- Lightbridge and Oklo Partner on Fuel Fabrication
- Poland’s PGE in Joint Venture with ZE PAK for KHNP APR1400 Reactor
- CORE POWER Plans to Bring Floating Nuclear Plants to US Ports
- Expansion Of Test Program for MOX Fuel For VVER Reactors
- Helion Fusion Scores $450M with New Investors
- China Sets Nuclear Fusion Record With Plasma for 1,000 Seconds
- US NRC adds ‘Enabling’ Focus to Mission Statement
Lightbridge and Oklo Partner on Fuel Fabrication
- Lightbridge and Oklo Signed an MOU to Explore Co-Location of Commercial Fuel Fabrication Facilities and Collaboration on Advanced Fuel Recycling
Lightbridge Corporation (Nasdaq: LTBR), announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) to conduct a feasibility study for co-locating a Lightbridge Commercial-scale Fuel Fabrication Facility at Oklo’s proposed commercial fuel fabrication facility and to explore opportunities for collaboration in recycling nuclear waste. Oklo plans to license, build, and operate the facility on a site at at the Idaho National Laboratory, located on the Arco desert 25 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID.
In October 2024, the US Department of Energy (DOE) approved the conceptual safety design report for Oklo’s proposed Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility. The site will also host an Aurora powerhouse reactor, which Oklo says is is expected to be operational by 2027. Meeting this milestone will depend on the firm’s success in licensing the reactor design by the NRC
Oklo’s Aurora nuclear power plant consists of a small fast neutron fission reactor with integrated solar panels. The Aurora design starts at 15 MW and, according to Oklo, can scale to 50MW. It is expected to be able to operate for 10 years or longer before refueling. It can also generate heat for industrial applications.
Massachusetts-based Lightbridge is developing a proprietary next-generation nuclear fuel technology for existing light-water reactors and pressurized heavy water reactors. It is also developing fuel for next-generation small modular reactors.
Seth Grae, President and CEO of Lightbridge, commented: “This collaboration with Oklo represents an important strategic step in shaping the future of clean energy. The potential co-location of our commercial fuel fabrication facilities could offer significant synergies in terms of upfront capital expenditures and ongoing operating costs. Furthermore, exploring advanced fuel recycling opportunities with Oklo aligns perfectly with our commitment to sustainable nuclear energy solutions.”
Jacob DeWitte, Co-founder and CEO of Oklo added, “Collaborating with Lightbridge represents a unique opportunity to accelerate innovation across the nuclear supply chain. The potential to co-locate facilities and collaborate on cutting-edge technologies is aligned with our commitment to delivering cost-effective, carbon-free energy solutions. Together, we are exploring new frontiers in nuclear fuel development and recycling to ensure a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.”
The fuel will be fabricated using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) recovered from the DOE’s Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which operated at Argonne West, at what is now the Idaho National Laboratory, from 1964 to 1994.
The fuel recycling company has access to five tonnes of HALEU through a cooperative agreement with the laboratory, awarded in 2019. The DOE will retain ownership of the HALEU during and after its use.
Neither Oklo nor Lightbridge have commented on where future supplies of HALEU for Oklo’s reactors will come from once the initial fuel load is exhausted. Oklo has signed several nonbinding MOUs with data centers to deliver dozens of its 50 MW advanced SMR to power them. Oklo’s business model is to manufacture its reactors and then install, and operate them at customer sites.
Other developers of advanced nuclear reactors, including TerraPower, have pushed back their start dates for commercial operation due to shortages of HALEU fuel.
DOE’s HALEU Fuel Programs
The Department of Energy (DOE) has begun funding the production of HALEU, but the amounts likely to be produced in the near term fall far short of what the industry says it will need.
Last October DOE awarded contracts to four firms to produce HALEU fuel in the form of UF6. All contracts will last for up to 10 years and each firm winning a contract under the program will receive a minimum of $2 million. A total of $2.7 billion is available for these services.
How Much HALEU is Needed and How Much Will These Contracts Produce?
Under these four contracts, selected companies will bid on future work to produce and store HALEU in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) to eventually be made into fuel for advanced reactors by separate fuel fabrication plants. Under separate contracts to some of these same firms DOE will issue production orders for deconversion and fuel fabrication into uranium oxide including TRISO fuels or uranium metal fuels. HALEU fuels contain enriched uranium in ranges of from 5% to 19% U235.
