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.
In historic photo, one of two unfinished Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Summer construction site. (Photo: SCE&G)
The board of directors of South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper voted today to approve the proposal from Brookfield Asset Management to complete two new AP1000 power reactors at the V.C. Summer site in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Sheldon Station (left), a coal plant, and the Hallam power plant, a sodium-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear reactor. They shared a common turbine generator set. (Photo: U.S. AEC/public domain)
The Hallam nuclear power plant, about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln, Neb., was an important part of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Reactor Power Demonstration Program. But in the end, it operated for only 6,271 hours and generated about 192.5 million kilowatt-hours of electric power during its short, 15-month life.
The Palisades nuclear power plant. (Photo: Holtec)
Palisades nuclear power plant has received its first fuel shipment, a key step ahead of its highly anticipated restart by the end of the year.
Located in Covert Township, Mich., Palisades will be the first U.S. nuclear facility to restart after being slated for decommissioning. The Crane Clean Energy Center, formerly Three Mile Island-1, is the next decommissioned nuclear reactor to be resurrected, with an expected restart by 2027.
Annotated concept art of the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, depicting three reactor buildings that each house four units. (Source: Amazon)
A year ago this month, Amazon led a $500 million investment in X-energy, alongside Citadel founder Ken Griffin, the University of Michigan, and other investors. In addition to that financing, Amazon pledged to support the development of an initial four-unit, 320-MW project with Energy Northwest in Washington state.
May 26, 2025, 9:50AMUpdated October 17, 2025, 4:55PMNuclear NewsCory Hatch Commercial nuclear fuel rods being unloaded from cask inside a HFEF hot cell. (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.
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).
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.