• NUCLEAR POWERResearch Drives Innovation in Gen-IV Reactor Safety and Efficiency

    By Kristen Mally Dean

    All U.S. nuclear reactors, which currently provide more than half of the nation’s carbon-free power, are first- or second-generation light water reactors. This means they use water as both a coolant and neutron moderator to control the nuclear reaction and produce useful electricity. Ut researchers pursue all kinds of reactor designs, and nuclear engineers at Argonne frame the future of nuclear design.

  • NUCLEAR WASTEU.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Texas Nuclear Waste Disposal Case

    By Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News

    The case could establish the nation’s first independent repository for spent nuclear fuel in West Texas, despite the objections of state leaders.

  • NUCLEAR ENERGYExploring the New Nuclear Energy Landscape

    By Josh Blatt

    In the last few years, the U.S. has seen a resurgence of interest in nuclear energy and its potential for helping meet the nation’s growing demands for clean electricity and energy security. Meanwhile, nuclear energy technologies themselves have advanced, opening up new possibilities for their use.

  • NUCLEAR POWERA Michigan Nuclear Plant Is Slated to Restart, but Trump Could Complicate Things

    By Izzy Ross

    The owners of a shuttered nuclear plant on the shores of Lake Michigan are still banking on its historic reopening later this year, despite the confusion of President Donald Trump’s first days.

  • NUCLEAR POWERNuclear Has Changed. Will the U.S. Change with It?

    By Christina Pazzanese

    Fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud service providers, and ambitious new climate regulations, U.S. demand for carbon-free electricity is on the rise. In response, analysts and lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a controversial energy source: nuclear power.

  • NUCLEAR RESURGENCENuclear Is Here ... and Here and Here

    By Leo Williams

    The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) helped start the nuclear age more than 80 years ago, and it remains at the forefront of nuclear research. The lab is also actively involved in promoting east Tennessee’s nuclear industry and consulting with nuclear businesses that move into the area.

  • ENERY SECURITYAssessing Small Modular Reactor Applications to Rebuild a Clean Economy in Post-War Ukraine 

    By Beth Burmahl

    Building on a decades-long partnership, the Argonne National Laboratory will play a leading role in planning and rebuilding the nuclear-generated clean energy infrastructure in post-war Ukraine.

  • NUCLEAR WASTEThe History of WIPP

    By Kim Vallez Quintana

    In 1975, the nation asked Sandia to investigate the possibility of building a repository in New Mexico for the disposal of radioactive transuranic defense waste. Little did those assigned to the project know that the task would absorb most of their careers and become one of the most controversial and important projects in U.S. history.

  • NUCLEAR PLANTSWar Risks from Nuclear Power Plants? Just Look at Zaporizhzhia

    By Henry Campbell

    As evidenced in an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report released in September, Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine continues to create high risk of a nuclear disaster. In considering future conflicts, no one can safely assume that an enemy will avoid targeting nuclear power stations.

  • NUCLEAR PLANTSSafer and More Precise Nuclear Plant Dismantlement

    As the need for technologies to cut and dismantle reactors and internal structures increases due to the end of the operational lifespan of nuclear power plants, an innovative laser cutting technology for nuclear dismantlement has been developed.

  • NUCLEAR POWERPlan to Reopen Three Mile Island Plant Could e ‘Rebirth’ of Nuclear Energy: Experts

    By Cyrus Moulton

    The 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant became a cautionary tale for a generation of Americans. But experts say a plan to reopen the plant shows opinions are changing regarding nuclear power and its role in a clean energy future.

  • NUCLEAR SAFETYNo Power, No Operator, No Problem: Simulating Nuclear Reactors to Explore Next-Generation Nuclear Safety Systems

    To create safe and efficient nuclear reactors, designers and regulators need reliable data consistent with real-world observation. Data generated at the facility validates computational models and guides the design of nuclear reactors.

  • NUCLEAR FORENSICSUranium Science Researchers Investigate Feasibility of Intentional Nuclear Forensics

    Despite strong regulations and robust international safeguards, authorities routinely interdict nuclear materials outside of regulatory control. Researchers are exploring a new method that would give authorities the ability to analyze intercepted nuclear material and determine where it originated.

  • NUCLEAR WASTEHow Do You Convince Someone to Live Next to a Nuclear Waste Site?

    By Austyn Gaffney

    The world’s first permanent depository for nuclear fuel waste opens later this year on Olkiluoto, a sparsely populated and lushly forested island in the Baltic Sea three hours north of Helsinki.  Engineers know how to build a site that can safeguard nuclear waste for 100,000 years. The challenge is convincing people to live next to it.

  • ENERGY SECURITYNuclear Electricity Supply Would Be Less Vulnerable to Attack Than Renewables

    By Graham Cummings

    Renewable energy generation is not as robust in the face of enemy attack as it looks. Nuclear power, even though it would probably be concentrated in a few large generating stations, should in fact be a little more dependable in wartime.