Small modular reactors, as the name implies, are meant to be small, each one generating less than 300 megawatts of electricity. They are modular in the sense that the units belonging to the same design look alike, and their parts can be manufactured in factories at various locations and then shipped to a central location for assembly.

Since nuclear physics works the same in Ontario as it does in Tennessee, the industry has been trying to create a reactor that can be deployed on both sides of the border. Now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have decided that some of their rulings can cross the border too.

In 2022, El Salvador’s leadership decided to expand its modest, mostly hydro- and geothermal-based electricity system, which is supported by expensive imported natural gas and diesel generation. They chose to use advanced nuclear reactors, preferably fueled by thorium-based fuels, to power their civilian efforts. The choice of thorium was made to inform the world that the reactor program was for civilian purposes only, and so they chose a fuel that was plentiful, easy to source and work with, and not a proliferation risk.

As nations look to nuclear energy as a source of carbon-free electricity and heat, researchers and industry are developing a new generation of nuclear reactors to fill the need.

These advanced nuclear reactors will work in concert with renewables to provide safe, efficient, and economical Power for a wider range of applications than the large electricity-generating machines that currently provide roughly 25 percent of the world’s carbon-free power.

But before large-scale deployment of advanced reactors, researchers need to understand and test the safety and performance of the technologies—especially the coolants and materials—that make them possible.

Now, the United States and the United Kingdom have teamed up to test hundreds of advanced nuclear materials.

As part of a broader series on the future of the global energy markets, S&P Global has released a new report examining the growing interest in nuclear energy as the solution to many of the problems the energy sector faces.

Seven members of the inaugural Nuclear News 40 Under 40 came together on March 4 to discuss the current state of nuclear energy and what the future might hold for science, industry, and the public in terms of nuclear development.

To hear more insights from this talented group of young professionals, watch the “40 Under 40 Roundtable: Perspectives from Nuclear’s Rising Stars” on the ANS website.

Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory continue to make progress on the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE), which entails research and development for the first operational advanced nuclear reactor to use a mixture of molten chloride salt and uranium as fuel and coolant. The experiment is evaluating the safety and physics of the molten chloride fast reactor that Southern Company and TerraPower are planning to build.

Aiming to deploy the nation's first small modular reactor, TerraPower has announced contracts for the final long-lead items needed for its Natrium unit, currently under construction in Wyoming.

Penn State and Westinghouse Electric Company are working together to site a new research reactor on Penn State’s University Park, Pa., campus: Westinghouse’s eVinci, a HALEU TRISO-fueled sodium heat-pipe reactor. Penn State has announced that it submitted a letter of intent to host and operate an eVinci reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on February 28 and plans to engage with the NRC on specific siting decisions. Penn State already boasts the Breazeale reactor, which began operating in 1955 as the first licensed research reactor at a university in the United States. At 70, the Breazeale reactor is still in operation.

The French magnetic confinement fusion tokamak known as WEST maintained a plasma in February for more than 22 minutes—1,337 seconds, to be precise—and “smashed” the previous record plasma duration for a tokamak with a 25 percent improvement, according to the CEA, which operates the machine. The previous 1,006-second record was set by China’s EAST just a few weeks prior. Records are made to be broken, but this rapid progress illustrates a collective, global increase in plasma confinement expertise, aided by tungsten in key components.