Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. For those of us still mourning the U.S.’s exit from the World Cup, we can pin our hopes to Morocco, which plays Portugal for a shot at the quarterfinals on Saturday. Before we head off into the weekend, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking from across the civilian nuclear power space this week.
The Department of Energy this week announced around $800,000 in grants aimed at encouraging community dialogue about nuclear power, the agency said in a press release.
DOE’s award, announced Tuesday, will be split between two energy-focused groups which the agency said would “connect with communities across the United States and establish education and outreach opportunities in nuclear energy.” Under the grant, energy non-profit the Energy Communities Alliance will receive around $600,000 and pro-nuclear group the American Nuclear Society will get the remaining $200,000.
The award is spread across a two-year performance period, DOE said. DOE is funding roughly half of the grant using cash from the 2022 fiscal year, the agency said. The remaining $400,000 or so in funding will be “contingent upon Congressional appropriations and the availability of future-year budget authority.”
Nuclear services company Framatome announced this week that it had won a contract to design fuel handling equipment for NuScale Power’s proposed advanced nuclear power plants, according to a press release.
Under the contract, announced Monday, Framatome is partnering with American Crane to design remote fuel handling equipment to transport fuel assemblies within NuScale’s VOYGRTM small modular reactor (SMR). The company is also working alongside Orano to develop storage racks for the plant’s spent fuel to “address the unique requirements” of the SMR, Framatome said.
The Nuclear Energy Institute this week lauded U2 frontman Bono for pointing to nuclear power as an important avenue to achieving global climate goals, according to social media.
In a Tweet Monday, the prominent nuclear trade group pointed to a passage in Bono’s new book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, in which the Irish singer said nuclear energy was an “essential stepping stone” to achieving net zero carbon emissions.
In his new book, @U2 lead singer, Bono, calls #nuclear power an “essential stepping stone” to achieving #netzero. pic.twitter.com/62SzBPlAmI
— Nuclear Energy Inst. (@NEI) December 5, 2022
Bono, who has become well-known for his philanthropy and humanitarian activism, was not always a cheerleader for nuclear energy. Alongside wife Ali Hewson, Bono and U2 in the early 2000s led a campaign to pressure the United Kingdom into shuttering the country’s Sellafield nuclear power plant, citing concerns about the effects a possible nuclear accident could have on the Irish coastline.
