U.S. DOE reports nuclear electric generating technology advancements and powerplant re-start funding recipient
Palisades nuclear powerplant
Initial information source
for this report
11 big wins for nuclear energy. . .
United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE)
Office of Nuclear Energy
April 29, 2025
in this report
Loan guarantee announced for re-starting Palisades Nuclear Plant
Dow and X-energy seek advanced reactor construction permit
HALEU nuclear fuel committed to 5 advanced reactor developers
First higher-enriched nuclear fuel in a U.S. commercial reactor
Manganese may replace imported cobalt in advanced reactors
Molten salt reactor equipment test loop for advanced reactors unveiled
Molten salt fuel production time shortened
by Allyn Svoboda
Loan guarantee announced for re-starting Palisades Nuclear Plant
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the second and third disbursements of the up to $1.52 billion loan guarantee to Holtec for re-opening Palisades nuclear powerplant in Michigan. Palisades will be the first restart of a retired commercial nuclear reactor in U.S. history, pending regulatory approvals. Planned generating is 800-megawatts (MW).
Dow and X-energy seek advanced reactor construction permit
note
blue text indicates excerpts from the U.S. DOE announcements
April 29. 2025
Dow and X-energy submitted a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March for a proposed advanced nuclear project in Seadrift, Texas. The project is part of a demonstration project supported by DOE and includes four Xe-100 reactors at a Dow chemical plant. If approved, it would be the first advanced nuclear facility at an industrial site in the United States.
Rendering of proposed nuclear powerplant to be built by X-Energy at Dow Seadrift UCC Operations manufacturing site at Seadrift TX.
[image source: Dow]
Dow and X-energy previously announced their entry into a joint development agreement ("JDA") to install an advanced SMR nuclear plant at an industrial site in North America. The U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") named Dow a sub-awardee under X-energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program ("ARDP") Cooperative Agreement. The JDA provides for up to $50 million in engineering work, up to half of which is eligible to be funded through ARDP, and the other half by Dow. . . .
X-energy was selected by the DOE in 2020 to develop, license, build, and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade. Since that award, X-energy has completed the engineering and basic design of the nuclear reactor, has begun development and licensing of a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and is now working with Dow to prepare applications to the NRC for Construction Permits at the Seadrift site.
source:
Dow's Seadrift, Texas location selected . . .
Dow
May 11, 2023
Xe-100 nuclear reactor design by TRISO-X LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy Reactor Company.
image source:
Dow via X-energy
HALEU nuclear fuel committed to 5 advanced reactor developers
April 9, 2025
The U.S. Department of Energy DOE made conditional commitments to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to five U.S. nuclear developers to meet their near-term fuel needs. Many advanced reactors will need HALEU to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies, but HALEU is not currently available from domestic (U.S.) suppliers.
To help fill this gap, DOE created the HALEU allocation process for nuclear developers to request HALEU material from DOE sources, including material from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). DOE received HALEU requests from 15 companies. For this first round, DOE identified five of those companies that met prioritization criteria, with three of them requiring fuel delivery in 2025.
The five companies that received conditional commitments are:
TRISO-X, LLC (X-energy)
Kairos Power, LLC.
Radiant Industries, Inc.
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC
TerraPower, LLC.
source:
U.S. Department of Energy
April 9, 2025
First higher-enriched nuclear fuel in a U.S. commercial reactor
Southern Nuclear recently loaded a new nuclear fuel enriched above 5 percent into a commercial reactor for irradiation testing — a first for the United States. The advanced fuel was developed by Westinghouse through DOE’s Accident Tolerant Fuel Program to help improve fuel cycle safety and lower operational costs. The higher enrichment levels will allow the fuel to last longer and operate at increased power levels, potentially leading to additional reliable power production at nuclear power plants across the country.
Plant Vogtle nuclear powerplant
photo courtesy of
Georgia Power
Southern Nuclear successfully received and installed four Lead Test Assemblies (LTAs) with next-generation fuel features into Unit 2 of the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (Plant Vogtle). This achievement, which marks the first U.S. commercial reactor use of enrichments exceeding historical limits, is set to bolster nuclear reliability and support the long-term energy needs of the country.
The company had previously received a license amendment from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023 to load the LTAs, which include innovative pellets and cladding developed within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) program and manufactured by Westinghouse. The four LTAs represent the first installation of fuel rods containing enrichments of uranium-235 greater than 5 weight percent in a domestic commercial reactor.
source:
Southern Nuclear's historic fuel installation . . .
April 10, 2025
Manganese may replace imported cobalt in advanced reactors
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) created a new “super alloy” that shows promise for use in future advanced reactors and could reduce U.S. dependence on China-sourced cobalt. Scientists at PNNL replaced cobalt with manganese in response to supply chain disruptions and increased global demand for cobalt, which is largely controlled by China. PNNL is now seeking industry collaborators to scale up manufacturing of the new alloy and assess its potential for nuclear energy applications.
Molten salt reactor equipment test loop for advanced reactors unveiled
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) debuted a new molten salt test loop that will support the development of advanced reactors using molten salts. This . . . experimental platform will . . . help identify corrosion-resistant materials, sensors, and instrumentation that can survive in high-temperature environments. It will also support the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) — the world’s first fast-spectrum, salt-fueled reactor experiment at INL scheduled to begin in the 2030s.
Molten salt fuel production time shortened
INL also successfully demonstrated a more efficient way to produce the fuel that will be used in MCRE. The team brought in experts from INL, Southern Company, and TerraPower to help design a series of experiments aimed at reducing the time it takes to produce a batch of fuel salt for the reactor experiment. Now they can sustainably produce 18 kilograms of fuel salt in 8 hours and will soon have the time down to 5 hours — a critical step on the way to unlocking MCRE’s potential to break new ground in molten salt reactor research.