international agencies.

Nuclear industry veteran Pierre Oneid has been appointed president of MCI. He will also continue in his current role as executive vice president supporting EnergySolutions’ growth efforts. Formerly senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for Holtec International, Oneid joined EnergySolutions in May of this year.

The Roving Reactor traveling exhibit will be in New York City at the end of the month to present “The Microreactor Salon: Tiny Nuclear vs. the Climate Crisis.” The event is part of the extensive lineup of Climate Week NYC, which will run September 22–29 this year and includes additional events all month long.