Power & Operations

Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have recommended the agency issue a construction permit to the Tennessee Valley Authority for its plans to construct a GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) BWRX-300 reactor at the Clinch River site in Tennessee, according to the safety evaluation report published as part of the construction permit application process.

The recommendation to the commissioners is a boon for the project, which proposes constructing a 300-MWe boiling water reactor in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The June report—available in the NRC ADAMS library—presents the NRC staff’s review of TVA’s 2025 application and any additional information staff received through April of this year.

Last week, Canadian nuclear and engineering company AtkinsRéalis announced that it has formally submitted a notice of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission “to begin the licensing process” for its CANDU reactor technology in the United States.

For just over a year, President Trump’s Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” has loomed large because it pegged a stretch goal to a significant date: July 4, 2026. Will there be at least three participants in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program whose reactors achieve criticality by Saturday’s deadline?

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's launching of its environmental review of Holtec International's two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site in Michigan and its proposed changes to fuel cycle and materials licensing regulations may have grabbed the most attention recently, but the agency has also announced multiple other updates in recent weeks.

Yesterday, Constellation announced that it has entered into a long-term nuclear power purchase agreement (PPA) for 176 MW of electricity from its Dresden nuclear power plant. That PPA, which will also help facilitate a 30-MWe uprate, is providing power to an unusual partner: Walmart.

Earlier today, the Department of Energy announced that it has issued a conditional loan commitment to finance the purchase of “long-lead time items needed to rebuild America’s commercial nuclear supply chain.”

The American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans on offer are worth $17.5 billion and intended to help finance up to five projects to build a total of 10 new AP1000 reactors, with construction aimed to begin by 2030.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to prepare an environmental impact statement for its review of Holtec International’s application to site two Holtec SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site in Covert, Mich. The two planned reactors would be known as Pioneer-1 and -2.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses of Hatch-1 and -2 in under 12 months, the agency announced Friday.

Southern Nuclear’s application was accepted by the NRC in June 2025. The Baxley, Ga., facility’s two boiling water reactors are the second and third units to receive subsequent license renewals under the NRC’s new, streamlined process for renewing operating licenses in 12 months or less. Previously completed SLR proceedings took, on average, about two-and-a-half years.

The digital publication Politico held its Energy Summit on Wednesday, gathering several prominent speakers to discuss the U.S. energy agenda, including nuclear power’s role. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Ho Nieh was among those who took the stage.

While he had only about 20 minutes to speak at the gathering, which was also broadcast virtually, Nieh broached several topics with Politico reporter Kelsey Tamborrino, including small modular reactors, licensing, the agency’s recruitment and retention efforts, and the NRC’s status and operations as an independent regulator.

Mandatory hearings conducted as part of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission reactor licensing review will be held much sooner in the process, the agency announced Tuesday.

A provision states that uncontested hearings must be held at some point after 30 days of an application being docketed. Historically, the NRC has conducted these toward the end of its review of applications for construction permits, early site permits, and combined licenses. The change announced this week would have hearings be held sooner, about 30 days after an application is docketed.

On June 1, the planned restart of Crane nuclear power plant (formerly Three Mile Island-1) received a boost when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Constellation’s waiver request to transfer certain rights to the Middletown, Pa., plant.

“The nuclear renaissance is real here,” said Ontario Power Generation’s Subo Sinnathamby on May 8, one year to the day after OPG secured a final investment decision to build the first of four planned BWRX-300 reactors at its Darlington nuclear power plant, and shortly after the new reactor’s foundation was lifted into place. “We got our license to construct in April and our [final investment decision] in May, and we’ve been off to the races since.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved Constellation’s waiver request to transfer PJM capacity interconnection rights from one of its gas- and oil-powered plants to its Crane nuclear power plant (formerly Three Mile Island-1).

While Constellation executives previously said that an unsuccessful waiver request wouldn’t have prevented the Middletown, Pa., plant from restarting as soon as 2027, it could have impacted whether Crane could fully deliver power to the grid once it is on line. The decision, issued by FERC on June 1, likely helps facilitate Constellation’s path forward for the plant’s restart.

The New York Power Authority is seeking nuclear reactor developers that can commence construction on large-scale reactors and/or small modular reactors before 2033 that can ultimately add at least 1 GW of new capacity to New York’s electrical grid.

Ten of the 27 member countries of the European Union recently sent a letter to the European Commission calling for nuclear power to be labeled as sustainable in a new rulemaking that pertains to powering data centers and artificial intelligence.

While the EC’s decision could have significant impact on the future deployment of nuclear across the continent, this call to action also represents a broader positive reconsideration of nuclear power in Europe in recent years.

The dormant Blue Castle nuclear power plant project in Utah has resurfaced, only this time as a proposed small modular reactor facility.

Blue Castle Holdings and Fulcrum Point Holdings—founded by the owner of Hi Tech Solutions, a company behind a separate Utah nuclear project—announced last week a joint venture to advance the Blue Castle project in Green River, Utah, the origins of which trace back almost 20 years.

Nielson

The renewed global interest in nuclear power is often framed as a policy story driven by decarbonization goals, energy security concerns, and surging electricity demand from digital infrastructure and electrification. While these forces are real and durable, they materially understate the challenge at hand. The practical constraint on nuclear deployment today is not strategic will, but execution. Specifically, the challenge lies in how nuclear projects are financed, how risk is allocated, and how investors assess credibility in a sector defined by long timelines and asymmetric downside risk.

Nicolas Stauff

Data centers power our digital lives—along with many aspects of our economy and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Electricity demand is rising rapidly, with the domestic data center load projected to increase from 4 percent to 9 percent of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030. This surge is already reshaping utility planning, grid interconnection queues, and the market for reliable power nationwide.

Nuclear energy is well matched to data center needs, because it provides reliable, 24/7 electricity with stable long-term costs. Modern hyperscale data center campuses can require hundreds of megawatts for IT equipment and cooling, and many applications demand maximum uptime. At the same time, leading hyperscalers have aggressive decarbonization commitments that limit reliance on fossil generation. Data centers also require fiber connectivity, a skilled workforce, and local acceptance—yet they can deliver meaningful tax base and employment impacts, especially when coupled with a major energy project.

NextEra Energy is set to acquire Dominion Energy, the two utilities announced earlier today in an approximately $67 billion merger that will alter the energy landscape—including for nuclear power—in the United States.

For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.

In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.

Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.