Stephen Taller

We push materials to their breaking point for you.

Millions of Americans rely on nuclear energy. It provides 20 percent of electrical power in the United States—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. To maintain this reliability, every material used in our reactors must work safely and efficiently.

I’m part of a team of world-class scientists, engineers, and technical professionals at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, testing and evaluating materials designed to thrive in one of the most complex environments on Earth. Nuclear reactors experience heavy stress loads, high temperatures, corrosive environments, and intense radiation fields. Combined, these forces can substantially impact the performance of cladding or other structural materials. We want to know where and under what conditions materials may fail to keep a reactor running safely and reliably.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its final environmental impact statement for the proposed subsequent license renewal (SLR) for Oconee nuclear power plant's Units 1, 2, and 3.

Imagine you’re constructing a bridge or designing an airplane, and everything appears flawless on the outside. However, microscopic flaws beneath the surface could weaken the entire structure over time.

These hidden defects can be difficult to detect with traditional inspection methods, but a new technology developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is changing that. Using artificial intelligence and advanced imaging techniques, researchers have developed a method to reveal these tiny flaws before they become critical problems.

Energy secretary Chris Wright outlined his priorities and plans this week, including a focus on modernizing nuclear power and “taking the politics out” of energy discussions, especially as they relate to climate change.

Are you an energy genius? It’s hard to tell whether or not Americans are really aware of the energy that controls our lives, so the following energy quiz should be revealing. The answers are revealed as you take the quiz. Most answers can be found in the pages of the 2024 issues of Nuclear News—so if you’ve been a diligent NN reader you should do fine!

Scoring: Out of 20 questions, 0–5 correct answers means you may need to read up on energy so you’re not at the mercy of others; 6–10 correct answers is a good passing grade (I don’t curve); 11–15 means you’re energy literate; 16–19 means you should be advising Congress; 20 correct answers suggests you’re Mr. Spock reincarnated.

Germany’s NUKEM Technologies Engineering Services GmbH, in partnership with Uniper Nuclear Services GmbH (UNS), has successfully completed the dismantling of the fourth and final reactor pressure vessel (RPV) at Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden. The work was done as part of the UNNU Consortium, which since 2020 has been dismantling Sweden’s four RPVs—two at the Oskarshamn site and two at the Barsebäck nuclear plant site.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

Dear Secretary Wright:

On behalf of the U.S. nuclear professional community, I offer our sincere congratulations to you on your becoming the secretary of energy.

By now, I’m sure you have figured out that “Department of Energy” is a misnomer. If the Department of Government Efficiency ever requires truth in advertising, the DOE should be renamed the “Department of Nuclear Weapons, Security, Cleanup, and Sundry Energy and Science Programs.” That’s because more than 60 percent of the DOE’s budget is dedicated to “atomic energy defense activities”—making sure our nuclear bombs work, our aircraft carriers and submarines sail, and our Cold War messes get cleaned up.

Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp has announced that the university could soon become a home to small modular reactors from four advanced nuclear companies: Kairos Power, Natura Resources, Terrestrial Energy, and Aalo Atomics.

Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) in Wilmington, N.C., has appointed Kelli Davis its first Nuclear Technology program director. Davis has nearly 20 years of experience in nuclear power, including roles in chemistry, operations, and environmental supervision.

Work has started at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to deactivate, decommission, and remove the Ion Beam Facility, which played a role in research and experiments that helped develop the nation’s nuclear arsenal during the 1950s and 1960s.

An official ground breaking on Monday for Swedish nuclear company Blykalla’s advanced reactor testing site marked a pivotal step in putting decades of research into action.

To better educate customers and stakeholders on its technology, NANO Nuclear Energy has opened a new demonstration facility in Westchester County, N.Y., that offers an up-close look at nonnuclear parts and components of the four microreactors the company has in development.

Officials from the United States and the Republic of El Salvador signed a memorandum of understanding Monday, agreeing to cooperate on strategic civil nuclear development.

In one of his first acts in office, U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio signed the MOU with El Salvadoran foreign minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco during his recent visit.

New Strategic Understanding for Premier Education and Research (SUPER) agreements signed by Idaho National Laboratory, Boise State University, and University of Idaho will foster collaboration among the institutions in advanced energy and cybersecurity projects. The five-year agreements are designed to open doors for research and development opportunities, while advancing existing research and development initiatives, including projects in nuclear energy and high-performance computing.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for public comments until March 3 on its environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding of no significant impact at Michigan’s Palisades nuclear power plant, where Holtec hopes to restart operations by the end of 2025.

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.”

Wright

The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Chris Wright, President Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. The confirmation vote was 59–38. Eight Democrats, including both senators from Colorado, signed off on Wright.

Wright—a Colorado native—is founder, chief executive, and chair of the board of Liberty Energy, a Denver-based energy development company specializing in fracking. He also sits on the board of directors for Oklo, a Silicon Valley–based developer of small modular reactors.

Wright was grilled by the Senate’s committee on Energy and Natural Resources during a January 15 hearing, where he made comments in support of nuclear energy and efforts to expand domestic generation in the near future.

He also repeated an earlier stated belief that “there’s no such thing as clean energy or dirty energy.” Wright was called out during the hearing by Senate Democrats for comments he made arguing that climate change has not fueled more frequent and severe wildfires, which, the Washington Post reported, is a claim at odds with the scientific consensus.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

James Earl Carter, the 39th president of the United States, passed away in Plains, Ga., on December 29. He was America’s first president formally trained in the applications of nuclear science and technology, and as such, knowing nothing else, one might imagine that he would be held in universally high regard by the U.S. nuclear community.

The reality is more, well . . . complicated.

Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

Mission of Gen IV International Forum is extended

A framework agreement to continue the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) beyond its scheduled February 2025 expiration was signed by representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom at November’s COP29 meeting in Azerbaijan. The new agreement, which excludes previous signatory Russia, focuses on the sharing of information and pooling of funds for advanced nuclear technologies. The agreement also sets a goal of deploying fourth-generation nuclear technology by 2030. The specific advanced technologies identified by the forum are gas-cooled fast reactors, lead-cooled fast reactors, molten salt reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactors, supercritical water–cooled reactors, and very-high-temperature reactors.

A team of innovative companies has plans to bring floating nuclear power plants to U.S. ports.

Core Power, a maritime and nuclear technology company, announced in January a new partnership in with naval architecture company Glosten. The pair is working on a design for a floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) that could generate up to 175 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually and provide clean power to ships, equipment, and port vehicles, Offshore Energy reported.