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(PAC – Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento) under the coordination of the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation and with the contribution of resources from the National Fund for Scientific & Technological Development (FNDCT – Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico). The work will start in 2026 and the RMB will be delivered in 2030, with the start of operations scheduled for 2031. In May 2025, INVAP signed a contract with Brazil’s PATRIA Foundation (FP – Fundação PATRIA) and CNEN to carry out the conceptual and basic design of the Radioisotope Production Facility complementing the RMB project.
Japan
Monju decommissioning continues Cavendish Nuclear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Babcock, together with its delivery partner Amentum, has been awarded the next phase of work by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to support the decommissioning of the Monju Prototype Fast Reactor, in Fukui Prefecture. The 280 MWe Monju reactor was initially
considered a “dream reactor” because of its ability to produce more nuclear fuel than it consumes, but a series of accidents eventually led to cancellation of the project. Monju was shut down in 1995, four months after it began operation when 700 kg of liquid sodium leaked from the secondary cooling loop. Although there were no injuries and no radioactivity escaped plant buildings, JAEA tried to conceal the scale of the damage. Monju restarted in May 2010 but refuelling equipment fell into the reactor vessel during a refuelling outage later that year, and it has not operated since then. Although the equipment was retrieved and replaced, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) did not allow the reactor to restart. In November 2015, following concerns over lax equipment inspections, NRA determined JAEA was not competent to operate the reactor, and in December 2016, the government decided to decommission it. The JPY1000bn ($9bn) Monju had operated for only 250 days since its start-up in 1994. Under the new contract, Alkali Metal
Processing Limited, a joint venture between Cavendish Nuclear and Amentum, will construct, commission, and secure regulatory permissions for a new facility in the UK which will treat the sodium coolant removed from Monju. The material, which presents no radiological hazards, will be safely converted into sodium hydroxide for general industrial reuse. This award builds on a May 2023 contract,
which focused on the design and engineering phase of the UK-based project and represents a key milestone in the programme, reflecting the strong collaborative relationship with JAEA. The joint venture will now move forward
with construction and installation of process equipment and preparations for operation, working closely with locally based supply chain partners.
The approach draws on both companies’
experience gained from decommissioning the UK’s Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor, which shares design similarities with the Monju reactor.
The decommissioning of Monju is expected
take 30 years and cost more than JPY375bn ($2.5bn), according to government estimates. In 2017, JAEA submitted to the NRA a detailed four-stage plan to decommission Monju, in line with the government’s basic policy. NRA approved the plan in March 2018. In the initial stage, JAEA would transfer all fuel to an on-site storage pool by fiscal 2022. In October 2022, JAEA announced that all the fuel assemblies at Monju had been transferred to a water-filled storage facility. The second and third stages would see liquid sodium coolant extracted from Monju and related equipment dismantled. Finally, the reactor building will be demolished and removed by fiscal 2047.
United States Oklo breaks ground for Aurora Nuclear power and fuel recycling company Oklo held a groundbreaking ceremony at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for its first Aurora powerhouse, under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Reactor Pilot Program. Aurora-INL is one of three projects awarded to Oklo under the program, created in response to Executive Orders signed in May 2025 to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment. The Aurora-INL is a sodium-cooled fast
reactor that uses metal fuel and builds on the design and operating heritage of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which ran in Idaho from 1964 to 1994. Oklo was awarded fuel recovered from EBR-II by the DOE in 2019 and has completed two of four steps for DOE authorisation to fabricate its initial core at the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at INL. Kiewit Nuclear Solutions will serve as
lead constructor supporting the design, procurement, and construction of the powerhouse under a Master Services Agreement announced in 2025. Oklo expects to leverage Kiewit’s extensive expertise in delivering large-scale industrial projects on accelerated schedules with reduced costs, while maintaining high standards of safety and quality. The project is expected to create approximately 370 jobs during construction and 70–80 long-term roles to operate the powerhouse and A3F. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit
from DOE for a commercial advanced fission plant and submitted the first custom combined licence application for an advanced reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with DOE and US National Laboratories. Oklo says it is on track to bring its first plant online at INL before the end of the decade. However, the US has not operated a fast neutron reactor since the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) shut down. ■
round up
D&D
THE UK’S NUCLEAR Restoration Services (NRS), a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has selected infrastructure solutions company Costain for a deconstruction and height reduction project at the Trawsfynydd NPP in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. The £70m ($94m) project, expected to take around four years, will involve the deconstruction and partial reduction in the height of the power station’s two reactor buildings from approximately 54m to 25m.
SMRs
US-BASED GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) and South Korea’s Samsung C&T have announced a strategic alliance to advance the deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in strategic global markets, outside North America. The companies will focus on developing the supply chain and project delivery solutions for GVH’s and will work together on the potential deployment of five BWRX-300s in Sweden.
ISOTOPES INDIA’S DEPARTMENT OF Atomic Energy (DAE) is to set up a reactor exclusively for medical isotope production in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The aim is to increase India’s self-reliance in radioisotopes and make cancer treatment more affordable, a senior Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) official said. The facility, which is to be established under a Public-Private Partnership model, will be India’s first reactor dedicated solely to the production of medical isotopes.
ROMANIAN NUCLEAR UTILITY SN Nuclearelectrica (SNN), has signed an agreement with Framatome for the development of the Medical Radioisotopes Project. The agreement establishes the framework under which Framatome and SNN will collaborate to implement the production of Lutetium 177 at Cernavoda NPP, operate the equipment and infrastructure resulting from implementation of this project and develop other projects related to the production of medical radioisotopes.
SPACE US START-UP Space Ocean Corporation has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Space Nuclear Power Corporation (SpaceNukes) to explore integrating space nuclear reactor technology into future deep-space missions. Space Ocean intends to test a 10 kW microreactor developed by SpaceNukes aboard its planned ALV-N satellite.
www.neimagazine.com | November 2025 | 11
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