Nuclear energy has emerged as a pivotal technology supporting global and national clean energy and energy security objectives. Support for the value of nuclear power was underscored at the international climate change conference, COP 28 in Dubai, where nuclear energy received a major endorsement as one of the solutions for carbon reduction. Also at that meeting, over two dozen countries endorsed the tripling of nuclear energy capacity by 2050. In the U.S. there is a shared commitment to advancing nuclear energy for a more sustainable future. In a fractured political environment, it is one of a few bipartisan issues. The momentum behind nuclear energy is palpable, with major legislation propelling its advancement. The accompanying graphic serves as a visual representation of the key U.S. legislative initiatives that have become law and are driving the trajectory of nuclear energy forward. For a more in-depth exploration of these legislative measures and their impacts, a more detailed graphic is available here.

KPMG International published an article detailing how innovative nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced reactors can drive Net Zero goals and boost energy security while balancing emerging risks and opportunities. Advanced reactors are currently at a transition point, and KPMG argues that developers need to move from technology to project development. However, two challenges facing investors and project developers are first-of-a-kind risks associated with developing these new technologies and challenging investment decisions as there are more than 70 reactor design types currently in development. Additionally, while the market awaits the development of SMRs and advanced reactors, constraints in human resources and supply chains can also impact the timeline of deployment.

IAEA Experts have continued to be denied access to the reactor halls of units 1, 2, and 6 of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, hindering the organization's ability to monitor nuclear safety, integrity and security at the plant. The team has not been able to visit the north-western part of any of the six turbine halls since mid-October, while the occupying Russian authorities have informed the IAEA that entry may be granted in approximately one week. The IAEA team has been at the facility since September 2022.

The IAEA has discussed with the personnel running the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant maintenance activities and the annual maintenance plan that includes the safety systems, diesel generators, unit transformers, and the 750 kV electrical switchyard. While these discussions have been taking place, the IAEA did not receive any copies of plans for review. But the Agency plans to continue to closely monitor the situation. Additionally, Russian landmines have been returned to a buffer zone between the internal and external fences of the plant. While the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) calls for a demilitarization and the return of the Zaporizhzhia power plant to Energoatom, Russia continues to defend the placement of landmines.  

Ukraine will begin building nine blocks for nuclear power stations using American AR1000 technology this year. This move is in light of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy's efforts to boost electricity generation capacity. As the war in Ukraine continues, the Ukrainian government and other Western nations are pushing nuclear and green energy technologies to combat their current reliance on Russian fuels.

British energy company Newcleo and French nuclear startup Naarea have launched a partnership to develop Generation-IV fast neutron reactors. The partnership is also open for others to join and will focus on a variety of areas including joint research and development for heat exchangers and materials as well as unlocking funding for research and fuel cycle infrastructure. This agreement is part of a larger trend towards developing advanced nuclear technologies that can help countries meet their energy needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

France and the Czech Republic have called on the European Commission to put nuclear power on an equal footing with renewable energies in all European Union policies. The countries' key target is to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and decrease carbon dioxide emissions by developing hydro, nuclear, and renewables with storage as well as by improving access to financing for nuclear related projects. While this has caused backlash from anti-nuclear EU states, the European Commission has not yet rejected the idea.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed optimism about the future of nuclear energy in Switzerland. Grossi praised Switzerland's commitment and efforts to ensure the safety and security of its nuclear power plants as the country considers extending the lifetimes of its existing nuclear reactors. Grossi’s assessment comes in light of his presentation at Davos where he extolled the clean energy value of nuclear power.

India's Department of Atomic Energy is exploring collaboration with France's Électricité de France (EDF) on the development of small modular reactors (SMR). The two companies are likely to complete a preliminary agreement to collaborate on the advanced technology when French President Emmanuel Macron visits New Delhi this week. This strategic initiative is aimed at curbing India's reliance on coal and to meet rising energy demand through the use of nuclear power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the construction of the fourth and final unit at Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. The power plant is being built by Rosatom and will cost $30 billion with a combined capacity of 4.8 GW. This nuclear power plant will help Egypt to meet the increasing power demand domestically and position itself as an electricity exporter to neighboring countries.

France's Framatome signed a memorandum of understanding with the Polish National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) formalizing their collaboration on nuclear education and research. Framatome and NCBJ will jointly explore opportunities in areas such as structural mechanics, thermal hydraulics, EPR technology, and safety analysis of nuclear components and systems. This collaboration signifies Framatome's support for Poland's nuclear energy program, expanding programs and opportunities within Polish universities and reflects a concerted effort to prepare the next generation of professionals in the field.

