NEWS |
round up
ADVANCED REACTORS COPENHAGEN ATOMICS HAS been awarded funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme to advance the development of its thorium molten salt reactors (MSRs). Copenhagen Atomics will receive €2.5m ($2.35m) in grant funding to support continued technological development and prototype validation. It will also have access to up to €15m in equity investment through to help scale operations and prepare for market entry.
SMRs
THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted for review a construction permit application from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build a small modular reactor (SMR). TVA is the first utility applying to build GE Vernova Hitachi’s (GVH’s) BWRX-300 design in the US. TVA submitted its application to NRC in May to build the SMR at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
US-BASED COMPANIES Terra Innovatum and TechSource have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to accelerate the commercialisation of Terra Innovatum’s SOLO micro-modular nuclear reactor design. The strategic partnership aims to enhance regulatory progress and expand access to federal Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD) programmes.
GE VERNOVA HITACHI Nuclear Energy (GVH) and Fortum have entered into an Early Works Agreement (EWA) to advance potential deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in both Finland and Sweden. Fortum completed a nuclear feasibility study in March and selected the BWRX-300 as one of three technologies being considered for potential deployment in both countries. The other two were SMR reactor designs from Westinghouse and EDF, both of which signed EWAs with Fortum in June.
URANIUM US-BASED START-up NANO Nuclear Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Argentina- based UrAmerica, a private exploration company with uranium and other critical metals licences primarily in Argentina’s Chubut Province. The MOU formalises discussions that NANO Nuclear initiated with UrAmerica to explore strategic development across Argentina’s uranium-fuel supply chain.
Radiant (El Segundo, California) will test
the Kaleidos Development Unit to advance the company’s commercial 1.2 MWe high- temperature gas reactor design as a potential replacement for diesel generators. Kaleidos is designed to operate for five years before refuelling and could provide reliable back-up power to facilities such as hospitals and military installations. DOE expects each DOME reactor experiment
to operate for up to six months. The testing campaigns are self-funded by the applicants with the sequencing of experiments based on several criteria, including technology readiness, fuel availability, and a regulatory approval plan. Both companies are expected to meet certain milestones throughout the process to maintain their allotted time in DOME and to ensure efficient use of the test bed. DOE recently closed its first round of applications for scheduling experiments in DOME. The next call for applications is anticipated to be in the summer of 2026.
United Kingdom First Light Fusion produces x-rays Inertial fusion company First Light Fusion has produced x-rays for the first time on Machine 3 (M3), its largest pulsed power facility. This demonstrated First Light’s capabilities in producing extreme states of matter using cheap, simple ‘long-pulse’ driver technology. The result comes as the company continues to expand its capabilities from Machine 2 (M2), its smaller pulsed power machine, to M3. In February, First Light, founded in 2011
as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, announced a policy change. The company, which is pursuing a new form of inertial confinement fusion, decided to discontinue the proposed development of its demonstrator, Machine 4, to focus on advancing and commercialising its patented amplifier technology. In March, the company announced the next
phase of its commercial and technical strategy that will see it enable a faster, cheaper and scalable route to commercial inertial fusion energy with frontier industry partners. First Light’s team has successfully recorded
the production of x-rays on M3 for the first time – a critical step in developing cylindrical implosion platforms for multiple commercial applications. The company developed this capability on M2, which is used as a testbed. First Light has now taken another step
towards developing high-intensity x-ray radiation production as a service; attracting interest from industries needing to harden electronics or simulate space environments. Access to intense radiation sources is strategically important for UK national security, and First Light’s pulsed power facilities are uniquely positioned to be at the forefront in this area. Ryan Ramsey, Chief Operations Officer, at
First Light Fusion, said: “Our new strategy is focused on early commercialisation, and we are
12 | August 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
genuinely excited by the pace of progress we’ve achieved. This marks a significant step forward in delivering sovereign capabilities to adjacent markets, reinforcing the UK’s position in critical technologies. He added: “M3’s architecture aligns with the
requirements of a future fusion power plant; it’s more than a scientific tool – it represents a tangible move towards practical fusion energy. First Light’s pulsed power experiments offer access to extreme states of matter, enabling the study of fundamental physics essential to advancing inertial fusion.”
United States DRACO propulsion project cancelled For economic reasons the US Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has cancelled the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) project to develop a nuclear thermal engine for spacecraft. DRACO, launched in 2020 with $10m, aimed to develop and place a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system above low Earth orbit in 2025. It intended to develop and demonstrate a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) NTP system. In 2021, DARPA awarded contracts to General Atomics, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin for the first phase of DRACO. NASA was working on similar NTP rockets and, in 2023, DARPA and NASA agreed to collaborate on the project. NASA was responsible for the nuclear rocket engine, and DARPA for the space vehicle and for securing regulatory approval to launch a nuclear reactor into orbit. “When DRACO was originally conceived of,
that was pre- the precipitous decrease in launch costs that has been driven largely by SpaceX capabilities and the continued decrease that Starship offers if we can get it operational,” DARPA Deputy Director Rob McHenry told the Washington-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “And it was also based on analysis at the time that showed that nuclear thermal was likely to be the optimal solution for a set of national security related admissions, as well as solar system exploration,” he added. “And over the execution of that programme, both of those assumptions started to get weaker and weaker. As the launch costs came down, the efficiency gain from nuclear thermal propulsion relative to the massive R&D costs necessary to achieve that technology started to look like less and less of a positive ROI [return on investment].” The cancellation of DRACO was first reported
by Ars Technica in an analysis of NASA’s fiscal 2026 budget request. The nuclear propulsion projects were terminated to achieve cost savings. A DARPA spokesperson subsequently
confirmed the agency was closing the project. “DARPA has completed the agency’s involvement in the… DRACO programme and is transitioning its knowledge to our DRACO mission partner… NASA, and to other potential DOD programmes.”
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