Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor componentsArgonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.Go to Article
EnergySolutions to help explore advanced reactor development in UtahUtah-based waste management company EnergySolutions announced that it has signed a memorandum of understating with the Intermountain Power Agency and the state of Utah to explore the development of advanced nuclear power generation at the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) site near Delta, Utah.Go to Article
Sam Altman steps down as Oklo board chairAdvanced nuclear company Oklo Inc. has new leadership for its board of directors as billionaire Sam Altman is stepping down from the position he has held since 2015. The move is meant to open new partnership opportunities with OpenAI, where Altman is CEO, and other artificial intelligence companies.Go to Article
Pacific Fusion: Fusing pulser innovation with General Atomics’ expertisePacific Fusion has a staff that knows its way around pulsers and inertial fusion, and an ongoing collaboration with General Atomics. Today, the two companies are announcing plans to test Pacific Fusion’s pulser-driven inertial fusion energy concept, with commercial fusion power as the goal.“We are building a fusion machine and testing all equipment—including components and a pulser module—at our Pacific Fusion test center,” Pacific Fusion cofounder and chief technology officer Keith LeChien told Nuclear News. “GA’s engineering expertise remains an important part of our progress, and we expect this collaboration to continue through future phases of development.”Go to Article
UIUC microreactor fuel qualification methodology gets safety approvalThe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nuclear Plasma and Radiation Engineering (NPRE) Department announced yesterday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a fuel qualification methodology topical report for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor the university wants to construct. The topical report was prepared by Ultra Safe Nuclear and submitted by UIUC to the NRC in March 2024. It describes the fuel that would be used in the microreactor that UIUC plans to host—initially containing uranium enriched to 9.9 percent U-235—and how it would be tested. The NRC issued its approval and a final safety evaluation on April 1.Go to Article
Framatome opens new fuel workshop for research reactors and medical targetsFramatome announced that it has inaugurated a new workshop dedicated to the fabrication of fuel for research reactors and targets for medical isotopes at the company’s Romans-sur-Isère site in France. The workshops are part of Framatome’s CERCA division, which manufactures fuel and irradiation targets for research reactors.Go to Article
Lisa Marshall discusses the future of nuclear educationANS President Lisa Marshall recently sat down with Phil Zeringue, vice president of strategic partnerships at Nuclearn.ai to talk about the evolving state of education in the nuclear world.Go to Article
State legislation: Bipartisan support growing for nuclear energy in WisconsinLawmakers are crossing the aisle to back proposals to expand nuclear power and nuclear research in the Badger State, especially as energy-hungry data center projects advance in Wisconsin and projections for energy demand soar.The state has a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 but will also need to generate more power to support data center plans, such as those being discussed in Port Washington and Beaver Dam, according to media reports.Go to Article
Hanford to hold virtual meeting on proposed waste processing facilityThe Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) will hold a virtual public meeting on April 30 to learn more about the siting, construction, and operation of a proposed Contact-Handled Waste Processing Treatment and Storage Area at the DOE’s Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.Go to Article
Los Alamos researchers test TRISO transportationLos Alamos National Laboratory recently performed a series of customized criticality experiments to obtain data that will support the transportation of HALEU TRISO fuel, the Department of Energy announced April 21.Go to Article