NorthStar, MARS to vie for USS Enterprise dismantlement contract

November 13, 2024, 12:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The decommissioned USS Enterprise alongside her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford, at Newport News, July 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kiana A. Raines)

NorthStar Group Services announced it will work with Modern American Recycling Services (MARS) to pursue work dismantling and disposing of decommissioned U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carriers at the Port of Mobile, Ala. The work is to be performed by NorthStar subsidiary NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services and MARS subsidiary Modern American Recycling and Radiological Services.

U.S. unveils road map to triple nuclear capacity by 2050

November 13, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

As the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit kicked off this week, President Biden’s administration laid out plans to add 200 GW of nuclear power in the next 25 years through a combination of new reactor deployment, plant restarts, and upgrades at existing sites.

The added nuclear would triple the nation’s current capacity, which stands at around 100 GW.

The new U.S. road mapSafely and Responsibly Expanding U.S. Nuclear Energy: Deployment Targets and a Framework for Action—calls the deployment goals “ambitious but achievable,” including a short-term plan to jumpstart the domestic industry, adding 35 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.

My Spaceship Earth: A structural engineer’s path to nuclear

November 13, 2024, 7:00AMNuclear NewsChristine Roy

Christine Roy

While flipping through the course catalog at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, I read that civil engineers can design amusement park rides. I was instantly inspired and chose my major because I wanted to design something for Walt Disney World. After college, I started my dream job at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, which is famous for designing Spaceship Earth at Epcot Center, a celebration of human innovation, communication, and the progress of civilization. This was a win.

My introduction to nuclear

During my first two years at SGH, I experienced all aspects of working in the Engineering Mechanics & Infrastructure group, from analyzing structural failures to studying pipelines and modeling antennas. In 2006, I worked on my first nuclear facility. It consisted of structural analysis and design of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho National Laboratory.

Diablo Canyon completes dry storage campaign, seeks ISFSI license renewal

November 12, 2024, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions
The Diablo Canyon ISFSI cask loading team from Holtec, PG&E, and Diablo Canyon. (Photo: Holtec)

Holtec International announced that it has completed the campaign to transfer Diablo Canyon’s spent nuclear to dry storage ahead of its planned schedule, paving the way for the continued operation of the central California nuclear power plant.

Supplier Showcase focus: Radiation protection

November 12, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News

The American Nuclear Society is hosting a Supplier Showcase webinar, “Dose-Free, Radiation Visualization, and Mitigation,” tomorrow, November 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EST) on the capabilities of radiation visualization using the RadVision3D product.

The webinar, sponsored by Transco Products Inc., is free for all viewers. Registration is required.

LEGO model of Swiss research reactor needs supporters!

November 12, 2024, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe

A fascinating interactive LEGO model of CROCUS, a zero-power, uranium-fueled, water-moderated fission reactor used for teaching and research purposes at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), has been created by Vincent Lamirand, a scientist at EPFL’s Laboratory of Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour. Lamirand, who teaches courses on reactor experiments and radiation detection and leads the experimental research with CROCUS, is using the model to teach his students about the reactor. He is hoping that the LEGO company will eventually produce his model for the public to purchase.

History in the making: D&D begins on Three Mile Island-2

November 8, 2024, 3:12PMNuclear News
A 3D, semitransparent model of the TMI-2 reactor building is helping planners and workers visualize the work to be done in the radiologically controlled building. (All photos: Tim Gregoire)

Constellation Energy has announced that it will seek to restart Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania as part of an agreement with Microsoft to power that company’s data centers. Given the growing interest by tech companies in using clean, reliable nuclear power to meet their growing energy demands, the September 20 announcement to reopen TMI-1, which was shut down and defueled in 2019, was not a huge surprise.