According to the HALEU Availability Program DOE projects that more than 40 metric tons of HALEU will be needed by 2030 with additional as yet unspecified amounts which will required each year thereafter to deploy a new fleet of advanced reactors in a timeframe that supports the Administration’s 2050 net-zero emissions target.
TerraPower and X-Energy are both building nuclear fuel fabrication plants. Each of the plants will cost in excess of $200M each. TerraPower needs uranium metal fuel for its sodium cooled advanced reactors. X-Energy needs TRISO fuel for its HTGR. So far Oklo has not indicated a cost estimate for its planned fuel fabrication plant in Idaho nor named an EPC to manufacture and deploy dozens of its 50 MW advanced reactors.
Demand for HALEU will depend on the success of advanced reactor developers to license their designs at the NRC and to convince customers to place orders for multiple units in “fleet mode” in order to realize the economies of scale of factory production of nuclear reactors. which fit the IAEA definition of small modular reactors, e.g, less than 300 MW.
DOE says it is track to demonstrate domestic production at the Centrus enrichment facility in Piketon, OH. The demonstration is expected to produce a 900 kilogram/year production rate starting in 2024 to address near-term HALEU needs for fuel qualification testing and DOE-supported advanced reactor demonstration projects. In five years this single contract would be expected, at this rate, to produce 4.5 tonnes of HALEU in the form of UF6.
This number means that to meet DOE’s target of delivering 40 metric tonnes of HALEU by 2030, the four contracts will have to produce, in aggregate, 39 tonnes over the next five years or, on average, eight metric tonnes/year, and, on average, leaving aside the actual production capacity of each contractor, two metric tonnes of HALEU per contractor per year which is twice the amount Centrus is tasked by DOE to product this year.
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Poland’s PGE in Joint Venture with ZE PAK for KHNP APR1400 Reactor
- Polish State Utility Says It Is Considering Full Ownership Of Nuclear Joint Venture
- PGE PAK planning South Korean reactors at Patnow coal site
(NucNet) Polish state-controlled utility PGE has signed an agreement with private energy firm ZE PAK to establish the terms for acquiring full ownership of a joint venture which is planning a new nuclear station at Patnow-Konin, central Poland.
Under the deal, PGE aims to buy the remaining 50% shares in PGE PAK Energia Jadrowa (PGE PAK), a joint venture established in 2023 to oversee the eventual deployment of up to two South Korean APR-1400 pressurized water reactor technology at the Patnow coal site. These reactors are the same design and power rating as the four KHNP built for the United Arab Emirates.
History of the Deal
In October 2022, ZE PAK and PGE signed a letter of intent with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) for eventual deployment of the company’s APR-1400 PWR technology at the existing Patnow coal-fired generation site, owned by ZE PAK.
ZE PAK and PGE set up the PGE PAK Energia Jadrowa joint venture in April 2023 with each party having an equal 50% stake. PGE said at the time the move would “guarantee the interests of the Polish state treasury,” a majority stakeholder in the PGE group.
Patnow has two coal-fired power plants in commercial operation with a combined output of about 1,100 MW, which makes it one of Poland’s largest energy facilities.
End of Small Modular Reactor Plans
Owner ZE PAK has been looking at nuclear energy as an option to decarbonize its generation portfolio and had earlier planned to deploy small modular reactors (SMRS) in partnership with Synthos Green Energy at Patnow, but these plans have now been dropped in favor of full size reactors. Synthos Green had spotlighted the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR for its chemical plants.
Poland’s previous government issued a basic approval – essentially a decision-in-principle – for a the APR-1400 project at Patnow. However, no progress on the project has been made public since a new coalition government was sworn in December 2023.
Maciej Lipka, a nuclear energy expert at Warsaw-based consultancy Nuclear PL, told NucNet PGE is the largest utility in Poland in terms of installed capacity, with significant know-how in operating non-nuclear energy capacities,
Another company, Poland’s state-owned Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe, will be building the country’s first nuclear power station near the villages of Lubiatowo and Kopalino on its northern Baltic Sea coast in the province of Pomerania. It will consist of three Westinghouse 1,150 MW AP1000s. Construction of the first unit is expected to start in 2028, with an in-service date earmarked for 2036 at the earliest.
Poland has been working on an update of its nuclear power program last released in 2020. That program contained plans for deploying between 6 GW and 9 GW of commercial nuclear power at up to two sites in the 2030s and early 2040s.
