NEWS |
round up
NUCLEAR FUEL US-BASED NUCLEAR power and fuel recycling company Oklo and nuclear fuel technology company Lightbridge Corporation have announced a strategic collaboration to explore the potential co-location of a Lightbridge fuel fabrication facility within Oklo’s planned advanced fuel manufacturing facility.
RADWASTE THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) – the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) – has completed its 200th shipment of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for safe disposal.
GERMANY’S FEDERAL COMPANY for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE - Bundesgesellschaft für Endlager mbH) said it has “made a lot of progress in its preparation for the retrieval of radioactive waste from the Asse II mine”. An exploratory drilling at a depth of 750 metres has provided information for the first time about the condition of the stored barrels in storage chamber 12.
ADVANCED REACTORS SWEDISH NUCLEAR ENERGY company Blykalla and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)for a long-term partnership to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear reactors in Sweden. They will promote the technical development of Blykalla’s SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor).
THE US DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) has launched President Trump’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, naming 10 companies with 11 advanced reactor projects that DOE will initially work to move their technologies towards deployment. DOE will work with industry on these 11 projects, aiming to construct, operate, and achieve criticality of at least three test reactors using the DOE authorisation process by 4 July 2026.
CALIFORNIA-BASED STARTUP Radiant Nuclear has signed an agreement to deliver a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) microreactor to a US Air Force military base in 2028. The value of the contract and the location of the base were not disclosed. Radiant previously received funding awards from the US Department of Defense (DOD) to evaluate the integration of microreactors at the Hill Air Force Base near Salt Lake City in Utah.
result in a new division of tasks between the
Confederation and the cantons and the abolition of the January 2018 ban on the construction of new NPPs. Lawmakers have until August 2026 to decide on both proposals. Unless the initiative is withdrawn, voters will have the final say in a referendum. “Lifting the ban does not necessarily mean that new nuclear power plants will be built,” a spokesperson for Swiss utility Axpo Holdings AG said. The company, which operates 60% of Switzerland’s nuclear capacity said it could work on fresh construction but currently has no plans to build or invest in a new project.
United States
DOD supports the Xenith reactor US-based X-energy Reactor Company has signed an agreement with the US Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the US Department of the Air Force (DAF) to advance the development of its Xenith microreactor. The agreement supports continued design and development under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) programme, an initiative led by DIU in partnership with DAF. X-energy was among eight microreactor suppliers selected by DOD in April as eligible to seek funding through the ANPI. ANPI is designed to accelerate the
deployment of next-generation microreactor technologies to provide resilient, secure power at military installations, and enables governmental sponsors such as DAF to engage with X-energy under a flexible contracting mechanism that allows for faster development and deployment of commercial nuclear systems. Xenith is a high-temperature gas-cooled
microreactor first developed for DOD’s Project Pele, a mobile microreactor initiative led by the Strategic Capabilities Office. The design refined with support from DOD’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) and the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Industry Funding Opportunity Announcement (IFOA) project. It was selected to continue into an enhanced engineering phase, focused on achieving preliminary design maturity and initiating pre-licensing engagement with NRC for both military and commercial applications. X-energy is also advancing the deployment of
its Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor as a grid-scale energy solution for utilities.
China
Jinqimen NPP construction approved China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration has issued a construction licence for units 1&2 of the Jinqimen NPP in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. This clears the way for first concrete to be poured for the foundation of unit 1. “We believe that the submitted application
documents comply with relevant national laws and nuclear safety regulations, and that the design principles and nuclear safety-related activities of units 1&2 of the Zhejiang Jinqimen
10 | September 2025 |
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NPP meet the requirements of China’s nuclear safety regulations,” the NNSA said. The construction of two 1,200 MWe Hualong
One reactors as Phase I of the Jinqimen plant was approved by China’s State Council in December 2023. A ground-breaking ceremony was held February 2024 marked the start of preparatory work. The new plant will eventually house six Hualong One units. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) subsidiary CNNC Zhejiang Energy Co Ltd will be responsible for project investment, construction and operations management With all six units operating, the total installed
capacity of the Jinqimen plant will be about 7.2 GWe, and the annual grid-connected electricity will be some 55 TWh, which according to CNNC is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 50m tonnes.
India Parliament discusses nuclear plans India’s Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of State for Atomic Energy Dr Jitendra Singh jointly convened a high-level meeting in parliament to discuss nuclear development plans. This followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious target of expanding India’s clean energy basket. During the meeting, a thorough review was
conducted on the roadmap to increase India’s nuclear energy capacity from 8.8 GWe to 22 GWe by 2032, through the addition of 14 GWe from various ongoing and upcoming projects, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said. Khattar and Dr Singh discussed plans to increase the nuclear power capacity to 49 GWe by 2037, scale it up to 67 GWe by 2042 and reach the 100 GWe target set by Modi by 2047. Dr Singh highlighted the government’s initiative to open the nuclear sector for private sector participation. He also noted a strong response to the Bharat Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programme. Khattar and Dr Singh outlined several key
directives to expedite progress, including: ● streamlining regulatory clearances, standardising documentation;
● optimising processing timelines, emphasising generic proposals;
● synchronising licences, and investing in technical upgradation and capacity building.
Dr Singh stressed the government’s commitment to handholding and creating awareness among private sector players, many of whom were pleasantly surprised by the opening of the nuclear sector tp private participation. India is indigenously developing three
different types of small modular reactors. These include the 200 MWe Bharat SMR, a 55 MWe SMR and the 5 MWt High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor for the production of hydrogen. Currently, 18 reactors with a total capacity
of 13,600 MWe are at various stages of implementation.
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