Reactors

China Wants 10 New Reactors—for $27B

China is outpacing the world in building nuclear reactors. That’s hard to dispute given that the country has more than 30 new reactors under construction and more nuclear capacity in pipeline than the rest of the world combined. And it’s not stopping there. This week, China’s State Council approved the construction of 10 new large-scale […]

Reactors

More DOE Funding for Bringing Back the Palisades Plant

The first commercial nuclear reactor restart in US history is well underway, and the DOE just released a tranche of funding to make it happen. This week, the DOE issued a $46.7M loan disbursement to Palisades plant owner Holtec International to support the company’s ongoing push to restart energy production at the site. The story […]

CommercialReactors

NANO To Build a Research Reactor At UIUC

NANO Nuclear Energy ($NNE) is making plans for its first reactor build. Last week, the publicly traded SMR company announced an agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to build a research reactor on campus. The reactor, a version of the company’s flagship Kronos micro modular reactor, uses tech acquired from the now-bankrupt Ultra Safe […]

FuelReactors

Kazakhstan Looks to Nuclear

Kazakhstan has long been one of the world’s top producers of uranium to fuel nuclear reactors around the globe. Now it’s gearing up to reap the benefits at home. This week at the National Kurultai, an assembly of the country’s leadership, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree establishing a national nuclear energy agency. The […]

Reactors

The US Nuclear Revival Gets Going

A US nuclear plant may soon come out of retirement, returning to the grid to feed the nation’s growing energy demand. NextEra filed a notice with the NRC last week to begin the process of restoring its operating license for Duane Arnold, Iowa’s only nuclear plant, with a potential restart as early as 2028. The […]

Reactors

China Celebrates an Opening—with More to Come

As the world welcomed 2025 with fireworks and ball drops, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) celebrated a milestone of its own: a new reactor. On Jan. 1, CNNC commenced operations at Unit 1 of the Zhangzhou Nuclear Power Project in southeastern China.  Unit 1, the first of six Hualong One reactors planned for the […]

CivilCommercialReactors

Your 2024 Fission Industry Wrapped

We started covering the fission industry with Ignition’s launch back in February. At that point, we had no idea (OK, maybe an inkling) that this year would hold so many pivotal moments in fission development for the US market.  Here’s our recap of the moments and trends that mattered most in the US fission sector. […]

CommercialReactors

Nvidia and Atomic Canyon Boost Diablo Canyon with AI

The relationship between AI and nuclear goes both ways. We’ve seen the deals signed to power the vast energy needs of AI with nuclear power—and now it’s time for AI to give a little something back. That’s the goal of a collaboration announced this week between Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Atomic Canyon, […]

Reactors

Deep Atomic Speaks on Its SMR for Data Centers

Six months after its founding, SMR startup Deep Atomic has revealed a reactor design concept that’s sized especially for data center customers. The company said last week that it would focus its energy (no pun intended) on potential data center customers by building tailor-made reactors. “The data center energy demand peak and the peak interest […]

Reactors

Talen Energy Buys Out a Nuclear-Powered Crypto Mine

Talen Energy is making deals to free up valuable capacity at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station as it plans for a dramatic shift toward powering big data. The latest update: Purchasing a crypto mining operation using 200 MW of the plant’s capacity. On Thursday, Talen announced that it had purchased the remaining 25% of a […]