ANS Nuclear Cafe

Nichols

The Oak Ridger has published the latest in a series of articles about General Kenneth D. Nichols, the Manhattan Project, and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. The series has been produced by Nichols’ grandniece Barbara Rogers Scollin and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) city historian David Ray Smith. Gen. Nichols (1907–2000) was the district engineer for the Manhattan Engineer District during the Manhattan Project.

As Smith and Scollin explain, Nichols “had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction, and operation of, all plants required to produce plutonium-239 and uranium-235, including the construction of the towns of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington. The responsibility of his position was massive as he oversaw a workforce of both military and civilian personnel of approximately 125,000; his Oak Ridge office became the center of the wartime atomic energy’s activities.”

A combination of plentiful supply and uncertain demand resulted in spot pricing for uranium closing out March below $64 per pound, with dips down to about $63.50 during mid-March—the lowest price in 18 months, according to tracking by analysis firm Trading Economics. Spot prices have also fallen steadily since the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile, long-term prices have held steady at about $80 per pound at the end of March, according to Canadian front-end uranium mining, milling, and conversion company Cameco.

The Korea Times has reported that a Department of Energy contract employee at Idaho National Laboratory has been terminated for trying to take INL-owned, export-controlled, proprietary nuclear reactor design software on a flight to South Korea. The individual was stopped while attempting to board a Korea-bound flight with the design software, according to a formal report that the DOE Office of the Inspector General submitted to Congress for the period October 2023–March 2024.

Nuclear Waste Services recently hosted a group of five teenagers for a week of exposure to real-world nuclear industry work environments at its facilities in Calderbridge, Cumbria, in northwestern England. The youth learned about career opportunities and leadership responsibilities at the company. They engaged with senior management and performed activities with several different NWS teams, including the environmental, waste characterization, cybersecurity, geological disposal facility grants, and human resources departments.

Melbye

During an interview for Kitco News at the 2025 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, held in Toronto in early March, the chief executive of British Columbia–based Uranium Royalty Corp. noted, “I’ve never seen a better narrative around nuclear power [and] uranium.”

CEO Scott Melbye, who is also executive vice president of Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp. and has 41 years of experience in the uranium sector, added that nuclear energy has gone from stagnation or decline to a point where it may double by 2040.

Uranium futures closed out February at about $65.55 per pound, according to online analysist firm Trading Economics. Futures prices have been below $66 per pound since mid-February.

A former assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Department of Energy recently appeared on Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk YouTube show to discuss the future of nuclear energy in the United States and abroad.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has reported that researchers there have created a tough new alloy that has potential use in advanced nuclear reactors and that is not dependent on a difficult-to-get element. The research team, which included materials scientists Isabella van Rooyen, Subhashish Meher, and Steven Livers, started its experiments with the highly durable nickel-chromium-cobalt-molybdenum “super alloy” known as Inconel 617 (IN617).

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.

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.

The government of South Africa has announced the passing of Senamile Masango, the country’s first black female nuclear scientist. The 37 year old, who many South Africans thought of as the “queen of science,” died on February 9 from undisclosed causes. Deputy President Paul Mashatile described Masango as “a beacon of hope for many young people, especially women.”

Uranium futures took a sharp plunge below $69 per pound in late January, to a low of about $67 on January 27, before climbing back to $71.35 on January 31, according to Trading Economics. The New York City–based analyst firm noted that this was the market’s first drop below $69 in 16 months and that the price fluctuation happened as “markets recalibrated demand expectations against a backdrop of ample supply.”

Denver-based Energy Fuels Inc., one of the largest uranium producers in the United States, has signed a landmark agreement with the Navajo Nation on the transport of uranium ore along federal and state highways that cross through Navajo land. The agreement allows the resumption of uranium ore transport from Energy Fuels’ Pinyon Plain Mine in northern Arizona to the company’s White Mesa Mill in southern Utah, where the ore is processed into natural uranium concentrates (U₃O₈).

A recent article on University of Michigan’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (UMich NERS) website highlights the university’s work on the application of artificial intelligence to nuclear engineering. Python-based Michigan Artificial Intelligence Standard Environment (pyMAISE) is a project that is providing an “automatic machine learning benchmarking library—the first of its kind created by nuclear engineers for nuclear engineers.”

University of Tennessee–Knoxville’s Department of Nuclear Engineering highlighted the Computational Research Access Network (CRANE) program in a recent article on its website. CRANE is a free online program “that teaches computational methods in nuclear fusion to students from underrepresented backgrounds,” said Alyssa Hayes, a nuclear engineering Ph.D. candidate at UTK. Hayes is the first chair of the board of directors of the CRANE nonprofit organization.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Integrated Engineering Research Center, which officially opened in January 2024, is now known as the Helen Edwards Engineering Research Center. The name was changed to honor the late particle physicist who led the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the lab’s Tevatron accelerator and was part of the Water Resources Development Act signed by President Biden in December 2024, according to a Fermilab press release.

Poneman

The Harvard Gazette recently featured an interview with Daniel Poneman, former president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy and former deputy secretary of energy. In the interview, Poneman offered his views on the “comeback” of nuclear power, artificial intelligence, safety and security issues, advanced reactors, climate change goals, and other issues of interest to the nuclear energy industry.

Climate, demand, hyperscalers: In the article, Poneman explained the nuclear comeback in terms of the converging concerns about climate change and electricity demand, as well as the issue of “hyperscalers.”

The potential application of artificial intelligence to the operation of nuclear power plants is explored in an article published in late December in the Washington Examiner. The article, written by energy and environment reporter Callie Patteson, presents the views of a number of experts, including Yavuz Arik, a strategic energy consultant.

“SMRs present a viable opportunity for Indiana to transition to a cleaner, resilient, and diversified energy future. Successful deployment of SMR technology requires a careful balance of economic, regulatory and social considerations along with development of the technology.” Those are among the conclusions of a comprehensive study conducted on small modular reactors primarily by researchers at Purdue University and funded by the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

The uranium market closed out 2024 with a spot price of $72.63 per pound and a long-term price of $80.50 per pound, according to global uranium provider Cameco.