Nuclear News

Published since 1959, Nuclear News is recognized worldwide as the flagship trade publication for the nuclear community. News reports cover plant operations, maintenance and security; policy and legislation; international developments; waste management and fuel; and business and contract award news.


American Fuel Resources requests license for N.M. uranium deconversion plant

October 16, 2025, 12:01PMNuclear News
Image: AFR

American Fuel Resources, a provider a nuclear fuel cycle solutions headquartered in Spokane, Wash., has submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting transfer of a materials license from Idaho-based radioisotope manufacturer International Isotopes for a depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) deconversion plant in Lea County, N.M.

OECD NEA meeting focuses on irradiation experiments

October 15, 2025, 3:35PMNuclear News
Meeting participants gather in Idaho. (Photo: OECD NEA)

Members of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Second Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) joint undertaking gathered from September 29 to October 3 in Ketchum, Idaho, for the technical advisory group and governing board meetings hosted by Idaho National Laboratory. The FIDES-II Framework aims to ensure and foster competences in experimental nuclear fuel and structural materials in-reactor experiments through a diverse set of Joint Experimental Programs (JEEPs).

Hot Fuel Examination Facility named a Nuclear Historic Landmark

October 15, 2025, 9:31AMNuclear News
A side view, cutaway diagram of the original plans for the Hot Fuel Examination Facility. (Source: NN, May 1969)

The American Nuclear Society recently announced the designation of three new nuclear historic landmarks: the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), the Neely Nuclear Research Center, and the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Today’s article, the first in a three-part series, will focus on the historical significance of HFEF.

Radiant to build first microreactor at Tenn. Manhattan Project site

October 15, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear News

Radiant Industries will build its first portable nuclear reactor at the site of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The land for Radiant’s new factory includes portions of the K-27 and K-29 Manhattan Project sites. The company plans to test Kaleidos, a 1-MW nuclear microreactor, in 2026, with first deployments expected soon after.

Sellafield awards $3.86B in infrastructure contracts to three companies

October 14, 2025, 2:54PMNuclear News

Sellafield Ltd., the site license company overseeing the decommissioning of the U.K.’s Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, England, announced the award of £2.9 billion (about $3.86 billion) in infrastructure support contracts to the companies of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Costain, and HOCHTIEF (UK) Construction.

The journey of the U.S. fuel cycle

October 14, 2025, 7:01AMNuclear NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

While most big journeys begin with a clear objective, they rarely start with an exact knowledge of the route. When commissioning the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson didn’t provide specific “turn right at the big mountain” directions to the Corps of Discovery. He gave goal-oriented instructions: explore the Missouri River, find its source, search for a transcontinental water route to the Pacific, and build scientific and cultural knowledge along the way.

Jefferson left it up to Lewis and Clark to turn his broad, geopolitically motivated guidance into gritty reality.

Similarly, U.S. nuclear policy has begun a journey toward closing the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle. There is a clear signal of support for recycling from the Trump administration, along with growing bipartisan excitement in Congress. Yet the precise path remains unclear.

The current status of heat pipe R&D

October 10, 2025, 4:42PMNuclear NewsIlyas Yilgor, Mauricio Tano, Katrina Sweetland, Joshua Hansel, and Piyush Sabharwall
A high-temperature heat pipe glows during operation at ~800°C at INL’s SPHERE test facility. (Photo: INL)

Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy–sponsored Microreactor Program recently conducted a comprehensive phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) exercise aimed at advancing heat pipe technology for microreactor applications.

NNSA to use essential—but unpaid—workers to keep weapons stockpile safe if shutdown continues

October 10, 2025, 3:18PMNuclear News

On day 10 of the government shutdown, the National Nuclear Security Administration has yet to furlough workers, but a spokesperson said that could change if members of Congress don’t agree on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.

Should that be the case, the NNSA will resort to keeping only essential unpaid workers at some point if the government shutdown continues, an agency spokesperson told Nuclear Newswire.

