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ADVANCED REACTORS TEXAS-BASED FLUOR Corporation has signed a contract with X-energy to support the company’s proposed advanced nuclear project at Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations in south Texas. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Fluor will initially deliver Front-End Loading Stage 2 (FEL-2) services. The project is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Urbana- Champaign (U of I) has submitted a Construction Permit Application (CPA) to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for US-based start-up Nano Nuclear’s Kronos MMR microreactor. The CPA was formally submitted by The Grainger College of Engineering at U of I. The Kronos MMR Energy System is a high-temperature, gas-cooled microreactor that uses helium coolant and TRISO particle fuel.
SMRS
THE US DEPARTMENT OF the Air Force (DAF), in conjunction with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has selected Buckley Space Force Base (SFB), Colorado, and Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB), Montana, as potential locations to site nuclear microreactors under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) programme.
GE VERNOVA HITACHI Nuclear Energy (GVH) has entered into a non-exclusive Main Services Agreement (MSA) with Swedish engineering company AFRY to support the deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) technology in Sweden and beyond.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT THE US DEPARTMENT OF Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy has selected 11 university-led projects at 10 universities to receive a total of $5.9m in funding to support advanced nuclear technology research. The Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) Phase II Continuation awards allow research teams that have performed high quality work through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) to propose new projects that complement or enhance ongoing research.
AVALANCHE ENERGY, A SEATTLE-based fusion energy startup founded in 2018, has been awarded a $5.2m contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Rads to Watts programme to develop nuclear batteries. Avalanche is leading a multi-institutional team including Caltech, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the University of Utah, and McQuaide Microsystems.
12 | May 2026 |
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United States DOE uses AI to accelerate licensing The US Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Argonne National Lab (ANL), Microsoft, and Everstar, has demonstrated the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline the nuclear regulatory process. Currently, the nuclear licensing process involves multiple rounds of manual document reviews and minor clerical adjustments, which can take years to complete. The team used AI mapping to convert a safety analysis document required under DOE’s authorisation pathway for advanced reactor demonstrations into US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing documents for commercial deployment. DOE said this shows the role AI can play in
improving the efficiency and accuracy licensing, and could one day help to accelerate timelines for the commercial deployment of advanced reactors. Everstar’s Gordian AI solution, built on the
Microsoft Azure platform, was used to convert the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Center’s (NRIC’s) Generic High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) into sections equivalent to an NRC licence application. The final 208-page document took one day to
generate. Typically, the process takes a team of people between four and six weeks to complete. The AI tool also comprehensively identified missing or incomplete information needed to successfully complete an NRC application. A recent study by NRIC highlighted how AI
has the potential to reduce both document development time and regulatory review cycles by as much as 50%, while simultaneously improving accuracy, consistency, and traceability. Gordian was engineered for nuclear-grade
technical work and is equipped with physics and engineering tools. The DOE said the output “was found to demonstrate quality, rigor, and depth, as well as the tool’s ability to identify and qualify its own gaps in data knowledge”.
South Africa Nesca looks to SMRs The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (Necsa) has launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) process “inviting suitably qualified and experienced organisations, consortia, and technology providers to partner in the development, customisation, demonstration, and deployment of a small modular reactor (SMR) for multiple uses in South Africa in line with Decision 4 in the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP, 2025).” This initiative aims to identify capable
technology partners who can work with Necsa to advance SMR technology for future deployment as envisaged in the IRP, 2025 The EOI serves as the first stage of a structured selection process. The next step will be issuing of a Request for Proposals. Group CEO of Necsa Loyiso Tyabashe said: “Our aim is to demonstrate an SMR technology that will produce power, process heat and isotopes”. The SMR initiative is part of a broader ZAR80bn ($4.7bn) plan to rebuild South Africa’s nuclear
capacity, which also includes a new 20-30 MW multi-purpose research reactor (MPR) targeted for operation by 2032-2033. While the SMR is a pilot for future commercial power and heat, the MPR is the formal, high-flux successor to the ageing Safari-1 reactor at Pelindaba. The facility will include a Neutron Beam Line
Centre (NBLC) to support advanced experiments in material science, biology, and forensics. The project includes plans for a “cold neutron” source, which would be the first of its kind on the continent, enabling higher-precision research into low- energy molecular structures. A formal Request for Proposals is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2026. Safari-1 has been operational since 1965 and
currently produces roughly 20% of the world’s medical radioisotopes. While its licence was originally set to expire in 2030, Necsa is working with the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) to extend its life by an additional 10-15 years.
South Korea Kori 2 to restart Unit 2 of South Korea’s Kori NPP in Gijang-gun, Busan, which was approved for continued operation in November 2025, has restarted its reactor for the first time in three years after receiving permission from the Nuclear Safety & Security Commission (NSSC). The Commission permitted Kori 2 to reach criticality after confirming the safety of its follow-up measures and overall facilities was in line with the licence for continued operation. The unit is now undergoing power ascension tests to ensure stability as output increases and is expected to begin commercial operation in mid-2026. Kori 2, a 685 MWe pressurised water reactor, which began operating in 1983, was shut down in April 2023, with the expiry of its 40-year operating licence. South Korean NPPs can continue to operate beyond their original design life after a detailed safety assessment with licences issued every 10 years. Kori 2 is the first NPP to resume operations after fully implementing the requirements of the “Severe Accident Management Plan,” which codifies the response system for severe accidents. NSSC confirmed improvements including design
changes to accident management facilities such as an external injection path for reactor coolant, and the installation of new equipment to supply power to essential accident response systems. Considering the long-term shutdown, intensive inspections were conducted on safety-related pumps and valves. It was confirmed that 10 safety measures
required for completion before the restart and the replacement of cables to secure safety margins had been properly implemented in accordance with technical standards. NSSC has completed 94 of the 102 periodic inspection items required before criticality and will finally confirm the plant’s safety through eight subsequent tests, including power ascension tests. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is currently submitting safety assessment reports to NSSC for the continued operation of nine other units. ■
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