On September 27, 2023, Helion Energy, Inc., a fusion power company, and Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer and recycler in North America, announced a deal to develop a 500 MWe Helion fusion power plant at a Nucor...more
On Monday, September 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published three new reports as part of its “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff” initiative, focused on the state of industrial decarbonization. The goal of...more
On August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license granted to Interim Storage Partners, LLC (ISP) for its temporary spent nuclear fuel storage...more
On June 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) released two long awaited draft requests for proposals (“RFPs”) to support the development of high-assay low-enriched uranium (“HALEU”) in the United States....more
In April 2023, Idaho National Laboratory (“INL”), a U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) National Laboratory, published a report entitled “Recommendations to Improve the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reactor Licensing and...more
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) is releasing a series of reports on the path to commercialization for certain clean energy technologies, including a report on advanced reactors. Today, senior leaders at DOE hosted a...more
On April 13, 2023, Commissioners of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) directed the NRC staff to create a regulatory framework for fusion energy systems, building on the agency’s existing process for licensing the...more
Today, April 3, the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee (“EPW”) introduced new legislation that continues to demonstrate bipartisan support for advanced nuclear reactor developments, including expanding levels of...more
On March 30, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report walking through the benefits and latest progress in fusion energy developments, while noting certain challenges and proposing policy approaches to...more
On March 8, 2023, the Biden Administration announced approximately $6 billion in funding through a new program within the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) aimed at accelerating decarbonization projects in energy-intensive...more
Interest in nuclear energy—and its promise of clean, secure, and affordable power—continue to lead to new projects in the U.S. and abroad. Traditional large reactors, advanced reactors and small, modular reactors (“SMRs”) are...more
On January 17, U.S. Space Force officials issued an advanced research announcement seeking new ideas in space nuclear power generation for propulsion and sensors aboard small satellites....more
On January 9, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi announced plans to strengthen bilateral cooperation on developing next-generation nuclear...more
On January 3, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) staff sent to the Commission SECY-23-0001, “Options for Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems” and three related enclosures (collectively, the “Options...more
Today the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) officially announced a major scientific breakthrough in fusion energy when the National Ignition Facility (“NIF”) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (“LLNL”) in...more
On December 7, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the bipartisan International Nuclear Energy Act (“INEA”), which aims to support the United States’ civil nuclear export strategy and promote international...more
As world leaders gather in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP27, supporting clean energy transitions remain central to discussions on resolving issues of...more
The world is currently experiencing a global energy crisis of unprecedented breadth and complexity, according to the International Energy Agency (“IEA”) in its annual World Energy Outlook published on October 27. While the...more
On October 3, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled Virginia’s 2022 Energy Plan, calling for deployment of the state’s first small “modular nuclear reactor” in the region and going all-in on nuclear....more
On September 26, 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency (“IAEA”) published its annual projections on nuclear power growth, predicting a substantial increase in nuclear generating capacity due to increased concerns about...more
A recent report released last week by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that hundreds of coal plant sites could host new nuclear reactors. Siting new nuclear at retiring coal sites, referred to as the...more
On September 14, the NRC staff publicly released its preliminary White Paper on “Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems” to support upcoming meetings with the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards on options for...more
On August 9, 2022, President Biden signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022 (H.R. 4346) (collectively the “CHIPS and Science Act” or the “Act”), which contains a number...more
On August 18, 2022, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works (EPW), and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the EPW, sent a letter to the Chairman of the...more
Yesterday President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law. The legislation - which passed in the House of Representatives by a 220-207 vote on August 12 and in the Senate by a 51-50 vote on August 7...more