UMass Lowell and MIT back fission and fusion future for Massachusetts

October 10, 2025, 12:09PMNuclear News

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to accelerate the state’s leadership in both fission and fusion, and earlier this month asked the University of Massachusetts–Lowell to develop road maps to support research, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced nuclear and fusion energy in the state to “affordably, reliably, and sustainably” meet growing electricity demand in New England.

NS Savannah open house on the horizon

October 10, 2025, 9:39AMNuclear News
N.S. Savannah, the first commercial nuclear-powered cargo vessel, en route to the World’s Fair in Seattle in 1962. (Photo: U.S. National Archives)

The world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, the NS Savannah, will have a public site visit in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, November 15.

To register for the event and find up-to-date details on the event’s address, time, and more, click here.

Excel Services and GSE Solutions talk license renewal

October 9, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

The American Nuclear Society recently hosted a Supplier Showcase webinar, “License Renewal: Smarter, Faster, Better,” featuring two industry experts from Excel Services Corporation, a regulatory and consulting services firm, and GSE Solutions, a nuclear engineering and software company, who both shared a variety of insights into how to go through the license renewal process efficiently.

From remediation to renaissance: Our nuclear future begins with cleanup

October 9, 2025, 10:32AMNuclear NewsHash Hashemian and Ken Rueter
A view of the East Tennessee Technology Park in 1989 before cleanup operations . . . (Photo: DOE)

ANS Executive Director/CEO Craig Piercy’s reflection on the 80th anniversary of the Trinity Test (Nuclear Newswire, July 16) was a thoughtful and fitting remembrance of the achievements and legacy of the World War II generation of nuclear pioneers. We also see legacy environmental cleanup as a vital next step as our industry launches what Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has defined as “Manhattan Project 2.0.”

Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow

October 9, 2025, 10:31AMNuclear NewsCory Hatch
INL hot cell operators remove irradiated commercial fuel rods from their storage basket. (Photo: INL)

At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.

Leading the charge: INL’s role in advancing HALEU production

October 9, 2025, 10:30AMNuclear NewsDonna Kemp Spangler
INL researchers inspect a sample from the HALEU purification solvent extraction process. (Photo: INL)

Idaho National Laboratory is playing a key role in helping the U.S. Department of Energy meet near-­term needs by recovering HALEU from federal inventories, providing critical support to help lay the foundation for a future commercial HALEU supply chain. INL also supports coordination of broader DOE efforts, from material recovery at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to commercial enrichment initiatives.

Disease-resistant cauliflower created through nuclear science

October 9, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News
Arvin Boolell (facing), Mauritius’s minister of agro-industry, food security, blue economy, and fisheries, is nearly obscured by the Local Cream cauliflower he is inspecting with scientists.

International Atomic Energy Agency researchers have helped scientists on the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius to develop a variety of cauliflower that is resistant to black rot disease. The cauliflower was developed through innovative radiation-induced plant-breeding techniques employed by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.

Darleane C. Hoffman, transuranium element pioneer, dies at age 98

October 9, 2025, 7:03AMNuclear News

Hoffman

Nuclear chemist Darleane D. Hoffman, who was renowned for her research on transuranium elements that advanced the understanding of nuclear fission, died on September 4 at her home in Menlo Park, Calif. She was 98.

Iowa origins: Hoffman was born on November 8, 1926, in Terril, Ia. She attended Iowa State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1948 and a doctorate in physical (or nuclear) chemistry in 1951. She then began working as a chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Los Alamos research: In 1953, Hoffman began a research position at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she conducted pioneering work on spontaneous fission. She served as the lab’s first female division leader in charge of the Chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry Division.

DOE, NNSA open process to select energy suppliers for AI data centers

October 8, 2025, 12:03PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration issued requests for proposals last month, seeking plans from companies to build AI data centers at the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Savannah River Site, and Idaho National Laboratory.

Nano Nuclear to receive $6.8 million award from Illinois

October 8, 2025, 10:13AMNuclear News
A rendering of the proposed Kronos MRR at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Image: NANO Nuclear Energy Inc.

New York City–based advanced nuclear technology developer Nano Nuclear and the Office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Tuesday that Nano will receive $6.8 million in state funding to establish its new manufacturing and research and development facility in Illinois.