UMich leads Space Force institute on hybrid nuclear power and propulsion concept

November 8, 2024, 12:01PMNuclear News
The H9 Hall thruster, developed at UMich’s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory. (Image: William Hurley/University of Michigan)

Seeking spacecraft that can “maneuver without regret,” the U.S. Space Force is investing $35 million in a national research team led by the University of Michigan to develop a spacecraft with an onboard microreactor to produce electricity, with some of that electricity used for propulsion. But this spacecraft would not be solely dependent on nuclear electric propulsion—it would also feature a conventional chemical rocket to increase thrust when needed.

New work for old FLiBe? DOE considers reuse of molten salt reactor coolant

November 7, 2024, 3:00PMNuclear News
A technician prepares salts for use in MSRE in 1964. (Photo: ORNL)

FLiBe—a mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride—is not an off-the-shelf commodity. The Department of Energy suspects that researchers and reactor developers may have a use for the 2,000 kilograms of fluoride-based salt that once ran through the secondary coolant loop of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Oak Ridge community roundtable explores workforce challenges

November 7, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News
OREM manager Jay Mullis (center) discusses the demographics of the current Oak Ridge workforce and the skills needed in the years ahead to advance cleanup at ORNL and the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo: DOE)

Federal and contractor officials, community leaders, and educators gathered in Knoxville, Tenn., on October 29 for a roundtable event focused on ensuring the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its partners have the resources and infrastructure needed to support a robust, talented workforce in the years ahead.

Industry experts discuss nuclear’s role in powering data centers, meeting climate goals

November 7, 2024, 9:30AMANS News

As a primer to the American Nuclear Society Winter Conference and Expo, ANS Executive Director/Chief Executive Craig Piercy hosted a panel discussion titled “The State of Nuclear,” sponsored by the ANS Trustees of Nuclear. The October 29 discussion, the first in a two-part series, featured five thought leaders from the nuclear community as they reviewed the current state of nuclear power. The second panel will take place during the ANS Winter Conference in Orlando, Fla., on November 18.

U.S., South Korea explore MOU on nuclear cooperation

November 7, 2024, 7:01AMNuclear News
President Yuk-Seol Yoon (center) attends a ground-breaking ceremony for Shin-Hanul Units 3 and 4. (Photo: South Korea presidential office)

The U.S. and South Korea have reached a provisional agreement and are working on a memorandum of understanding to advance the countries’ partnership on civil nuclear energy.

Candidates announced for 2025 ANS leadership positions

November 6, 2024, 3:54PMANS News

As the U.S. election season finally comes to an end, the annual American Nuclear Society election season is right around the corner. Seventeen candidates have been nominated for the positions of ANS vice president/president-elect, treasurer, and six positions on the board of directors (four U.S. directors, one non-U.S. director, and one student director). Ballots will be sent via email on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, and must be submitted by 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

Bees block Meta’s nuclear-powered data center

November 6, 2024, 12:05PMANS Nuclear Cafe
Photo: Sharp Photograph

The discovery of a rare species of bee by environmental regulators has blocked the plans of tech conglomerate Meta to build an artificial intelligence data center powered by nuclear energy—at least temporarily. Numerous media outlets, including Popular Science, have reported that the unnamed species of bee was detected by regulators who were surveying the land designated for the new data center—land that is located next to an unnamed nuclear power plant from which Meta had planned to obtain electricity.

NNSA workforce initiative reaches out to universities

November 6, 2024, 9:31AMNuclear News
SRNS’s Erika Baeza-Wisdom gives an overview of SRNS pit production to UTEP students. (Photo: SRNS)

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the managing and operating contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are partnering with multiple universities to develop next-generation technology and personnel pipelines to advance the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration’s two-site pit production mission.

UKIFS takes reins of the U.K.’s STEP fusion program

November 6, 2024, 7:01AMNuclear News
Chapman (left) and Methven at the West Burton power station. (Photo: UKIFS)

Leadership of the United Kingdom’s STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) fusion program has transitioned to U.K. Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd. (UKIFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). UKIFS was established in February 2023 to lead a public-private partnership that will design, build, and operate the STEP prototype fusion energy plant in Nottinghamshire in England’s East Midlands region.