Happy Friday, nuke-watchers, happy nuclear science week, and happy Formula One U.S. Grand Prix weekend, for those who celebrate. Before we head off into the weekend, here are some other stories that RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week from across the civilian nuclear power space.
Industry and government figures this week celebrated Nuclear Science Week by highlighting current and future nuclear power projects.
The annual Nuclear Science Week event, held this year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., featured prominent figures from the nuclear weapons complex including the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff and Under Secretary of Nuclear Security Jill Hruby.
Starting at noon today!#NuclearSciWeek Virtual Lunch with @katyhuff
Learn how #NuclearIsMagic! Dr. Kathryn Huff leads the Office of Nuclear @ENERGY (@GovNuclear) as Asst. Sec. She was also an Asst. Prof. at @illinoisNPRE + is a @UCBerkeley alum.
Watch: https://t.co/8CyHFqRYBA pic.twitter.com/fliZZ64nMz
— U-M Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences (@umichNERS) October 19, 2022
Nuclear power utility Entergy Corp., recognized Nuclear Science Week in a press release Monday, saying that the company is “committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” and that its “clean, carbon-free nuclear fleet is playing a critical role in meeting our climate commitment.”
Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who recently proposed expanding advanced nuclear power research and development in the state, issued a proclamation Wednesday formally recognizing Nuclear Science Week.
The Department of Energy this week announced $38 million in awards for research projects aimed at “reduc[ing] the impacts” of used nuclear fuel (UNF) disposal from light-water nuclear reactors, according to a Friday press release.
The award is spread out across 12 research projects run by private companies, universities and national laboratories that are developing “technologies to advance UNF recycling, reduce the volume of high-level waste requiring permanent disposal, and provide safe domestic advanced reactor fuel stocks,” DOE said. Argonne National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute and nuclear fuel recycling company Curio are among the recipients.
A Georgia utility company late last week started fueling the first new nuclear reactor to be built in the U.S. in decades, bringing it one step closer to going online.
Georgia Power, which operates the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Generating Station, started loading fuel into the Waynesboro, Ga., plant’s new Unit 3 reactor Oct. 14, the company said in a press release. Fuel technicians from Westinghouse and Southern Nuclear, Georgia Power’s parent company, are in the process of transferring 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor from Vogtle’s spent fuel pool.
Nuclear services company Holtec International renewed its cooperation with Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. to accelerate production of its advanced nuclear reactor designs, the company announced this week.
The renewed agreement between Camden, N.J.-based Holtec and Hyundai, announced in a press release Wednesday, is aimed at reaffirming the existing partnership between the two companies, first inked in October 2021.
