Former NRC inspector found guilty of making false statements

December 16, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News

A former senior resident inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pleaded guilty on December 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to making false statements on NRC inspection reports. Such false statements violate federal statutes and carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Westinghouse submits eVinci microreactor plan to NRC

December 16, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News

Westinghouse Electric Company has filed a pre-application regulatory engagement plan (REP) with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its eVinci microreactor, the company announced on Tuesday.

SMR control room simulator launched at Texas A&M

December 15, 2021, 3:00PMNuclear News
The NuScale small modular reactor control room simulator will provide the authentic feel of being in the control room at a 12-unit SMR plant. (Photo: Rodolfo Vaghetto)

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) has installed the NuScale small modular reactor control room simulator at the Center for Advanced Small Modular and Micro Reactors (CASMR).

TEES performs collaborative research through universities, national laboratories, and state and federal agencies with the goal of finding solutions to global technical challenges.

NuScale to go public using SPAC process

December 15, 2021, 12:07PMNuclear News

First reported last week by S&P Global Platts but confirmed only yesterday, small modular reactor developer NuScale Power plans to go public via a merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. (SPACs are shell corporations listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring or merging with a private company, effectively taking that company public without going through the standard initial public offering process.)

Comment period extended for advanced reactor rulemaking language

December 15, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended, for the second time, the public comment period regarding preliminary language for a proposed rule setting out a risk-informed, technology-inclusive framework for the licensing and regulation of advanced reactors, according to a notice in the December 10 Federal Register.

Bipartisan legislation to accelerate nuclear innovation introduced in House

December 15, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News

Luria

Gonzalez

Reps. Anthony Gonzalez (R., Ohio) and Elaine Luria (D., N.Y.) have again teamed up to launch bipartisan pronuclear legislation in the House. On December 7, with Luria as cosponsor, Gonzalez unveiled the Accelerating Nuclear Innovation through Fee Reform Act (H.R. 6154), aimed at accelerating innovation and catalyzing private sector investment in advanced nuclear reactor technologies by eliminating Nuclear Regulatory Commission review fees for advanced reactor license applications, which could reach tens of millions of dollars, disincentivizing developers from bringing new technologies to market.

NRC approves transfer of Palisades, Big Rock Point to Holtec for decommissioning

December 14, 2021, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The Palisades power plant, in Covert Township, Mich.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of the Palisades nuclear power plant licenses from Entergy Nuclear Operations to Holtec International, as owner, and Holtec Decommissioning International (HDI), as decommissioning operator. Holtec and HDI intend to decommission the single-unit pressurized water reactor, located in Covert, Mich., under an accelerated schedule.

Early career faculty members sought for new $2.5-million DOE program

December 14, 2021, 12:08PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is soliciting applications from untenured, early career faculty members for the new Distinguished Early Career Program. Applicants must respond by February 2 with a plan that integrates research, education, and service under the terms of a funding opportunity announcement dated December 6 and announced by the DOE on December 7. The DOE anticipates granting up to four $625,000 awards, each with a five-year duration.

BWXT delivers reactor fuel that could power a roundtrip to Mars

December 14, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News
Coated uranium fuel kernels, as viewed through a glovebox. (Photo: BWXT)

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is one technology that could propel a spacecraft to Mars and back, using thermal energy from a reactor to heat an onboard hydrogen propellant. While NTP is not a new concept, fuels and reactor concepts that can withstand the extremely high temperatures and corrosive conditions experienced in the engine during spaceflight are being designed now.

BWX Technologies announced on December 13 that it has delivered coated reactor fuels to NASA for testing in support of the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s NTP project. BWXT is developing two fuel forms that could support a reactor ground demonstration by the late 2020s, as well as a third, more advanced and energy-dense fuel for potential future evaluation. BWXT has produced a videoof workers processing fuel kernels in a glovebox.

Granholm promotes nuclear and Build Back Better

December 14, 2021, 7:32AMNuclear News
Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm tours the Braidwood control room on December 9. (Photo: Exelon)

Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm toured the Braidwood nuclear plant in Illinois last week as part of a statewide tour to promote the climate provisions in the recently passed trillion-dollar infrastructure law and the Build Back Better Act, over which the Senate continues to haggle.

Getting INL to net-zero carbon emissions by 2031

December 13, 2021, 3:00PMANS Nuclear CafeDonna Kemp Spangler

Kandasamy

Daunting tasks are nothing new for Jhansi Kandasamy. Her record of accomplishments over three decades suggests that she is often the first to succeed where others fall short. “I like to be the first,” she said with a laugh.

Her latest first? Kandasamy was recently named Idaho National Laboratory’s net-zero director. She is charged with achieving net-zero carbon emissions for INL within the next 10 years and her plan is to be 75 percent toward that goal within the next five years.

