This week, the government of Saskatchewan, alongside electric utility SaskPower, announced plans to formally evaluate the deployment of large nuclear technologies. This process will take place in parallel with the Canadian province’s plans to deploy a small modular reactor.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has announced a partnership with Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering to develop technology for speeding the deployment of commercial fusion energy through the creation of a breeding blanket test facility. The lab said that the partnership will “leverage ORNL’s expertise in supercomputing, advanced manufacturing, materials science, and fusion research, and complement KF’s UNITY test facilities.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to review an early site permit (ESP) renewal application submitted by Entergy last September for its Grand Gulf site in Mississippi, currently home to one 1,433-MWe boiling water reactor. The initial ESP for the site had been issued in 2007, following a 2003 application submittal.

Building Poland’s nuclear program from the ground up is progressing with the country's first nuclear power plant project: three AP1000 reactors at the Choczewo site in the voivodeship of Pomerania.

Polish state-owned utility Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe has announced some recent developments over the past few months, including turbine island procurement and strengthened engagement with domestic financial institutions, in addition to new data from the country’s Energy Ministry showing record‑high public acceptance, which demonstrates growing nuclear momentum in the country.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced it had completed the largest demolition project yet at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., when it took down the final wall of a 325,000-square-foot former uranium enrichment facility last week.

French advanced reactor developer Stellaria has formally submitted an application with the French government for authorization to build a prototype of its fast breeder molten salt reactor concept, known as Stellarium.

The company, which spun out of the country’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Schneider Electric, filed an application for authorization to create (DAC) for the reactor with the government minister in charge of nuclear safety, making it the first French start-up to submit an application with the authorities for a fast-neutron reactor.

ANS recently hosted a Supplier Showcase webinar, “Digital Tools for Power Uprates: Using DVR and PEPSE to Enhance MUR and Performance Studies,” with a timely topic—power uprates—on the agenda.

The Department of Energy has issued a request for information inviting states to express interest in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. According to the DOE, the proposed campuses could support work across the nuclear fuel life cycle, with a primary focus on fuel fabrication, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing or recycling, separations, and radioactive waste management.

The DOE said the RFI marks the first step toward potentially establishing voluntary federal-state partnerships designed to build a coherent, end-to-end nuclear energy strategy for the country.

On a call with investors this week, NextEra announced that it is considering new nuclear development at its existing sites, as well as projects at greenfield sites.

As the company eyes new development, work on the restart of Duane Arnold hit another milestone this month, with Linn County approving the project’s rezoning application.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is leading a new initiative with the goal of using AI technology to accelerate the development of fusion energy research through high-fidelity computer simulations. The project includes national laboratories, universities, technology companies, and other partners.

Simulation, Technology, and Experiment Leveraging Learning-Accelerated Research enabled by AI (STELLAR-AI) has been developed as part of the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, which was established by presidential executive order last year to speed up the application of AI in scientific research.

Westinghouse Electric Company, Nordion, and PSEG Nuclear announced on Tuesday the signing of long-term agreements to establish the first commercial-scale production of cobalt-60 in a U.S. nuclear reactor. Under the agreements, the companies are to apply newly developed production technology for pressurized water reactors to produce Co-60 at PSEG’s Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey.

Two participants in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program have recently announced significant milestones on their associated reactor projects. Aalo Atomics successfully completed its final design review (FDR), and Antares Nuclear has received DOE approval of its preliminary documented safety analysis (PDSA).

In the past week, two pieces of nuclear legislation moved forward in two Midwestern states.

In Wisconsin, a bill to create new tax credits for new power plants passed through the state Assembly and went to the Senate, while in Indiana, a bill to simplify the state approval process for new plants passed through the state Senate and went to the House.

BWX Technologies announced on January 26 that it has begun operating its Centrifuge Manufacturing Development Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the purpose of reestablishing a domestic uranium enrichment capability to meet U.S. national security needs. The facility is part of a program funded by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration to supply enriched uranium for defense needs.

Nuclear Transport Solutions and Westinghouse have signed a strategic agreement to codevelop NTS’s Pegasus—a transport package for high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel.

The companies signed the agreement at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., on January 22, taking what Westinghouse called “an important step in making HALEU available to enable advanced nuclear energy in the U.S. and UK.”

Katy Huff, former assistant secretary of nuclear energy at the Department of Energy, recently wrote an op-ed that was published in Scientific American.

In the piece, Huff, who is an ANS member and an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, argues that weakening Nuclear Regulatory Commission radiation regulations without new research-based evidence will fail to speed up nuclear energy development and could have negative consequences.

A nuclear energy working group convened by the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) and tasked with investigating the feasibility of bringing nuclear to the state recently released a report that concluded that—for now—nuclear is not right for Hawaii.

The bill: The HSEO was ordered to convene a nuclear energy working group by state Senate Concurrent Resolution 136, which was passed during last year’s legislative session. The task force was specifically charged with investigating the feasibility of advanced nuclear power technologies in the state, along with identifying barriers to and risks associated with deploying those technologies. Those benefits and risks were far reaching in scope, including regulatory, statutory, financial, social, and environmental factors.

Centrus Energy Corp. is planning a major expansion of its Oak Ridge, Tenn., Technology and Manufacturing Center. The build-out would allow it to expedite large-scale deployment of centrifuges.

Amir Vexler, Centrus president and CEO, announced the expansion on January 23, along with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Deputy Gov. Stuart McWhorter.

The American Nuclear Society is hosting a new Supplier Showcase webinar, “Digital Tools for Power Uprates: Using DVR and PEPSE to Enhance MUR and Performance Studies,” on January 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EST).

The webinar is free for all viewers and requires registration.

As executive vice president for industry strategy at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, Jeff Place leads INPO’s industry-facing work, engaging directly with chief nuclear officers.