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 took 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 reigns 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.

ORNL algorithm shows promise for faster inspection of nuclear materials

November 5, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News
An enhanced CT scan process developed at ORNL can cut the time required to examine 3D-printed parts by one sixth. (Image: DOE)

A software algorithm developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has reduced the time needed to inspect 3D-printed parts for nuclear applications by 85 percent, the Department of Energy announced on November 1, and that algorithm is now being trained to analyze irradiated materials and nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory.

Uranium prices continue downward trend

November 5, 2024, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Uranium prices have fallen to their lowest level in more than a month, to just under $79 per pound, on Friday, November 1, according to analyst website Trading Economics. The lower prices, according to the site, are related to recent evidence of increased supply. This contrasts with the longer-term expectations of bullish demand and higher prices.

Nuclear science event hosted at Illinois Tech

November 5, 2024, 7:19AMANS Nuclear CafeJoseph Koblich
ANS members Eric Jebsen (from left), Jeff Terry, and Amanda Bachmann by the ANS Chicago Section display during setup for Nuclear Science Week at Illinois Tech. (Photo: Jeff Terry)

American Nuclear Society member Jeff Terry hosted this year’s Nuclear Science Week meeting at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) on October 26. In his opening remarks, Terry, a physics professor at Illinois Tech, described the institute’s 12-year history of Nuclear Science Week events, going back to the 2012 meeting that included the Nuclear Clean Energy Indy car on display.

FERC rejects interconnection deal for Talen-Amazon data centers

November 4, 2024, 3:00PMNuclear News
The Susquehanna nuclear power plant. (Photo: Talen)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has denied plans for Talen Energy to supply additional on-site power to an Amazon Web Services’ data center campus from the neighboring Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

National awards to be presented at ANS Winter Conference

November 4, 2024, 12:00PMANS News

One of the few constants at American Nuclear Society national meetings is the recognition of exceptional individuals in the nuclear community. ANS President Lisa Marshall has named this season’s award recipients, who will receive recognition at the upcoming Winter Conference and Expo in Orlando, Fla.

ANS also announces the winners of awards presented by the Society’s professional divisions. These awards will be mailed to the recipients, and the divisions will recognize honorees at various division functions and meetings this fall. The 19 professional divisions of ANS are constituent units and represent a vast array of nuclear science and technology disciplines.

New meeting, better story

November 4, 2024, 9:31AMNuclear NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

As you may have heard, the American Nuclear Society recently entered into a 50/50 joint venture with the Nuclear Energy Institute to host an annual industrywide meeting in late summer, which will replace ANS’s Utility Working Conference and NEI’s Nuclear Energy Assembly. Simply put, we are taking the best of both events to create the ultimate nuclear power meeting of the year. If you are a longtime UWC attendee, you will feel right at home in the aisles of the exhibit hall, or in the working sessions designed to tackle the shared practical challenges operators face. NEI will bring the nuclear C-suite presence along with the freshest insights on industrywide issues.

The U.S. nuclear industry is growing, and we need to get even bigger if we are going to make good on the promise of a resurgence. The auto industry has SEMA, the tech industry has CES. It’s time the U.S. nuclear industry had its top event of the year.

Webinar series focuses on global progress in HLW and SNF management

November 4, 2024, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions

A new webinar series launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Department of Nuclear Energy, the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, and the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) will discuss global progress toward a permanent solution for high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel, with presentations by senior representatives of national HLW and SNF management programs around the world.

Register for the first webinar here.

Fighting fatigue and maintaining 10 CFR Part 26 compliance

November 1, 2024, 3:02PMNuclear NewsClaire Pieper and Dan Scholz
A fatigue management program is used at Xcel’s Monticello nuclear plant. (Photo: Indeavor)

Fatigue has been identified as a major risk factor in industrial accidents. According to the National Safety Council, 13 percent of workplace injuries can be attributed to fatigue.1 Other research indicates that working 12 hours per day is associated with a staggering 37 percent increase in risk of injury.2 Considering fatigue was a contributing factor to major nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, it makes sense that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission imposes hefty fines to ensure strict adherence to its fatigue management regulations—particularly, Code of Federal Regulations Title 10, Part 26, “Fitness for Duty Programs.”

Live long and prosper

November 1, 2024, 12:03PMNuclear NewsLisa Marshall

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

October 11, 2024, marked the 70th anniversary of the American Nuclear Society. Taking a long view, we have not looked back and instead have tackled challenges and moved forward with lessons learned. Whether we pull examples from energy or nonenergy aspects of our nuclear enterprise, our planet has benefited from nuclear science and technology, and ANS has been there every step of the way.

As the Society reflects on its own history, let us remember:

  • The first commercial nuclear power stations started operation in the 1950s.
  • Nuclear energy now provides about 9 percent of the world’s electricity from about 440 power reactors.
  • Nuclear provides about 25 percent of the world’s low-carbon electricity.
  • Nuclear is the world’s second-largest source of low-carbon power.
  • More than 50 countries utilize nuclear energy in about 220 research reactors. In addition to research, these reactors are used for training and for the production of medical and industrial isotopes.

DOE awards $3 billion West Valley D&D contract to BWXT JV

November 1, 2024, 9:30AMRadwaste Solutions
The West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York. (Photo: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced it has awarded a 10-year, $3 billion contract to West Valley Cleanup Alliance (WVCA) for decommissioning and demolition work at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York. WVCA is a newly formed limited liability company made up of BWXT Technical Services Group, Jacobs Technology, and Geosyntec Consultant. Teaming subcontractors include Perma-Fix Environmental Services and North Wind Portage.

Hanford treats 2,000 gallons of tank waste as part of TBI project

November 1, 2024, 7:01AMRadwaste Solutions
Using cameras placed inside a temporary shelter, nuclear chemical operator Joe McCoy monitors the pretreatment activities of the Hanford Site’s TBI demonstration. (Photo: DOE-EM)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said that contractors have completed the treatment of 2,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste as part of the Hanford Site’s Test Bed Initiative project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of alternative options for retrieving and treating low-activity tank waste at the site in Washington state.