The U.S. and the Philippines entered into a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, or 123 agreement, on July 2, the State Department said in a press release.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced in 2022 that the two countries had entered into negotiations, of which Philippine Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin said were in the “home stretch” in September 2023.
A 123 agreement is a legal framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and another country, requiring a commitment to nuclear nonproliferation between both parties in order for the United States to export nuclear material, according to the State Department.
The National Nuclear Security Administration earlier this year hosted a workshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with aims to promote gender equality in the global nuclear industry, the agency said this week.
The Office of International Nuclear Security (INS) Nuclear Security Women held the workshop “Powering Up: Women in Nuclear Advancing Gender Equality” at the end of April.
At Powering Up, 30 participants, mainly women, from 17 countries showcased technical work and had roundtable discussions, according to the press release. Participants had a forum meant for them to network and share their leadership experiences.
Iran’s accelerated nuclear activities and threats have created “significant new challenges for addressing proliferation risks” for the U.S., and preventing Iran from becoming nuclear-armed remains a top security objective for the U.S., an article written by the Arms Control Association argues.
President Donald (R) Trump withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal with Iran, in 2018. Since then, not only has Iran begun enriching uranium at 60%, 27 times beyond the JCPOA restrictions and closer to the 90% required for a nuclear weapon, but the Islamic Republic has decreased access for the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring these sites.
“Iran’s technical expertise cannot be reversed, and its nuclear infrastructure is less vulnerable to attack,” Kelsey Davenport, director of nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, said in her article, “Constraining Iran’s Nuclear Potential in the Absence of the JCPOA.” She also argued that not only would military intervention, as the Joe Biden administration threatened, only temporarily set Iran back, but could drive Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.
Jennifer Macy took over as the leader of energy, nuclear security, and technology consulting firm Merrick and Co.’s nuclear services & technology division on April 1, the company announced this week.
Macy has 30 years of experience at various Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration sites, Merrick said in a press release. She replaced Scott Gustafson, who had led the unit since 2018.
Macy previously worked with Merrick as its Los Alamos regional program manager and deputy business leader. She also supported projects at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Savannah River Site.
AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear is promoting its chief operating officer Joe McBrearty to acting president, succeeding Jim Rugg, who will become a senior vice president concentrating on new builds, the company announced Thursday.
McBrearty has been chief operations officer since joining the U.S. branch of AtkinsRéalis in May. He will continue to lead AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear’s organization’s market growth and support clients in various facets of nuclear engineering and waste management operations and technologies, according to the release.
McBrearty, a 40-year industry veteran, returned to the United States recently after four years as president and chief executive officer of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the company said. AtkinsRéalis leads the Canadian National Energy Alliance consortium that runs the lab for the Canadian government.
The Department of Energy has chosen Ameresco for a potential second solar power project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina as part of the agency’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Initiative.
In a Thursday press release, DOE said it has picked Ameresco to enter into lease negotiations on Savannah River Site buffer land for a potential 75-megawatt solar power project. The 500-acre tract also has the potential for a battery-energy storage system, DOE said in the release.
Ameresco, a cleantech and renewable energy developer, already runs a 20-megawatt biomass-fueled power plant at the Savannah River Site. Last month DOE’s Office of Environmental Management selected Stellar Renewable Power to negotiate a realty agreement for a 75-megawatt commercial solar project at Savannah River.