Industry

Laser Photonics Corporation and Brokk Inc. have announced the forming of a technology partnership to bring laser cleaning and cutting technology to the nuclear disposal, decommissioning, mining, tunneling, construction, metal processing, and military industries.

As the world shifts toward clean and sustainable energy, Kazakhstan stands on the cusp of a significant move into nuclear energy. Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has suggested a national referendum to gauge the country’s position on building a nuclear power plant, setting the stage for an in-depth discussion about the nation’s energy trajectory.

X-energy UK Holdings and Cavendish Nuclear together received a government award of £3.34 million ($4.23 million) for further development of advanced modular reactors. The award, which was announced earlier this week, is from the U.K. government’s Future Nuclear Enabling Fund.

In an effort to accelerate development of low- and zero-carbon electricity, three companies have launched the Advanced Clean Electricity initiative—and are seeking information about advanced technology pilot projects.

General Atomics announced last week that it will work with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation to help find opportunities to support the United Arab Emirates.

Representatives from both companies signed a memorandum of understanding at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas. The ENEC will work closest with General Atomics’ GA-EMS team, which develops new technologies and aims to deliver breakthrough solutions supporting environments from undersea to space.

The development of nuclear power is one of the pillars of Poland’s energy transition, which involves construction of safe and modern Generation III+ pressurized water reactors.

Polskie Elektrownie Ja˛drowe (PEJ) is the company responsible for, among other things, preparing the investment process for the construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 3,750 MWe. PEJ’s goal is to build six nuclear reactors (for a total capacity of 6–9 GWe), securing 25 percent of the electricity needed in Poland by 2043 and guaranteeing a stable supply of clean energy to millions of homes across the country.

The revitalization of nuclear energy policy in Japan began on August 24, 2022, with Prime Minister Kishida’s address at the second Green Transformation (GX) Executive Meeting. He said, “It is urgent to resolve the present deadlock in energy policy; in order to overcome the current crisis in power supply and demand . . . we will take all possible measures to prepare for unforeseen circumstances. In particular, regarding nuclear power plants (NPPs), the government will take all possible measures to restart the suspended NPPs already licensed for operation.” Kishida emphasized that nuclear power is an indispensable decarbonized energy source for the advancement of the green transformation. The cabinet in February 2023 approved the Basic Policy for the Realization of GX (hereinafter referred to as the GX Basic Policy).

Utah-based waste management company EnergySolutions is expanding its operations in the United States and Asia, announcing last week that it had acquired Cabrera Services, a U.S. provider of environmental and radiological remediation services. It also signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service to provide services to the Asian nuclear market.

In a bid to generate up to $900 million in additional funding for nuclear energy projects, Constellation Energy announced this week that it will issue corporate green bonds in the United States.

The newest edition of the Nuclear News Buyers Guide will be out soon, marking the 55th year of the most comprehensive goods and services publication in the nuclear industry. The American Nuclear Society invites all companies that perform or seek nuclear-related work to participate by identifying areas of expertise and providing contact information.

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

There have been significant changes in the outlook for the existing U.S. nuclear fleet in the last few years. In 2021, we were looking at the early closure of units and could not even think of license extension. Since then, the combination of the U.S. government recognizing the clean-air benefits of nuclear and the impact of the war in Ukraine has resulted in a lot of positive activity on Capitol Hill for nuclear.

Several pieces of legislation have been passed in support of nuclear as law- and policymakers have recognized the important role nuclear power can play in achieving the nation’s clean-air goals. New legislation also is supporting reducing reliance on Russia for uranium enrichment by supporting the domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

The Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program, which was part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, included $6 billion to prevent premature retirement of existing zero-carbon nuclear plants. On January 17, the Department of Energy awarded Diablo Canyon $1.1 billion from the CNC Program to support continued operations of the plant.

Great Britain announced last week that it will purchase land at two nuclear sites from Hitachi for £160 million ($203 million).

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the deal for the sites—Wylfa in northern Wales and Oldbury-on-Severn in southwestern England—during the annual budget speech to Parliament. Under Hitachi’s ownership, the land was prepped for developing a pair of advanced boiling water reactor units, but those plans were suspended in 2019 due to economic constraints.

The continent of Africa and the 54 countries that share the land are an emerging force that will hold growing influence in the world’s economy by the end of this century. Throughout history, the world’s leading economies have been driven by large working-age populations, but the shift in demographics over the next 50 years will bring drastic changes to the global economy. As reported last year by the New York Times, most of the youngest countries in the world are in Africa (south/southeastern Asia and the Middle East being the other regions with young populations). This means that by 2050 and beyond, the countries with the largest working-age populations will be very different from the top economies today. The African Union understands these changes are coming and is working toward its Agenda 2063, the “master plan for transforming Africa into a global powerhouse of the future.”

Vistra this week completed its acquisition of Energy Harbor Corp., a move the company announced almost exactly a year ago with a $3.43 billion price tag.

Talen Energy announced its sale of a 960-megawatt data center campus to cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon, for $650 million.

Cadre Holdings, Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alpha Safety Intermediate, LLC, the operating parent of Alpha Safety, a nuclear safety solutions company, for $106.5 million (excluding working capital and certain other adjustments on closing).

Angwin

Chemist, author, nuclear energy advocate, and ANS member Meredith Angwin recently reached out to David Blackmon about Juice: Power, Politics and the Grid, a series of five short videos that she calls “a splendid resource for people who want to know about the electric grid.” Blackmon, a writer and 40-year veteran of the energy industry who is a fan of both Angwin and the video shorts, reposted her review on his Substack, “Energy Transition Absurdities.”

The videos, produced by Austin, Texas–based filmmakers Robert Bryce and Tyson Culver, feature interviews with Angwin and others as they “expose the perils facing our electric grid [and show] how we can improve the reliability of our most important energy network and address climate change by embracing nuclear energy.”

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

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

UAE prepares for advanced nuclear

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the United Arab Emirates’ nuclear energy development organization, has signed several agreements regarding advanced reactors, many of which were signed at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, UAE.