Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems now expects to build six 77 MWe NuScale Power Modules on a site at Idaho National Laboratory, rather than 12 units as previously planned. A 2030 start-up date for the plant - known as the Carbon Free Power Project - is still envisaged.
 

Samsung C&T Corporation has committed to making an equity investment in NuScale to support deployment of its small modular reactor and is developing a business collaboration agreement with NuScale's engineering, construction and procurement partner Fluor Corporation. The announcement comes days after Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction increased its investment to support deployment of NuScale's SMR.

The deployment of microreactors in the short-to-medium term could support energy markets not available to large nuclear plants, but some significant challenges must be overcome for them to capture new market shares. In the longer term, they will be able to contribute to decarbonisation efforts. These are amongst the findings of a recently published technical report from the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a topical report to apply Framatome's suite of Advanced Codes and Methods to operating conditions with uranium-235 enrichments above the industry standard of 5 weight percent. The report is a critical step towards implementing nuclear fuel at higher enrichments and burnups, the company said.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the USA's 100 largest power producers fell 10% between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest in a series of benchmarking studies dating back to 1997. Nuclear accounted for over half of the zero-carbon resources which together generated about 38% of US electricity in 2020.

South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has agreed to make an additional USD60 million investment in NuScale Power to continue to support deployment of its small modular reactor. Including the latest investment, DHIC and its financial investors have invested more than USD100 million in NuScale. DHIC and NuScale have also agreed to expand cooperation to the field of hydrogen production and desalination using SMRs.

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance has welcomed the reintroduction of the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act last week by five US senators, three Republicans and two Democrats. This represents continued bipartisan support for advanced reactors, the non-profit "think and do" tank said.

Vancouver-based International Consolidated Uranium has agreed to buy the Tony M, Daneros and Rim conventional uranium mines in Utah, as well as the Sage Plain property and eight Department of Energy leases in Colorado from Energy Fuels Inc. In addition, the companies have agreed to enter into toll-milling and operating agreements with respect to the projects. The transaction positions International Consolidated Uranium as a potential near-term US uranium producer.

Kairos Power is to establish a low-power demonstration reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, investing USD100 million in a project to demonstrate its capability to deliver low-cost nuclear heat. The Hermes reactor is a scaled version of Kairos Power’s Fluoride Salt-Cooled High Temperature Reactor, an advanced reactor technology that aims to be cost competitive with natural gas in the US electricity market. The Hermes reactor is scheduled to be operational in 2026.

Oklo Inc has announced a 20-year commercial partnership with Compass Mining, the world's first online marketplace for bitcoin mining hardware and hosting. Oklo’s "advanced fission powerhouses" will provide clean, reliable and affordable baseload power for Compass’ bitcoin mining machines, starting in the early 2020s.

Three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system for deep space missions have been selected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy. The reactor will be a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilise high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.

Holtec is preparing to increase production of its HI-STAR casks, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and new orders in Europe. The first HI-STAR 150 was loaded at the Cofrentes nuclear power plant in Spain and placed into the storage facility on 23 June. This is Holtec's first dual-purpose metal cask loaded in Europe.