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The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment services to help establish a reliable domestic supply of fuels using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Currently, HALEU is not commercially available from US-based suppliers, and boosting domestic supply is seen as vital for the development and deployment of advanced reactors in the US.

Date: Friday, 12 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-doe-presses-ahead-with-haleu-development-11429515

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted an application from X-Energy Reactor Company subsidiary, TRISO-X, for a fuel fabrication facility which will use high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Anticipating the decision, TRISO-X, in October, broke ground and began construction of the facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility (TF3) is expected to create more than 400 jobs and attract investment of approximately $300 million. TF3 is set to be commissioned and operational by 2025.

Date: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-nrc-accepts-triso-xs-application-for-fuel-fabrication-facility-10451681

US Terrapower’s advanced Natrium nuclear reactor proposed for southwestern Wyoming is expected to be delayed by at least two years, Jeff Navin, TerraPower’s director of external affairs has told the Caspar Star-Tribune. Following Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the supply of high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) needed to fuel the reactor is now in doubt. “We had a plan. It was a very aggressive timeline; we felt pretty confident that we could meet it. But it was all predicated on having our first coreload of fuel come from Russia,” Navin said.

Date: Saturday, 17 December 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsterrapowers-natrium-reactor-project-delayed-by-lack-of-haleu-10443311

The US Administration, through the Department of Energy (DOE), has announced funding of $1.5 billion from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to build and upgrade the US national laboratories. The resources will upgrade scientific facilities, modernise infrastructure, and address deferred maintenance projects at the laboratories managed by DOE’s Office of Science.

Date: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-announces-15-billion-to-strengthen-national-laboratories-10281810

Midwest can be ‘powerhouse for low-carbon fuel production’ The aim is to produce clean hydrogen from the Davis-Besse nuclear power station. Courtesy Wikipedia. Energy Harbor has joined forces with the University of Toledo and several industrial companies and US Department of Energy national laboratories to launch the Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen coalition, which aims to produce clean hydrogen using nuclear power from the Davis-Besse nuclear power station in Ohio.

The coalition envisions transforming the Midwest into a powerhouse for low-carbon fuel production. It said it will use nuclear power generated by Energy Harbor’s Davis-Besse nuclear station to produce carbon-free hydrogen through electrolysis.

The coalition said the focus on clean hydrogen production through electrolysis avoids the challenge of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. Nuclear reactors can produce clean hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Methods are being explored to use nuclear energy to produce hydrogen from water by electrolysis, thermochemical, and hybrid processes.

In October 2021, Energy Harbor and the DOE agreed to develop a hydrogen production demonstration project at Davis-Besse in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Xcel Energy, and Arizona Public Service. The plant was chosen due to its proximity to key hydrogen consumers in the manufacturing and transportation sectors of the market.

Date: Friday, 16 September 2022
Original article: nucnet.org/news/us-initiative-aims-for-productions-with-nuclear-energy-from-davis-besse-9-4-2022

The US space agency NASA has selected three design concepts for a 40KW nuclear power system designed to last at least 10 years in the lunar environment to help "lay the groundwork for powering our long-term human presence on other worlds".

Date: Thursday, 23 June 2022
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-power-on-the-Moon-NASA-selects-three-propo

Policymakers who ignore nuclear energy are not serious about meeting climate goals, delegates said at an Atlantic Council webinar last week. The first in the Raising Ambitions series, the event highlighted the attributes of this clean source of electricity and heat ahead of the Leaders’ Climate Summit, which the US Administration is hosting on 22-23 April.

Date: Tuesday, 13 April 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-power-can-help-raise-climate-ambitions

Milestones achieved within a recent two-week period demonstrate what nuclear technology is all about, what it is doing and can do for humanity, Agneta Rising, World Nuclear Association director general, said ahead of the Association's Strategic eForum 2020.

Date: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Speech-Worlds-of-possibilities-with-nuclear-techno

The US Department of Energy (DOE) on 5 August published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register announcing that the it will develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to study the impacts of building a Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) to test future fuels and materials that industry is designing for advanced civilian nuclear plants.
 
The 300MWt reactor will be a smaller version of the GE Hitachi PRISM power reactor, which is based on the EBR-II, an integral sodium-cooled fast reactor prototype that operated at Argonne National Laboratory from 1963-1994. VTR, like PRISM, would use metallic alloy fuels. DOE has previously said the facility could be in operation by the end of 2026.
 
The VTR will be used to provide a source of fast neutrons to support  development of advanced reactor technologies. Similar facilities are currently available in only a few locations worldwide and the USA has not operated one in over 20 years.
 
“This testing capability is essential for the United States to modernise its nuclear energy infrastructure and for developing transformational nuclear energy technologies that reduce waste generation and enhance nuclear security,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry. “Lack of a domestic reactor with versatile fast-neutron-spectrum testing capability is a significant national strategic risk affecting the ability of DOE to fulfil its mission to advance the energy, environmental, and nuclear security of the United States and promote scientific and technological innovation.”
 
Rita Baranwal, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy said DOE needs to develop this capability on an accelerated schedule.

Date: Monday, 12 August 2019
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-looks-to-develop-fast-reactor-7360758

Rick Perry said the new unit is essential for the US to modernise its nuclear energy infrastructure. Photo courtesy DOE. The US is planning to develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) to study the impact of building a reactor to test future fuels and materials that industry is designing for advanced civilian nuclear power reactors.

The Department of Energy said the new versatile test reactor is needed as part of an effort to revamp the nation’s nuclear power industry by developing safer fuel and power plants.

The DOE said it believes nuclear can provide large amounts of carbon-free, economical electricity for the nation’s power grid.

Date: Tuesday, 06 August 2019
Original article: nucnet.org/news/doe-announces-plans-for-environmental-impact-statement-8-2-2019