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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
NRC issues draft EA/FONSI for Duane Arnold restart
Efforts by NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant as early as 2029 continue to move forward with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's preliminary environmental assessment and determination that the restart would have no significant environmental impacts.
On Thursday, the NRC posted a draft environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact for the Palo, Iowa, facility; the Federal Register notice was published on Monday. The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing is a cooperating agency on the draft EA, as the DOE is considering providing financial assistance to the restart project.
Neal Bhandarkar, Anastacia M. Manuel, Peter Celliers, Laura Robin Benedetti, Kalpani Werellapatha, Martin Gorman, Cara Vennari, Nathan E. Palmer, Yong-Jae Kim, John Chesser, Rebeca Rangel, Darrold Ponce, Joshua Ponce, Jean Jensen
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 82 | Number 5 | July 2026 | Pages 956-963
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2509003
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The velocity interferometer system for any reflector (VISAR) is a key diagnostic at the National Ignition Facility that is used for measuring propagation and velocities of shocks through a sample for several high energy density campaigns. To support simultaneous measurements with VISAR and other diagnostics, optical mirrors are used to divert the VISAR signal off axis from the primary diagnostic line of sight, which can then be used for other measurements. Here we describe our work on investigating issues with these mirrors to support complex new target geometries and signal variance due to system aging and more demanding polling rates. This paper also describes the key mitigation efforts performed to improve both the flatness and reflectivity of these commonly used mirrors.