Industry

Helion Energy, based in Everett, Wash., today announced an agreement to use its first fusion power plant to provide electricity to Microsoft. Constellation, which operates 21 commercial nuclear reactors in the United States, will serve as the power marketer and will manage transmission for the project.

The Department of Energy yesterday announced the awarding of $22.1 million to 10 industry-led nuclear projects, including two aimed at expanding clean hydrogen production and one at advancing a microreactor design. Other projects selected for funding are focused on addressing nuclear regulatory hurdles, improving existing reactor operation, and facilitating new advanced reactor developments.

Abstracts for all 10 projects can be found here.

The Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Hub coalition (GLCH) has submitted an application for funding from the $8 billion Department of Energy program authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the creation of regional clean hydrogen hubs, nuclear plant owner/operator Energy Harbor announced on May 2.

Two South Korean financial institutions—the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM)—have signed pacts with Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction (a Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary) to provide support to Holtec’s SMR-160 projects around the world, the American firm announced on May 2.

The engineering company Jacobs announced last week that it has been awarded a four-year contract to design and engineer remotely operated tools for the ITER fusion project in southern France. The contract, which includes a possible two-year extension, covers work on up to 25 diagnostic ports and systems used for operating and sustaining the ITER experimental machine, which is currently under construction.

NuScale Power and TerraPower both signed agreements earlier this week with South Korean entities to support development of the American firms’ respective reactor technologies.

Denmark-based Seaborg Technologies, developer of the compact molten salt reactor (CMSR), has teamed with two South Korean firms—shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and nuclear plant owner and operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)—to form a consortium for the development of floating nuclear plants featuring the CMSR. The consortium agreement was signed in Seoul on April 20.

Small modular reactor developer Holtec International and Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear plant operator, signed a cooperation agreement last Friday that envisions the construction of up to 20 of the American firm’s SMR-160 units in Ukraine, with grid connection for the pilot project achieved by March 2029. In addition, the agreement calls for building a Ukrainian manufacturing facility to localize the production of equipment required for SMR-160 construction.

Seattle’s Ultra Safe Nuclear (USNC) has announced a partnership with two South Korean firms—Hyundai Engineering and SK ecoplant—for research and development on carbon-free hydrogen production. The three companies signed a memorandum of understanding on April 20 regarding the construction of a “hydrogen micro hub” at SK ecoplant’s headquarters in Seoul’s Jongno-gu district.

Here is a recap of industry happenings over the past months:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

Ultra Safe and Framatome reach TRISO agreement

Ultra Safe Nuclear and Framatome have signed a nonbinding agreement to manufacture commercial quantities of TRISO fuel for advanced reactor designs, including USNC’s Micro Modular Reactor. It is expected that the manufacturing of both TRISO fuel particles and USNC’s fully ceramic microencapsulated fuel will begin in late 2025, with production capacity being made available to the broader global commercial market. At-scale production lines for these materials have been demonstrated at USNC’s Pilot Fuel Manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the first privately funded producer of TRISO fuel particles in the United States.

Nuclear energy was the focus of a recent NPR 1A podcast episode, hosted by journalist Jenn White, who welcomed guests to discuss the role of nuclear energy in the future of the United States. The guests—Joe Dominguez, chief executive officer of Constellation Energy; Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution; and Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists—participated in the episode, titled “Where Does Nuclear Energy Fit in a Carbon-Free Future?”

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) have announced the launch of the Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative (ANSC)—an effort to bring together utility regulators and energy officials from across the nation to “enhance collective understanding” of the regulatory and policy issues facing states contemplating the deployment of new nuclear generation.

Fortum—operator of Finland’s two-unit Loviisa nuclear power plant—has signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu to explore decarbonizing the latter’s manufacturing operations with the help of emerging nuclear technologies, the companies announced on March 23.

Belgium-based engineering firm Tractebel and the Netherlands’ NRG Pallas have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide engineering services in support of new reactor construction at the Borssele nuclear power plant, located near the village of Borssele in the Dutch province of Zeeland.

Director General Daniel Alvarez, left, and John Kutsch. (Photo: TEA)

Representatives of El Salvador’s government and the Thorium Energy Alliance have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote El Salvador’s plan for renewable energy through thorium.

The document was signed on March 14 by Daniel Alvarez, director general of energy, hydrocarbons, and mines, and John Kutsch, executive director of the Thorium Energy Alliance, at the El Salvador embassy in Washington, D.C. The signing was witnessed by Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States.

Steven Arndt
president@ans.org

As president of ANS, I am frequently asked, if it is the American Nuclear Society, why are you concerned with what is happening outside the United States? I usually start with a simple response: Although ANS is incorporated in the U.S., the Society has local and student sections as well as members in a number of other countries and is involved with key issues throughout the world. Although this is true—we have seven international sections and four international student sections, and about 10 percent of our membership is from other countries—it is only part of the story. From the very beginning, nuclear science and technology has been an international collaboration. The U.S. certainly can claim leadership in a lot of the advances in the research and industrial applications of our technology, but most of our advances have been based on active collaboration both within and across borders.

During my tenure, I have seen this firsthand. As travel has opened up throughout the world in the past year, I have visited the Latin American and French sections of ANS, as well as the University of Puerto Rico student section, and I have attended a number of ANS-sponsored technical meetings throughout the world.

Texas-based Vistra Corporation, owner of the Comanche Peak nuclear plant, has announced a $3.43 billion deal to acquire Energy Harbor, the Ohio-based owner and operator of the Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, and Perry nuclear facilities.

Here is a recap of industry happenings over the past month:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

INFUSE program funds 10 private-public projects

As part of the Department of Energy Office of Science’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program, $2.3 million in funding is being awarded to 10 projects that pair private industry with national laboratories for purposes of fusion energy development. The projects are being led by researchers at seven companies: Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Cambridge, Mass.; Energy Driven Technologies in Champaign, Ill.; Focused Energy in Austin, Texas; General Atomics in San Diego, Calif.; Princeton Stellarators in Princeton, N.J.; Tokamak Energy in Bruceton Mills, W.Va.; and Type One Energy Group in Madison, Wis. Through the INFUSE funding, these companies gain access to the expertise of the national labs as they conduct research into fusion energy systems. Each award provides between $50,000 and $500,000 for a one- to two-year project, with a 20 percent cost share for the industry partners.

Ivaylo Ivanov (left), member of Kozloduy NPP-Newbuilds’ board of directors, and Elias Gedeon, senior vice president for Westinghouse Energy Systems, complete the signing of an MOU for Westinghouse AP1000 technology. (Photo: Westinghouse)

Continuing to move forward with its ambitions in Central and Eastern Europe, Westinghouse Electric Company last week signed a memorandum of understanding with Kozloduy NPP–Newbuilds (KNPP-NB), establishing a working group to initiate planning for the potential deployment of one or more of the American company’s AP1000 reactors at Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

KNPP-NB was established in 2012 to commission new nuclear power capacity at Kozloduy.

The working group, according to a March 2 Westinghouse announcement, will also evaluate regulatory, licensing, and design bases to ensure compliance with applicable regulations, as well as a streamlined execution path to enable Bulgaria to achieve its nuclear energy goals.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its 2022–2023 Information Digest, NUREG-1350, Vol. 34, which describes the agency's responsibilities and activities and provides general information regarding nuclear-related topics.