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CORE POWER Plans to Bring Floating Nuclear Plants to US Ports
- Maritime nuclear innovation company CORE POWER has partnered with naval architecture company Glosten for the design of a floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) for ports in the U.S.
CORE POWER’s FNPP concept entails a nearshore infrastructure system that includes a barge-based nuclear power plant, barge support services, electrical grid integration, and operational teams. The plant is planned to allow ports to achieve zero-emissions electrical generation for visiting ships, terminal cranes and equipment, and port vehicles.
Glosten has been selected to develop the operational concept and design the floating facility for the FNPP. The naval architect will also establish a regulatory path for the barge, navigate site location approvals, and identify a potential supply chain network for the FNPP’s fabrication, assembly, integration, transportation, and installation.
CORE POWER noted the project is currently in the concept phase and is being designed with the intent to serve a non-specific port located in the Southern U.S., with Glosten performing risk assessments and developing the general arrangements for the barge which will house the nuclear reactors.
In November 2024, CORE POWER entered into a cooperative agreement with Westinghouse Electric Company for the design and development of FNPP. Last November CORE Power inked an agreement with Westinghouse to jointly develop the eVinci microreactor for use in a FNNP
“The marine industry has experienced a massive push to decarbonize, and CORE POWER’s FNPP offers an effective and practical means to meet that demand,” said Morgan Fanberg, CEO of Glosten. “Glosten’s job is to turn CORE POWER’s vision into a design that demonstrates the practicality of providing reliable, zero-emissions nuclear power to port facilities and has a defined path to regulatory approval.”
Mikal Bøe, CEO of CORE POWER, added: “Nuclear fission is a well-understood and practiced process. It allows us to access an enormous energy resource safely, reliably, and on-demand without emitting greenhouse gases. Over 80% of the cost of nuclear power on land is in civil construction, with reactors and power systems accounting for less than 20%. FNPPs will be shipyard-manufactured and mass-assembled, ensuring delivery speed and low costs.”
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Expansion Of Test Program for MOX Fuel For VVER Reactors
- The third cycle of tests of MOX fuel in the MIR research reactor is to begin following the successful completion of the second phase of the program which aims to substantiate the safety of MOX fuel for use in VVER-type reactors.
(WNN) The third cycle of tests of MOX fuel in the MIR research reactor is to begin following the successful completion of the second phase of the program which aims to substantiate the safety of MOX fuel for use in VVER-type reactors.
Rosatom says that, if the proposed VVER-S reactors can use a full load of MOX fuel, it will cut its use of natural uranium by 50% and, over its lifetime could save about the same amount as the capital cost of a unit.
The testing is being carried out in Dimitrovgrad by the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (JSC RIAR), which is part of Rosatom’s science division. MOX fuel is manufactured from plutonium recovered from used reactor fuel, mixed with depleted uranium. It allows the recycling of used nuclear fuel, thus helping to close the fuel cycle.
The first two cycles of the testing, which began in 2023, has achieved the target level of nuclear fuel burnup, Rosatom said, and “all fuel elements have retained their tightness. The test program is designed for six cycles, the behavior of fuel elements is being studied under nominal operating parameters, as well as in the modes of disruption of normal operation and design-basis accidents”.
Russia’s state nuclear corporation also said that regulator Rostekhnadzor has issued a license for fuel elements with MOX fuel to undergo a set of neutron-physical experiments at the BFS-1 critical test facility.
Rosatom said, “Based on the results of the research, Rosatom scientists intend to substantiate the efficiency and safety of using MOX fuel in VVER-type reactors (including future advanced installations).”
In Russia, MOX fuel is currently produced for fast neutron reactors, notably the BN-800 fast reactor at Beloyarsk. Uranium-plutonium REMIX fuel has been developed for VVER reactors.
Rosatom says: “The introduction of MOX fuel in VVER reactors opens up new possibilities. The plutonium content is several times higher compared with REMIX fuel, and in addition, it contains depleted uranium, not enriched uranium. In the long term, this will make it possible to optimize the fuel fabrication economy, use regenerated nuclear materials more flexibly, and use the depleted uranium reserves accumulated in the industry.”
