Nuclear News on the Newswire

NRC okays construction permits for Hermes 2 test facility

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced yesterday that it has directed staff to issue construction permits to Kairos Power for the company's proposed Hermes 2 nonpower test reactor facility to be built at the Heritage Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The permits authorize Kairos to build a facility with two 35-MWt test reactors that would use molten salt to cool the reactor cores.

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Japanese researchers test detection devices at West Valley

Two research scientists from Japan’s Kyoto University and Kochi University of Technology visited the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York state earlier this fall to test their novel radiation detectors, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced on November 19.

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Chris Wright is Trump’s DOE pick

Wright

Oil industry executive Chris Wright has been selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next secretary of energy. Wright is also to serve on Trump’s new Council of National Energy, which, Trump said in a statement over the weekend, “will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American energy.” Trump previously named North Dakota governor Doug Burgum as head of that council.

Following the announcement of his selection, Wright posted on X, “My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood that makes everything in life possible. Energy matters.”

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IAEA works to advance women in the nuclear community

A new program called Practical Arrangement, which has been created through a collaboration of the International Atomic Energy Agency and LinkedIn, aims to bring networking and training opportunities to women in the nuclear field. The partnership will provide essential resources, including training, research, and access to LinkedIn’s global network.

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Framatome to produce Lu-177 at Romania’s Cernavoda

Framatome and SN Nuclearelectrica, a partially state-owned Romanian nuclear energy company, have entered into a long-term cooperation agreement to produce the medical isotope lutetium-177 at Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania. Lu-177 is a beta-emitting radioisotope used in targeted radionuclide therapy for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer.

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Nuclear waste: Trying again, with an approach that is flexible and vague

The Department of Energy has started over on the quest for a place to store used fuel. Its new goal, it says, is to foster a national conversation (although this might better be described as many local conversations) about a national problem that can only be solved at the local level with a “consent-based” approach. And while the department is touting the various milestones it has already reached on the way to an interim repository, the program is structured in a way that means its success will not be measurable for years.

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