Research & Applications

The University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with Nano Nuclear Energy, has submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction of a Kronos micro modular reactor (MMR). This is the first major step in the two-part 10 CFR Part 50 licensing process for the research and test reactor and is the culmination of years of technical refinement and regulatory alignment.

The team chose to engage with the NRC in a preapplication readiness assessment, providing the agency with draft versions of the majority of the CPA’s technical content for feedback, which is expected to ensure a high-quality application.

The Department of Energy announced the completion of a proof-of-concept demonstration of the use of Everstar’s AI tool to generate chapter 5 of an NRC license application from preliminary safety documents.

The 208-page document was created by the AI tool in approximately one day. According to the DOE, it would typically take a team of people between four and six weeks to complete this work.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has launched a new coordinated research project (CRP) aimed at creating a database of polymer-radiation interactions in the next five years with the long-term goal of using the database to enable machine learning–based predictive models.

Radiation-induced modifications are widely applicable across a range of fields including healthcare, agriculture, and environmental applications, and exposure to radiation is a major factor when considering materials used at nuclear power plants.

Yesterday NASA announced a series of initiatives, including plans to launch a nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft to Mars in December 2028 and a three-phase plan to establish a lunar base incorporating nuclear-driven heat and power.

Ian Buck, Nvidia’s vice president of hyperscale and HPC computing (left), and Darío Gil, DOE Under Secretary for Science and Genesis Mission lead, at the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference. (Photo: Nvidia)

Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science and Genesis Mission lead Darío Gil participated in a session at the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference on March 17 that coincided with the announcement of the DOE’s $293 million Genesis Mission request for applications, which invites interdisciplinary teams to submit ideas for projects addressing over 20 of Genesis’s stated national challenges, several of which focus on accelerating nuclear research and nuclear energy output.

“We seek breakthrough ideas and novel collaborations leveraging the scientific prowess of our national laboratories, the private sector, universities, and science philanthropies,” said Gil.  

MARVEL, the Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation project at Idaho National Laboratory, has had its preliminary documented safety analysis approved by the Department of Energy, marking a milestone in its development and serving as a potential outline for other microreactors in development.

Over the past two weeks, Argonne National Laboratory has announced numerous significant advancements being made by its staff to push forward nuclear fuels and materials research. Those announcements include the opening of the new Activated Materials Lab, the development of a new measurement technique, and the application of new artificial intelligence tools.

Texas A&M University’s Engineering Experimental Station (TEES) is collaborating with Houston-based start-up ZettaJoule to explore the potential construction of a nonpower research reactor at the university’s College Station campus.

The university believes that hosting ZettaJoule’s ZJ high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor might lead to as much as $1 billion worth of research collaborations, industrial partnerships, and federal funding for its College of Engineering.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) with the objective of working together on advanced ceramic matrix composite materials for applications in extreme environments. Materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, radiation, corrosion, and mechanical stress are required in aerospace, defense, energy, and other sectors.

According to the agreement, the San Diego–based GA-EMS will use resources from ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility to develop “scalable, efficient manufacturing techniques for extreme environment materials including precursors, fibers, composites, and coatings utilized in carbon/carbon (C/C), carbon/silicon carbide (C/SiC), and SiC/SiC composite systems.”

Kairos Power has completed shielded radiation performance testing on a full-scale precast concrete structure at the company’s Reactor Demonstration Campus in Oak Ridge, Tenn., involving the use of an iridium-192 source to measure the movement of radiation through the concrete’s walls, joints, and seams. Kairos expects the results to contribute to schedule and cost estimates for its planned commercial power plants.

A study published in Nature Communications found a correlation between proximity to nuclear power plants and rates of cancer mortality.

The paper, “National Analysis of Cancer Mortality and Proximity to Nuclear Power Plants in the United States,” said that the study could not establish causation but also said that the researchers’ calculations support evidence of 115,586 “cancer deaths attributable to nuclear power plants proximity.”

Amir Bahadori, nuclear engineering program director at Kansas State University, cautioned that this study should not be read as proof that nuclear power plants cause cancer deaths.

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is leading research supported by two Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) grants aimed at developing accelerator technology to enable nuclear waste recycling, decreasing the half-life of spent nuclear fuel.

Both grants, totaling $8.17 million in combined funding, were awarded through the Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now (NEWTON) program, which aims to enable the transmutation of nuclear fuels by funding novel technologies for improving the performance of particle generation systems.

Idaho National Laboratory has announced that the National Reactor Innovation Center’s Molten Salt Thermophysical Examination Capability (MSTEC) facility will begin operations in March 2026.

Providing testing capabilities for molten salts, including fuel salts, MSTEC extends INL’s abilities to advance molten salt reactor technology and provide data needed for safe reactor deployment.

A new strategic partnership is providing Kairos Power with the expertise and specialized facilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help accelerate the development of the California-based company’s Hermes. This partnership is the fourth between ORNL and Kairos Power since 2020, and it is focused in part on the manufacture and management of TRISO fuel pebbles for the fluoride salt–cooled, high-temperature demonstration reactor now under construction in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

At Idaho National Laboratory, researchers have built a bridge between computer models and the lab’s Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) microreactor.

Tony Crawford, an INL researcher and MARVEL’s reactivity control system lead, designed a phone booth–sized surrogate nuclear reactor called ViBRANT, or Visual Benign Reactor as Analog for Nuclear Testing, which uses light instead of neutrons to show a “nuclear” reaction.

As the energy sector faces mounting pressure to grow at an unprecedented pace while maintaining reliability and affordability, nuclear technology remains an essential component of the long-­term solution. Southern Company stands out among U.S. utilities for its proactive role in shaping these next-­generation systems—not just as a future customer, but as a hands-­on innovator.

The Department of Energy’s newly published Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges describes 26 challenges and corresponding AI solutions designed to advance the artificial intelligence–focused Genesis Mission, which was established by presidential executive order last November to develop an “integrated platform that connects the world’s supercomputers, experimental facilities, AI systems, and unique datasets across every major scientific domain to double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within a decade.”

A team of nuclear safety experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency completed a five-day safety review of the SAFARI-1 reactor in Pelindaba, South Africa, focusing on aging management and continued safe operation of the 61-year-old 20-MW research reactor.

The IAEA team found that the SAFARI-1’s management and technical staff had a strong commitment to and involvement with the assessment but recommended that formal programs be established to address the aging reactor’s equipment.

The newest addition to Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s materials research facilities is set to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony later this year now that construction is complete and laboratories are being phased into operation. The 100,000-square-foot, multipurpose Translational Research Capability building at ORNL houses a broad spectrum of research ranging from quantum science to energy storage, with several of the largest labs in the building focused on materials challenges for applications including nuclear fission and fusion, like the ORNL’s Corrosion Lab.

Many people are familiar with Godzilla as a giant reptilian monster that emerged from the sea off the coast of Japan, the product of radioactive contamination. These days, there is a new Godzilla, but it has a positive—and entirely fact-based—association with nuclear energy. This one has emerged inside the Tokamak Assembly Preparation Building of ITER in southern France.