Concept art of BWXT’s BANR microreactor. (Source: BWXT)
BWX Technologies Inc. received the second phase of a contract with the Wyoming Energy Authority to assess the viability of deploying small-scale nuclear reactors in the state.
The company’s subsidiary, BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC, has been executing the agreement, working with the state of Wyoming to define the requirements for nuclear applications and to study the engineering work needed to support the state’s future power needs. BWXT identified areas where Wyoming’s supply chain could support nuclear reactor component manufacturing.
From left to right, John Wagner, Secretary Granholm, Jeff Lyash, Chris Womack, have a discussion during the opening plenary of the ANS Annual Conference.
The 2024 American Nuclear Society Annual Conference opened with a bang yesterday as 1,200 attendees gathered in Las Vegas to network, collaborate, and socialize. Honors and awards were presented to several recipients, and ANS welcomed twelve new Fellows.
The plenary opened with an address from ANS Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer Craig Piercy that brought this year’s theme to the fore straight away: The time is now to deploy new nuclear projects—and not acting at this moment is simply not an option.
Rafael Mariano Grossi addresses the Nuclear Pools' Forum in Zurich. (Photo: D. Candano Laris/IAEA)
International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi was in Switzerland last week to talk with insurance executives at the Nuclear Pools’ Forum about the potential of nuclear power.
Concept art showing the delivery of Radiant’s Kaleidos to the DOME test bed. (Image: Radiant Industries/Ryan Seper)
Radiant Industries announced on June 4 that the safety design strategy (SDS) for a test of its Kaleidos microreactor in the National Reactor Innovation Center’s DOME test bed at Idaho National Laboratory now has approval from the Department of Energy. Radiant hopes to test Kaleidos—a 1-MW high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor—by 2026 and then market portable commercial reactors to power remote locations and provide backup or primary power for critical applications in hospitals or for disaster relief.
Trends in percentages of the U.S. public favoring or opposing nuclear energy from 1983 to 2024. (Graphic: Bisconti Research)
Results of two new surveys have shed light on American public opinion regarding nuclear energy. The surveys, which were conducted with very different methods, offer generally encouraging news for the nuclear industry.
Gov. Gavin Newsom visits Diablo Canyon in this 2023 photo (Source: Governor’s office)
In budget discussions conducted last week, the California legislature rejected a $400 million budget item to help keep the state’s sole remaining nuclear plant operational.
Diablo Canyon—owned by Pacific Gas & Electric—has been the subject of much debate in California. To meet grid demands during a record hot summer in 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom had cut a deal to give $1.4 billion to support continued operations at the 2,200-MWe nuclear facility.
Release of sterile mosquitoes on Captiva Island in Lee County, Fla. (Photo: LCMCD)
Sterile mosquitoes are being used to reduce the population of insecticide-resistant Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Fort Myers, Fla., which can spread viruses including dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya.
Craig Piercy, ANS Executive Director/CEO (third from left), and ANS Board member Jess Gehin, associate laboratory director for nuclear science & technology at Idaho National Laboratory (second from left), join other officials at the ceremonial groundbreaking for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor demonstration project.
A ceremony in Wyoming yesterday marked the official start of construction of TerraPower’s planned Natrium reactor demonstration project.
While currently awaiting final review from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, TerraPower is moving forward with nonnuclear construction work at a retired coal plant near Kemmerer, Wyo. The groundbreaking brought together TerraPower leaders, government officials, Natrium project partners, industry advocates, and community supporters.