The company has awarded nearly $6 million for STEM education and research programs since the program launched in 2010
Constellation is taking applications for its 2024 E2 Energy to Educate grant program, which provides funding for student projects focusing on energy innovation.
Educators and students in grades 6–12 can apply for program grants of up to $25,000, and those in two- and four-year colleges can apply for grants of up to $50,000.
The Atlas railcar carries a simulated shipment of spent nuclear fuel during testing in September 2023. (Photo: DOE)
The Department of Energy has issued a request for information to gather input on its proposed package performance demonstration, which is intended to demonstrate the robustness of spent nuclear fuel transportation casks in hypothetical accident conditions. By simulating severe accident scenarios, the DOE said it intends to show to the public and stakeholders the safety and reliability of transporting SNF by rail, heavy-haul truck, and barge.
Company celebrates Browns Ferry’s 50 years in service
Bellefonte nuclear power plant. (Photo: TVA)
The Tennessee Valley Authority this week discussed the potential for new nuclear technology at its sites during its second-quarter earnings call.
TVA and GE Hitachi signed an agreement in 2022 to develop and deploy a BWRX-300 small modular reactor at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Urenco’s Capenhurst enrichment site in the U.K. (Photo: Urenco)
A plan to build up a high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel cycle in the United Kingdom to support the deployment of advanced reactors is still in place after the Labour party was voted to power on July 4, bringing 14 years of conservative government to an end. A competitive solicitation for grant funding to build a commercial-scale HALEU deconversion facility opened days before the election, and the support of the new government was confirmed by a set of updates on July 19. But what does the U.K. HALEU program entail, and how does it differ from the U.S. HALEU Availability Program?
The original 1950s-era condenser is lifted out of the GPE system by a 100-ton crane at SRS's H Canyon chemical separations facility. (Photo: DOE)
Workers at the Savannah River Site have recently completed the replacement of a piece of equipment that the Department of Energy said in a July 31 press release is “essential for operations in the site’s H Canyon chemical separations capable facility.”
Rendition of a Rolls-Royce SMR site.(Image: Rolls-Royce)
The small modular reactor design from Rolls-Royce has cleared step two of the United Kingdom’s generic design assessment (GDA) and is moving to the third and final step.
The company announced its progress and lauded “Rolls-Royce SMR’s position ahead of any other SMR in Europe” in a July 30 press release. Rolls-Royce SMR touts its ability to deliver new nuclear power based on proven technology, providing a “factory-built” power station to provide enough energy for a million homes for a 60-year stretch.
Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. (Photo: Meranda Cohn/Vistra)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses of Comanche Peak Units 1 and 2 for an additional 20 years.
Unit 1’s operating license now expires on February 8, 2050, and Unit 2’s on February 2, 2053.
Workers begin construction at the Hermes site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Photo: Kairos Power)
Earlier today, on a site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., that was formerly home to the K-33 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kairos Power marked the start of construction on its low-power demonstration reactor. Named Hermes, the 35-MWt test reactor claims status as the first Gen IV reactor to be approved for construction by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the first non–light water reactor to be permitted in the United States in more than 50 years.
A June 2024 photo shows solid waste inside the single-shell Tank A-101 at the Hanford Site’s A Tank Farm. (Photo: DOE)
Work crews have started retrieval of radioactive and chemical waste from a third set of underground storage tanks at the Hanford Site, according to the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management. Contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is retrieving and transferring more than 325,000 gallons of waste from the single-shell Tank A-101 at the site's A Tank Farm. The waste is being sent to a newer double-shell tank for continued safe storage.
Retrieval activities began one month after workers emptied the site’s 21st single-shell tank. Waste removed from the 21 tanks totals about 3 million gallons.
A screengrab from a video released by the STEP program on July 23 illustrating the future home of the prototype fusion power plant. (Image: UKAEA/STEP)
Japan’s recent moves to boost fusion power in the nation’s energy plan and accelerate the timeline for a prototype fusion power plant come in response to increased global attention on fusion energy. Even as ITER faces delays, more than 40 private fusion developers are pursuing different technologies and competing for attention. And so are other countries, including the United Kingdom, which announced its plans for a fusion pilot plant back in 2019. Fusion companies and nations alike are responding to a growing sense that there is a race—or at least collective momentum—to commercialize fusion energy.
Locations of DOE-EM cleanup sites. (Map: GAO)
Despite efforts to increase hiring, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management continues to be understaffed, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. The GAO found that, at the end of fiscal year 2023, DOE-EM had 263 vacant positions across its headquarters, cleanup sites, and EM Consolidated Business Center—a vacancy rate of 17 percent. The office is responsible for the cleanup of the environmental legacy waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.
Aecon-Wachs workers performed the D&R of equipment and commodities from the plutonium processing facility at SRS. ( Photo: SRS)
A major milestone has been reached in the construction of a plutonium pit production facility at the Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, S.C.
After 18 months of work involving local trade unions, the dismantlement and removal (D&R) of commodities and equipment throughout the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF), previously installed by the Mixed Oxide (MOX) project, was completed in June 2024, the Department of Energy reported on July 24.