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round up
ADVANCED REACTORS THE US DEPARTMENT OF Energy’s (DOE’s) Idaho Operations Office has approved a key safety document, the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA), for the MARVEL microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The document which serves as the “safety basis” for the reactor’s first nuclear experiments, officially clears the project to conduct its “dry criticality” test - a near-zero-power experiment to validate the reactor’s physics before coolant is added.
THE KOREA CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Association (KCIA)and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly study the possible deployment of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs)in the petrochemical industry. KCIA and KAERI will “establish a foundation for mutual technological cooperation related to high-temperature gas reactors capable of supplying high-temperature process heat to strengthen the competitiveness of the chemical industry”.
SMRS GREAT BRITISH ENERGY–NUCLEAR (GBE-N) has appointed an Arup-led consortium to provide early-phase engineering for the UK’s first small modular reactor (SMR) project at Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales. Arup and its partners will deliver the site-specific concept design, feasibility studies, and “optioneering” to prepare the site for construction. Arup, leading the consortium, is responsible for geotechnical and foundation engineering.
US-BASED X-ENERGY REACTOR company and Japanese engineering company IHI Corporation have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to expand US-Japan supply chain development for X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor (SMR). The MOU establishes a collaboration framework to explore opportunities for commercial-scale manufacture of nuclear-grade components.
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) has presented a strategy to accelerate the development and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs) in Europe. Key measures in the Strategy include fleet-based industrial deployment of SMRs/AMRs, closer industrial cooperation and a competitive European supply chain, including fuel cycle services. The industry is encouraged to develop and implement industrial standards that support a fleet approach to SMR deployment and modular manufacturing..
10 | April 2026 |
www.neimagazine.com
Greece Nuclear power explored Greece will examine the prospect of adding nuclear power in its existing energy mix, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in his address to the second Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris. He acknowledged that Greece is not a nuclear country. “We explored this possibility in the 1960s and 1970s, but we never made the commitment to nuclear energy. It was always a bit too expensive, a bit too different from what we were looking for. We also benefited from access to very cheap brown coal, lignite, so we never made the choice to go nuclear.” He added: “Twenty years ago, we generated
more than half of our electricity from coal. Today we generate more than half of our electricity from wind and solar. Renewables have turned us from a net electricity importer to a net electricity exporter. They have lowered our prices and strengthened our energy security.” However, he said: “I recognise a basic reality highlighted by President Macron and by other colleagues. We cannot accomplish all the things we care about in Europe – strategic autonomy, economic competitiveness, decarbonisation – without nuclear energy.” Noting that Europe in recent years had turned
away from nuclear power, he said: “It was one of our biggest strategic mistakes. Here is a staggering statistic: in two decades, nuclear output in the European Union has declined by 276 TWh. In 2023, our total European solar output was 254 TWh. So, all the solar panels that we have installed in the EU over the past 20 years did not even make up for the loss from nuclear. This was an own goal. But the tide is turning. Nuclear energy is clearly having a comeback.” He continued: “It is time for my country to
explore whether nuclear energy, and specifically small modular reactors, can play a role in the Greek energy system. We will set up a high- level ministerial committee to make a definite recommendation to the government on this front. This is a common-sense position. Nuclear energy is changing quickly. There are rapid advances in technology, there is tremendous innovation. And we know that our need for electricity is only going to grow. So no matter how much we expand renewables, we will need long-term predictable baseload power. No technology can match what nuclear can offer us.” He accepted that nuclear power presents
challenges including a divided public opinion, loss of critical expertise, complex regulations long time lines and cost. “But these are problems that we have created ourselves and they are problems we can solve. This is the only way forward.” He concluded by pointing to a specific use-
case that should be part of the conversation. “It’s a topic Greece cares a lot about, and I’m referring to nuclear power in shipping. This is a proven technology that is already used for decades in military and other niche applications. At this point, we have no credible solutions to decarbonise shipping. Nuclear should be part of this conversation as well. It is a topic in which Greece plans to lead.”
United States NASA restructures Artemis NASA has announced a restructuring of its Artemis programme of crewed lunar exploration, the final target of which is the establishment of nuclear reactor to power a base at the lunar South Pole. The announcement came after the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building hangar for repairs after a helium leak was discovered in the rocket’s upper stage. What was expected to be an updated timeline for Artemis II’s mission has become a restructuring of the entire Artemis programme. The plan for Artemis II remains the launch of
a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. NASA is hoping the repairs to the Artemis II rocket can be made in time to meet a launch window that opens on 1 April. However, this mission had originally been intended as the precursor to a landing on the lunar surface using Artemis III in 2028. Instead, in mid-2027, Artemis III is now an
Earth-orbit-only mission. The crewed lunar landing is now targeted for early 2028 (Artemis IV). Later in 2028, a second crewed landing will take place (Artemis V) to start of Moon base construction. The Artemis programme previously envisaged a jump from Orion’s first uncrewed mission to the Moon in 2022, to a crewed lunar flyby on the Artemis II mission and a Moon landing on Artemis III in 2028. But three or more years between missions, and a transit from lunar space to the lunar surface without at least one test-run with Orion and its landing vehicle left too many “firsts” for Artemis III to take on. NASA and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have confirmed a target date of 2030 to establish the first nuclear fission reactor on the Moon. The Fission Surface Power (FSP) project is a critical component of the Artemis programme’s goal to establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface. A NASA- DOE memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in January affirmed the commitment to have a reactor ready for launch by 2030 - a tighter timeline than the previous mid-2030s goal. The initial plan was for a 40 kWe system but recent directives from the US administration pushed for exploring designs up to 100 kWe. The reactor must operate autonomously for at least 10 years without the need for refuelling. The project is in the Request for Proposals (RFP) and risk-reduction phase. NASA originally awarded three design contracts in 2022 to Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-energy). Lockheed Martin is partnering with BWX Technologies and Creare. Westinghouse is partnering with Aerojet Rocketdyne and IX is collaborating with Maxar and Boeing. NASA is reviewing input on the second draft of
its RFP for the final design and construction. A final RFP to industry is expected following revised drafts that mandate the use of HALEU fuel (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium). ■
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