John Wagner, INL director, announced the Net-Zero initiative on Earth Day 2021, and he acknowledged it won’t be easy. “I understand this is an audacious goal,” he said, “but overcoming significant national challenges is exactly what national laboratories were established to do.”

ANS Winter Meeting: Universities to host a new generation of advanced reactors

December 13, 2021, 12:00PMNuclear News
A screen shot from the “Research Reactors in Support of Advanced Reactor R&D” session at the 2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo.

First-of-a-kind research reactors, demo reactors, and research facilities are being developed and sited on university campuses to support the broader deployment of advanced reactors. At the 2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, during a December 2 panel session titled “Research Reactors in Support of Advanced Reactor R&D,” several of these planned projects were discussed in detail—including a molten salt reactor in Texas and a high-temperature gas–cooled reactor in Illinois.

The session was sponsored by the Reactor Physics Division and organized and chaired by Pavel Tsvetkov, of Texas A&M University. A video of the session is available to registered Winter Meeting attendees.

New deputy administrator sworn in for NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation

December 13, 2021, 9:30AMNuclear News

Hinderstein

Corey Hinderstein has been sworn in as the deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation (DNN) of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 30, Hinderstein now leads the NNSA’s efforts to help the U.S. government prevent, counter, and respond to global nuclear security threats. She was sworn in on December 6 by energy secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Learn more about Hinderstein and defense nuclear nonproliferation.

Hanford crews become qualified as VIT plant operators

December 13, 2021, 6:59AMRadwaste Solutions
Nicholas Callihan, left, and Julissa Quinonez Chavez, front, complete training to become qualified as control room supervisor and utilities operator for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. (Photo: DOE)

The history and future of civilian nuclear power afloat

December 10, 2021, 2:35PMNuclear NewsGail H. Marcus and Steven M. Mirsky

In the early days of the development of nuclear power, a broad range of nuclear technologies and applications were explored. Among these developments were the use of nuclear propulsion for ships, both military and civilian, as well as a floating nuclear power plant. While the use of nuclear power for naval vessels, including submarines and surface ships, continued, most of the civilian uses of nuclear power on the water were ultimately terminated.

Recently, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in both floating nuclear power plants and the use of nuclear propulsion in the civilian sector. The renewed interest makes this a particularly timely moment to recount the initial developments in this area. Some of the early civilian nuclear vessels were discussed in two sessions during the June 2021 ANS Annual Meeting, “NS Savannah History” and “History of Non-­Naval Nuclear Ship Power.” This article draws on the presentations from those sessions, the second of which was cochaired by the authors, as well as on other studies of the history of nuclear power.

Infrastucture aging standard now available from ANS

December 10, 2021, 12:00PMANS News

Proposed D&D rule expected to be published in early 2022, NRC says

December 10, 2021, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions

Holahan

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to publish its proposed rulemaking for nuclear power reactors transitioning to decontamination and decommissioning in early 2022, according to Patricia Holahan, director of the NRC’s Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs. Holahan spoke during the December 1 opening plenary session of the topical meeting, Decommissioning, Environmental Science and Remote Technology 2021, held in conjunction with the 2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo.

On November 3, the NRC commissioners approved the publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register, subject to edits and comments by the commissioners. According to Holahan, who also serves as special assistant to the director of the NRC’s Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, the NRC staff will incorporate the commission-directed changes into the proposed rule before it is published in the FR. The new rule is intended to make the decommissioning process more efficient by reducing the need for license exemptions and amendments.

Last remaining support building at West Valley’s Main Plant set to come down

December 10, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News
Crews take down the Load-In Facility at the West Valley Demonstration Project. The demolition is scheduled for completion early next year. (Photo: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is set to complete the 69th building demolition at the West Valley Demonstration Project early next year, when crews finish knocking down the last structure standing that supported operations at the former Main Plant Process Building.

Advisory board established for French SMR development

December 9, 2021, 3:00PMNuclear News
Click to see full image. Concept art for the NUWARD small modular reactor. (Image: TechnicAtome)

Électricité de France recently announced the formation of an advisory board for NUWARD, France’s small modular reactor project. According to the company, the establishment of the International NUWARD Advisory Board (INAB) is a major step forward in support of the technology’s development.

ANS Winter Meeting: CEM, COP, and the path to net zero

December 9, 2021, 12:02PMNuclear News
A screen capture from the meeting that discussed the pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050: (From left) Leah Parks, Giulia Bisconti, Nicholas McMurray, Josh Freed, and Laura Hermann. Panelists who joined the meeting virtually were Sama Bilbao y León and Edie Greaves.

The Thursday morning executive session at last week’s 2021 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo brought together a group of influential nuclear-policy experts from the United States and abroad to discuss the roles nuclear can play in smoothing the pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050. Specific topics explored included the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and its Nuclear Innovation Clean Energy (NICE) Future initiative, as well as last month’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. The session was moderated by Leah Parks, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission risk analyst and 2020 ANS Presidential Citation awardee.