Advanced reactors that have a capital cost of less than USD3000 per kilowatt will be attractive investments and create the most value for plant owners, a study by international consultancy LucidCatalyst has concluded. The report found flexible advanced reactors complement wind and solar in markets with high penetrations of renewables.

The UK government has announced an investment of GBP40 million (USD50 million) in the development of advanced modular reactors and small modular reactors. A government-commissioned report, meanwhile, has made recommendations for boosting the capability of the UK's nuclear R&D sector and domestic supply chain to support future AMR deployment.

New cost-competitive nuclear power must make a significant contribution to meeting increased demand for low-carbon electricity, the Nuclear Innovation Research and Advisory Board says in a new report for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It would be prudent to plan for nuclear energy to provide at least half of the firm low-carbon electricity not provided by renewables, it says.

A ceremony was held today to mark the official opening of a state-of-the-art laboratory building, named after former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano, at the agency's Seibersdorf site outside Vienna, Austria. The new facility will increase the IAEA's capacity to assist countries in fighting and preventing transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, and to tackle challenges related to climate change and food safety.

X-energy's TRISO-X fuel is to be irradiated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Reactor Laboratory's research reactor, the company has announced. Data from the irradiation testing will be used to support licensing of X-energy's Xe-100 and other TRISO-based reactors.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods to confirm the consistency and reliability of its printed components.

Alloy 617 - a combination of nickel, chromium, cobalt and molybdenum - has been approved by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for inclusion in its Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. This means the alloy, which was tested by Idaho National Laboratory, can be used in proposed molten salt, high-temperature, gas-cooled or sodium reactors. It is the first new material to be added to the Code in 30 years.

France's Framatome and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany have started commercial development of nuclear research reactor fuels based on uranium-molybdenum fuel alloys. The fuel can be used instead of highly enriched uranium, which is seen as a potential nuclear proliferation risk.

Support for the development of next-generation technologies and advanced fuels outlined in the report of the US Nuclear Fuel Working Group, published last week, will enable the country to remain competitive in this area, the Nuclear Energy Institute has said. Meanwhile, fuel cycle company Centrus said immediate action to restore the viability of the front-end of the US nuclear fuel cycle supports work to demonstrate the production of high-assay low-enriched uranium nuclear fuels and to establish an assured US supply base.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has entered into a collaboration agreement with UK-based Moltex Energy. Funded through CNL's Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative, the agreement includes work to support aspects of Moltex Energy’s nuclear fuel development programme for its Stable Salt Reactor, a 300 MWe small modular reactor design.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is launching a three-year Coordinated Research Project focused on the economics of small modular reactors (SMRs). The project will provide Member States with an economic appraisal framework for the development and deployment of such reactors.

Five US National Laboratories will play a key role in a consortium tasked with harnessing the power of supercomputers to combat COVID-19, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a video address yesterday. The supercomputing facilities at the Department of Energy's national laboratories are used, amongst other things, to carry out research supporting the development of next-stage nuclear reactors and advanced nuclear fuel. President Donald Trump announced the launch of the consortium, which includes the Argonne, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Sandia labs, on 23 March.