As Dr. Hashem M. “Hash” Hashemian prepares to step into his term as President of the American Nuclear Society, he is clear that he wants to make the most of this unique moment.

A groundswell in public approval of nuclear is finding a home in growing governmental support that is backed by a tailwind of technological innovation. “Now is a good time to be in nuclear,” Hashemian said, as he explained the criticality of this moment and what he hoped to accomplish as president.

Westinghouse Electric Company announced that it has signed a $180 million contract with the ITER Organization for the assembly of the vacuum vessel for the fusion reactor being built in southern France. Designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power, the ITER tokamak will be the world’s largest experimental fusion facility.

Global Laser Enrichment announced that it has submitted its safety analysis report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF). This follows GLE’s December 2024 submission of the plant’s environmental report, now completing GLE’s full license application for NRC review.

Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, in Jenkinsville, S.C., has been authorized to operate for 80 years, until August 2062, following the renewal of its operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second time.

In its June 30 announcement of a new deal to purchase 200 MW from Commonwealth Fusion Systems' (CFS) first ARC fusion power plant planned for Virginia, Google called it “the largest direct corporate offtake agreement for fusion energy” ever. While Google made no mention of its plans for the power, its press release noted that clean energy is needed to reduce data center emissions.

Meeting a deadline set in President Trump’s May 23 executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” the DOE on June 30 updated information on its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking and implementation procedures and published on its website an interim final rule that rescinds existing regulations alongside new implementing procedures.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced the recipients of “first call” 2025 Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) Rapid Turnaround Experiment (RTE) awards on June 26. The 23 proposals selected from industry, national laboratories, and universities will receive a total of about $1.4 million. While each project is led by a different principal investigator, some call the same organization home. A total of 17 companies, labs, and universities are represented.

The World Bank and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement last week to cooperate on the construction and financing of advanced nuclear projects in developing countries, marking the first partnership since the bank ended its ban on funding for nuclear energy projects.

. . . and today.

Mosebey in 1984 . . .

I graduated from high school in 1969. My yearbook says my career ambition was to be a nuclear physicist. This was inspired by a paperback book I read: Men Who Made a New Physics by Barbara Lovett Cline. I enrolled as a physics student at Susquehanna University that fall and graduated four years later. Many job applications were sent out, but I quickly learned in any branch of physics you needed at least a master’s degree and preferably a Ph.D. So, I applied to the Penn State nuclear engineering program as a master’s degree candidate. This would not be nuclear physics, but it would be close enough. To help with expenses, Penn State had quite a few internships with branches of Westinghouse, and mine was a three-month-long stint that summer at the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor project at Waltz Mill, Pa. My job was to work on expanding the uranium-238 fast fission cross sections into the 20-MeV range. Of course, I had no idea what a cross section was, but my supervisor, Gene Paik, and my office partners, especially Colin Durston, were immensely helpful.

Texas Tech University and Fermi America shared plans on June 26 to build “the world’s largest advanced energy and artificial intelligence campus” in Amarillo, Texas, near the Pantex nuclear weapons plant. Fermi America is a company cofounded by former Texas governor and energy secretary Rick Perry and his son, Griffin Perry, a cofounder and past senior advisor at Grey Rock Investment Partners. The announcement—a first press release from relative newcomer Fermi America—says the company “proudly answers President Donald J. Trump’s call to deliver global energy and AI dominance.”