South Korea’s Nuclear Utility Commits $40M to TerraPower
South Korea is taking its support for foreign SMR development to the next level.
Civil
Ghana Taps NuScale for Nuclear Deployment
Ghana took the next step toward its nuclear energy goals Thursday, striking an agreement with a US nuclear tech project developer to build the country’s first nuclear power plant—and an SMR at that. The details: Regnum Technology Group and Nuclear Power Ghana signed an agreement during the US-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit to deploy one NuScale […]
A Seismic Shift for Japan’s Nuclear Sector
A recent shake-up in Japan’s nuclear sector spurred a watchdog agency to decide against restarting a reactor, citing concerns over seismic risks. A Nuclear Regulation Authority panel said determining the safety of a reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant is difficult because it’s located over a fault. It’s the first rejection of a reactor […]
South Korea Allocates $866M to Harness the Power of the Sun
Korea’s fusion development is about to get a major government windfall as the nation races toward commercial opportunities. Last week, South Korea’s National Fusion Energy Committee, an office within the Science Ministry, announced that it would start a 1.2T won ($866M) program to bolster domestic commercial fusion development. The funding, separate from the vast amounts […]
Kairos V2 Passes with Flying Colors
Kairos Power has a second safety-approved reactor design on the books. The company announced this week that its Hermes 2 reactor—the follow-on to the Hermes demo reactor—has passed a key safety review by the NRC, notching a key milestone on the path to a construction permit. Build, baby, build: It’s been about a year since […]
Rolls-Royce and the UK Take Nuclear Power Spacebound
Rolls-Royce has its tech on land, at sea, and in the air, so there’s only one place left to go—space. The company announced this morning that it won a £4.8M ($6.2M) award from the UK Space Agency under the country’s National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP). The award will help Rolls-Royce push forward on developing its […]
ITER Adds a Decade to its Deployment Deadline
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an international collaboration on a fusion test reactor, has delayed its first operations to 2034…nearly half a century after the project was first envisioned in 1986 and nine years after the most recent target start date.
The DOE Backs Advanced Light Water Reactors
The first companies to deploy a new technology—like an advanced reactor, for example—take on a lot of risk in the process. This week at the ANS summer meeting, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced a new DOE funding initiative to ease that first-mover burden.
Three New Pillars for the DOE
The Department of Energy released its 2024 Fusion Energy Strategy, which outlines its three pillars for advancing domestic commercial fusion energy alongside the private sector.
Let’s Get the Fusion Party Started, Says DOE
Fusion is the word on the DOE’s lips this week. The agency is taking concrete steps toward its commitment to the commercial fusion sector, finally awarding a set of previously announced grants and announcing a brand-new program to support tech development in the sector.