Westinghouse ADOPT fuel gets NRC approval

Westinghouse says the fuel boosts safety, reliability and improves fuel cycle economics (Image: Westinghouse) The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given approval to Westinghouse’s Advanced Doped Pellet Technology (ADOPT) fuel pellets for use in pressurised water reactors in the USA. Westinghouse’s president of nuclear fuel, Tarik Choho, called it an “important milestone” with the ADOPT …

UK urged to be world leader in nuclear-derived synthetic fuels

The RAF and Zero Petroleum set a Guinness World Record in 2021 for the world’s first successful flight using only synthetic fuel (Image: MoD/gov.uk) Large-scale production of nuclear-derived net-zero synthetic fuels could help hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation and shipping, according to a report by energy consultants Equilibrion and the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA). The …

France mulls nuclear revamp as Ukraine war prompts an energy mix rethink

French lawmakers start examining a new bill on Monday aimed at speeding up the construction of new nuclear reactors, which President Emmanuel Macron says are crucial to bolstering France’s energy independence. Critics of the bill, however, say it ignores pressing concerns over the safety of the country’s ageing reactors as well as the industry’s dependence on uranium imported from Russia. …

CNNC announces largest ever annual investment plan on nuclear power, new energy

China National Nuclear Power Co (CNNC) recently unveiled its 2023 investment blueprint, worth of 80.02 billion yuan ($11.58 billion), which is a near 60 percent of year-on-year increase, also marking the highest annual investment since it was listed on the stock market. According to the announcement, the annual investment plan was devised based on the …

Germany ‘not opposed’ to nuclear-made hydrogen, says will import from France

Germany will “acknowledge and not oppose” plans to recognise the contribution nuclear energy is making to the EU’s decarbonisation objective, a special advisor to the German Chancellor said on Thursday (9 March). Jörg Kukies, financial market and European policy advisor to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, told a Parisian crowd at a Jacques Delors Institute panel …

Senate & House Committee Leaders Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Ban Russian Uranium Imports

Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation to ban imports of Russian uranium. The bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 1042, which was introduced last month by U.S. Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), chair …

Future of nuclear power growth lies outside Europe and N. America

For the past half century a majority of the world’s nuclear power generation capacity has been based in Western Europe and North America, with France and the United States alone accounting for nearly half of the global capacity footprint. Going forward, 85% of prospective capacity additions lie outside those countries, with China, India, Russia and …

Vistra moves more deeply into nuclear power with planned $3.43B acquisition of Energy Harbor

The deal will accelerate the growth of Vistra’s zero-carbon operations, adding about 4,000 MW of nuclear capacity and about 1 million retail customers, Vistra said. Energy Harbor says it supplies about 33 terawatt-hours of nuclear power to customers in the PJM Interconnection market annually, enough to power more than 3.5 million homes and businesses. It owns and operates …