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Helion Fusion Scores $450M with New Investors
- Helion Announces $425M Series F Investment to Scale Commercialized Fusion Power
- Series F round includes new investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and existing investors
Helion, a fusion energy company, announced a $425 million Series F investment round that will be used to scale commercialization efforts for the company’s fusion technology. This latest round of funding will bring the total invested in Helion to over $1 billion and values the company at $5.425 billion. The new funding is reported to be focused on expanding in-house machining capabilities and capacitor manufacturing including magnetic coils. In 2023 Helion raised $500 million in a previous funding round.
The latest round of funding has participation from new investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and a major university endowment, along with existing investors including Sam Altman, Mithril Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, Dustin Moskovitz through Good Ventures Foundation, and Nucor.
Helion recently began operating its 7th generation prototype, Polaris, which is expected to demonstrate the first electricity produced from fusion. With its previous prototype, Trenta, Helion was the first private company to achieve a fuel temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, which is generally considered the required operating temperature for a commercial fusion power plant.
Conceptual Diagram of Helion’s Fusion Machine. Image: Helion file
Helion intends for its first fusion power plant to be sited in the state of Washington. In 2023, the company announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft to deliver electricity from a 50 MW fusion plant starting in 2028 and a customer agreement with Nucor to develop a 500 MW power plant in the 2030s.
Polaris, Helion’s seventh prototype, is located in a 27,000 square-foot building in Everett, WA. It took more than three years to build. The firm has set an ambitious 2028 deadline, based on power purchase agreement with Microsoft and Nucor Steel, to have a fusion plant licensed and in commercial power generation. The company has told wire services it is working on site selection and future grid connections in anticipation of meeting that faced by users of deuterium-tritium fusion fuel.
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China Sets Nuclear Fusion Record With Plasma for 1,000 Seconds
China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), referred to by its developers as an “artificial sun,” has achieved a milestone in nuclear fusion research by maintaining a plasma loop for 1,066 seconds (approximately 17 minutes and 46 seconds) at temperatures exceeding 180 million degrees Fahrenheit.
This milestone, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) at Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, far surpasses the previous world record of 403 seconds, also set by EAST in 2023.
The operational temperature during this experiment exceeded 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, which is crucial for facilitating the fusion process where hydrogen atoms combine to form helium, releasing substantial energy.
The success was attributed to enhancements in the reactor’s systems, including doubling the power of its heating mechanisms, which improved plasma confinement efficiency.
Current fusion reactors like EAST still consume more energy than they produce. However, the data collected from this experiment will contribute to the development of next-generation reactors and support international initiatives such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in France.
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US NRC adds ‘Enabling’ Focus to Mission Statement
The new mission statement says: “The NRC protects public health and safety and advances the nation’s common defense and security by enabling the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies and radioactive materials through efficient and reliable licensing, oversight, and regulation for the benefit of society and the environment.”
The mission statement has been updated as directed by the bipartisan Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act which was signed into law by then President Biden in July 2024.
That act directed the NRC to look for ways to speed up its licensing process for new nuclear technology, reduce regulatory costs for companies seeking to license advanced nuclear reactor technologies, as well as creating a “prize” to incentivize the successful deployment of next-generation reactor technologies. It also directs the NRC to enhance its ability to qualify and license accident-tolerant fuels and advanced nuclear fuels.
The act supports the development of advanced nuclear reactors in other countries, empowering the NRC to lead in international forums to develop regulations for advanced nuclear reactors, and directing the US Department of Energy to improve its process for approving the export of US technology to international markets, while maintaining strong standards for nuclear non-proliferation.
Streamlining the regulatory process, with international cooperation and collaboration between stakeholders, is widely seen as a key factor to the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors and advanced nuclear fuels at the scale required to tackle climate change and energy security concerns.
David Wright, Chairman of the NRC, said in his new role, “It’s a privilege to take on this role and to continue to work with such a dedicated and passionate staff as we tackle the challenges before us. I look forward to working closely and collegially with the other commissioners on the priorities and opportunities ahead.”
Referring to the new mission statement, he said: “The future of nuclear energy and radioactive materials in this country is at a crossroads, and the NRC should position itself to be a part of the solution. Congress has directed the NRC to be an enabler to nuclear technologies while staying true to the core principles laid out in the Atomic Energy Act. This updated mission statement meets that intent.”
From 2004-2013, Chairman Wright served the South Carolina Public Service Commission in a variety of capacities, including Vice Chairman and Chairman. From 2011-2012, he served as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; he had previously served the association in other capacities, including as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. From 2010-2013, Chairman Wright was a member of the Advisory Board of the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute.
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