ExL Petroleum retiree Doug Robison has devoted $3.2 million from his foundation to advanced nuclear research, working with Abilene Christian University in Texas to build a molten salt research reactor. The reactor has received a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with a final construction permit likely by May and the reactor operational by 2026.

Commonwealth Edison plans to power all offices and metered facilities with locally produced nuclear energy and has entered a landmark hourly carbon-free energy-matching agreement with Constellation. "Matching clean energy production to the time and place a customer uses it is the only way we will truly achieve zero carbon emissions across our economy," Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez says.

Energoatom has sent the first batch of uranium from the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Ukraine to Canada as part of an agreement with Cameco, which will convert it into uranium hexafluoride. Urenco will then enrich the uranium hexafluoride and Westinghouse Electric Co. will manufacture it into nuclear fuel.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy works toward reducing carbon emissions and offers transformative solutions for managing nuclear waste and spent fuel. Two programs, Onwards -- Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems -- and Curie -- Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy -- aim to address challenges posed by the special nature of waste and to produce a sustainable supply of nuclear fuel, supporting the deployment of advanced reactors.

Seven multiple-institution teams have received a $29 million grant from the Energy Department to study the use of AI and data resources in fusion and plasma sciences. One project involving Los Alamos National Laboratory, Penn State, the University of Florida and the University of Texas at Austin has researchers using machine learning to predict and prevent failures in nuclear fusion reactors.

Replacing retiring coal power plants in Australia with nuclear would cost almost $250 billion, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called nuclear the "most credible" way to decrease carbon emissions and has urged consideration of small modular reactors.

Hungarian Energy Minister Csaba Lantos and Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate more on nuclear energy, including fuel supply, research and development, and technology implementation. The French company "is strongly engaged in supporting Hungary's nuclear industry and energy policy, and this new agreement further bears witness to the trust our customers have placed in our robust and reliable expertise and integrated supply chain over the years," Fontana says.

The 2023 ANS Winter Conference and Expo (Nov. 12-15 in Washington, D.C.) gives you guaranteed live in-person access to diverse, hard-to-reach professionals from across the nuclear industry. Over a quarter of our audience has decision-making and buying power (CNO, COO, VP and Senior level staff). These powerful decision-makers control huge budgets and attend the conference with serious purchasing intent, looking for new technology solutions and practical innovations that best fit their operations' needs. Learn more.