The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking for feedback on its proposed rule for fees for fiscal year 2025. The proposal was published in the February 19 Federal Register. The federal government's fiscal year is the 12-month period from October 1 to September 30.

The proposed rule includes instructions on how to submit written comments to the NRC. Comments will be accepted through March 21, 2025.

International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi site on February 19, where he joined scientists from the Third Institute of Oceanography in China, the Korean Institute for Nuclear Safety in South Korea, and the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland in collecting seawater samples from a boat near the damaged nuclear power plant.

The American Nuclear Society has opened applications for the Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship. Congressional Fellows can directly contribute to the federal policymaking process, working in either a U.S. senator’s or representative’s personal office or with a congressional committee. They will be responsible for supplying Congress with their expertise in nuclear science and technology, having a hand in the creation of new laws while gaining a deeper understanding of the legislative process.

ANS strongly encourages interested members to apply. Application instructions can be found here.

After 50 years of operation, Unit 1 at Belgium’s Doel nuclear power plant has been permanently shut down.

Just weeks ago, Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever talked about trying to keep Doel-1, which was retired on February 14, in operation. He faced an uphill battle, however, given the decades the nation has spent arguing about nuclear energy. In 2003, Belgium enacted a law banning construction of new nuclear reactors and calling for eventual decommissioning of existing reactors, Belga News Agency reported.

A team with the Department of Energy’s Idaho Cleanup Project successfully tested robotic equipment being developed to retrieve radioactive calcine, a granular solid waste, at the Idaho National Laboratory Site, the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has announced.

U.K.-based Core Power has announced that it intends to develop a maritime civil nuclear program anchored in the United States with the goal of bringing floating nuclear power to market by the mid-2030s. The program, called Liberty, is to encompass the modular construction of advanced reactor technology and create the regulatory and supply chain frameworks needed to begin the mass production of floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) on a global scale.

Pronuclear coalition Nuclear Matters is asking people to help preserve nuclear power and support new technology by writing to members of Congress.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has updated its guidance for nuclear power plant owners and operators in estimating the cost of decommissioning their reactors. Licensed power reactor operators are required under NRC regulations to annually adjust the estimated costs (in current year U.S. dollars) of decommissioning their plants to ensure that adequate funds are available when needed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Trump last week and agreed to a new initiative to drive “transformative change across key pillars of cooperation” between the two countries.

The North Carolina Collaboratory, a research funding agency established by the North Carolina General Assembly to partner with academic institutions and government entities, has awarded a grant to North Carolina State University and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) for research into small modular reactors. The funded research project, “Academic Boiling Water–Small Modular Reactor (BW-SMR) Simulator for Research, Development, and Educational Purposes,” focuses on the development of a digital-based simulator for GEH’s BWRX-300, a Gen III+ light water SMR.

The Hill recently published an opinion piece by Cindy Folkers and Amanda Nichols entitled “They won’t tell you these truths about nuclear energy.” Sadly, after the first sentence, their so-called truth veers into a diatribe of antiscientific fearmongering and misrepresentations.

The International Energy Agency has published a new report examining opportunities for the nuclear power industry to address concerns related to energy security and climate change. The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy explores areas of policy, innovation, construction, and financing with an emphasis on investment-related issues regarding small modular reactors.

The IEA report describes encouraging developments taking place in the nuclear energy industry, such as increasing investment, technology advances, and supportive policies in many countries. But it also notes that certain key challenges need to be overcome if nuclear energy is to meet the needs of rising electricity demand, including demands from artificial intelligence and data centers. In addition to examining the present global status of nuclear power, the report evaluates the long-term outlook, quantifying expected capacity and investment through 2050.

Social media this past weekend streamed with reactionary posts following a drone strike last Friday at the site of the destroyed reactor from the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The drone—armed with a warhead—ripped a hole in the New Safe Confinement (NSC), a large structure built to prevent any radioactive release from the damaged reactor unit 4 and to protect it from any external hazard. The drone strike caused a fire that was still smoldering in places as of Monday morning, and left a hole larger than 500 square feet. Efforts continue to mitigate the consequences of the fire and extinguish isolated smouldering areas of the NSC's insulation material.

Due to damage to the external and internal cladding of the NSC's arch and main crane system equipment, the safety boundaries and operational conditions of the NSC complex have been compromised, according to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Facebook page.

Stellarator fusion energy company Type One Energy will collaborate with private equity firm Pine Island New Energy Partners (PINEP) to accelerate the maturation of a more robust supply chain for the fusion energy industry, the companies announced last week.

In materials science, understanding the unseen—how materials behave internally under real-world conditions—has always been key to developing new materials and accelerating innovative technologies to market. Moreover, the tools that allow us to see into this invisible world of materials have often been game-changers. Among these, neutron imaging stands out as a uniquely powerful method for investigating the internal structure and behavior of materials without having to alter or destroy the sample. By harnessing the unique properties of neutrons, researchers can uncover the hidden behavior of materials, providing insights essential for advancing nuclear materials and technologies.

The world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery became a reality in a United Kingdom laboratory this past December when it was created by scientists from University of Bristol and the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority.

Texas lawmakers are considering legislative action this session on recommendations made last November by the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group.

Senate Bill 1105 calls for the establishment of a state-run advanced nuclear energy authority, a state permitting office, and an advanced nuclear innovation fund. Republican state Sen. Tan Parker introduced the bill.

Nuclear footprint: Texas currently has two large nuclear plants—Commanche Peak and South Texas Project—comprising four reactors that supplied nearly 10 percent of the state’s power last year.

Small modular reactors are also planned in Texas. Dow Chemical and X-energy are targeting a cluster of SMRs to support Dow’s manufacturing site in Seadrift on the Gulf Coast. At Abeline Christian University, about 200 miles west of Dallas, Natura Resources plans to install a test reactor using molten-salt cooling.

French nuclear energy company Framatome and Belgian particle accelerator technology company Ion Beam Applications (IBA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance the industrial-scale production of the alpha-emitting medical radioisotope astatine-211 across Europe and the United States.

A joint resolution under consideration in the Wisconsin legislature aims to declare and promote the state’s support for nuclear power and willingness to deploy additional sources.

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

As I watched the coverage of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s earthly farewell, I reflected on being too young to remember his presidency yet being impacted many years later. A man of service, Carter had a connection to the nuclear field, and his experiences shaped his decisions and our enterprise.

Carter was admitted into the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943 and successfully graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. He was chosen by Admiral Rickover, after the legendary two-hour rite of passage interview, to be a naval submariner.

In December 1952, an experimental nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, experienced mechanical problems compounded by operator error that damaged the reactor core. Carter was part of the team that helped in the cleanup and repair operation.