This week, the Department of Energy has finalized two new other transaction agreements (OTAs) with participating companies in its Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to get one or two fast-tracked reactors on line by July 4 of this year. Those companies are Terrestrial Energy and Oklo.

Analyst firm Trading Economics posted a uranium futures value of about $82.00 per pound on January 5—the highest futures value in more than two months.

In late October, it had listed a futures price of about $82.30/lb. By late November, the price had fallen to under $76.00/lb.

Canada has formally initiated the regulatory process of licensing its proposed deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, with the country’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announcing that it has submitted an initial project description to the Canadian government.

According to the NWMO, the initial project description is a foundational document, detailing the repository’s purpose, need, and expected benefits and explaining how the project will be implemented. It also provides a preliminary assessment of potential impacts and describes measures to avoid or mitigate them. The NWMO is the not-for-profit organization responsible for managing Canada’s nuclear waste.

Canada has formally initiated the regulatory process of licensing its proposed deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, with the country’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announcing that it has submitted an initial project description to the Canadian government.

According to the NWMO, the initial project description is a foundational document, detailing the repository’s purpose, need, and expected benefits and explaining how the project will be implemented. It also provides a preliminary assessment of potential impacts and describes measures to avoid or mitigate them. The NWMO is the not-for-profit organization responsible for managing Canada’s nuclear waste.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has announced more than $590,000 in funding awards to help three universities enhance their outreach in nuclear energy education. The awards, which are part of the DOE Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) University Reactor Sharing and Outreach Program, are primarily designed to provide students in K-12, vocational schools, and colleges with access to university research reactors in order to increase awareness of nuclear science, engineering, and technology and to foster early interest in nuclear energy-related careers.

Yesterday, the Department of Energy announced that three enrichment services companies have been awarded task orders worth $900 million each. Those task orders were given to American Centrifuge Operating (a Centrus Energy subsidiary) and General Matter, both of which will develop domestic HALEU enrichment capacity, along with Orano Federal Services, which will build domestic LEU enrichment capacity.

The DOE also announced that it has awarded Global Laser Enrichment an additional $28 million to continue advancing next generation enrichment technology.

The United States Embassy and Consulate in Kazakhstan announced in December that the two countries are expanding their partnership in civil nuclear energy with a new educational initiative about small modular reactors.

Sukesh Aghara

When I wrote “From Quad to Grid” last year (Nuclear News, August 2025, p. 10), I argued that universities could serve as honest brokers in bridging public trust and technical execution for nuclear energy. Since then, state-level interest has surged. Governors and legislatures are no longer debating whether nuclear belongs in the clean energy portfolio—they’re budgeting for it; staffing it; and tying it to jobs, industrial growth, and grid reliability.

This momentum isn’t a sudden change of heart. It’s the result of four timelines that have quietly converged over decades.

The Department of Energy has announced the successful transfer of the first Mark-18A target from the Savannah River Site to Savannah River National Laboratory, marking “the beginning of operations for a newly established radiochemical separation capability to recover valuable isotopes.” The agency stated that the Mark-18A Target Recovery Program—which involves the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration, the Office of Environmental Management, and the Office of Science—is demonstrating “how legacy materials previously destined for disposal can be recovered and transformed into valuable resources.”

In 2025, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was a vocal supporter of new nuclear development in the state. In October, she called on the New York Power Authority (NYPA)—the state’s public electric utility—to add 1 GW of new nuclear.

At the tail end of December, New York made more nuclear progress on three fronts. Hochul signed an agreement with Ontario Premier Doug Ford to collaborate on new nuclear development, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) signed a memorandum of understanding with the NYPA, and New York finalized its 2025 energy plan.