Westinghouse and Prodigy Clean Energy are collaborating on a transportable floating nuclear power plant. This cooperation aims to deploy Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor, designed for microgrids and decentralized generation markets, by 2030 with the first project targeted for Canada. Prodigy is also developing a larger version of this power station that can be deployable at the shoreline which will be suitable for coal replacement and grid-scale power generation.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi promoted nuclear technology as vital to the future clean energy mix at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The first presentation on the topic of new nuclear technologies covered nuclear energy developments and the environments needed to ensure their uptake. Other presentations looked at the current and future roles of nuclear power in the energy mix, as well as the commercial possibilities being unlocked by small modular reactors (SMR) and fusion technology.

Market research firm Savanta conducted a multinational opinion poll, titled the Public Attitudes toward Clean Energy (PACE) Index, which surveyed over 20,000 respondents from 20 countries. The index found that 46% of respondents support the use of nuclear energy while 28% oppose its use, with the highest amount of support coming from China and India. Additionally, 79% said they are concerned about nuclear safety. However, 40% of respondents within this group still support the use of nuclear energy while 33% in this group oppose nuclear energy.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has been awarded a $42.7 million grant to support the development of its BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in the United Kingdom. The design will now enter the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. GE Hitachi added that it is developing a UK supply chain which includes a memorandum of understanding with Sheffield Forgemasters for a potential supply agreement for UK-sourced steel forgings in support of the deployment of BWRX-300 reactors.

The British government aims to speed up action on new nuclear projects by introducing a time frame requiring an investment decision every five years from 2030 to 2044. The government wants to secure investment decisions to deliver 3 to 7 gigawatts of new nuclear power on this time scale and wants to develop new regulations to speed up the deployment of new nuclear plants. The United Kingdom aims to have up to 24 gigawatts of nuclear energy by the middle of the century, which could meet a quarter of the country’s forecast electricity demand.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has called for a summit with senior figures in the government in order to seek a national and political consensus on nuclear energy. Slovenia has plans to build a new nuclear power plant, the JEK2 project, which will be located right next to the existing Krško Nuclear Power Plant. The planned timeline is for a final investment decision on JEK2028 by 2028, with the aim of new capacity coming online in the 2030s.

Bulgaria published an invitation for companies to express interest in the construction of the Kozloduy 7 nuclear power unit. Bulgaria is aiming to have two new Westinghouse AP000 units at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, with the target date for the completion of unit 7 being in 2033 with the eighth unit to follow 2-3 years after the first one. Those seeking selection for the engineering, construction, procurement, and commissioning of the new AP1000 unit have until February 2 to respond to the invitation, and the shortlisted candidates will submit their offers in a separate future process.

Uranium has crashed through the $100 per pound ceiling, the highest since 2007, as demand for the product is currently outstripping supply. Uranium companies are enjoying boom trading conditions with share-price increases of more than 80% since this time last year. However, the problem for new nuclear power producers is that major uranium producers such as Cameco and Kazatomprom have warned of production shortfalls. The question for investors is whether this latest uranium boom can continue.

Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom announced that it expects to adjust its 2024 uranium production guidance due to factors such as the availability of sulphuric acid and delays in completing construction works at newly developed deposits. The company noted that challenges related to global supply chains and limited availability of certain key operating materials and reagents would pose a risk to planned production increases. If the ongoing issues continue through this year, 2025 production plans may also be affected.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has concluded that there are no fundamental barriers to licensing X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactor. X-energy says the outcome increases confidence in proceeding with formal license applications for its reactors in Canada. The CNSC began its vendor design review (VDR) of the Xe-100 in 2020, and the CNSC also identified some technical areas requiring further development in order for X-energy to better demonstrate adherence to CNSC requirements. The Xe-100 is an 80 MWe high-temperature reactor that can be scaled into a “four-pack” 320 MWe power plant.

Canada’s government granted a patent for Moltex Energy’s Waste to Stable Salt (WATSS) process for converting any uranium oxide fuel into molten salt reactor fuel. The WATSS is part of a suite of next-generation nuclear technologies being developed by Moltex Energy. Moltex is aiming to deploy a first-of-a-kind stable salt fast reactor with a WATSS unit and a GridReserve thermal energy storage system at the Point LePreau nuclear power site in New Brunswick.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and North American power producer Capital Power Corp. will jointly examine the feasibility of developing small modular reactors (SMR) in Alberta. The companies announced the signing of a two-year commitment to assess the feasibility of jointly owning and operating SMRs that will supply electricity to Alberta’s energy market, reviewing a range of SMR technologies such as GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300. Capital Power CEO Avik Dey suggested a potential in-service time frame target of between 2030 and 2035.

The chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), B.C. Pathak, told The Hindu that the NPCIL plans to commission a nuclear power reactor every year from now on. Mr. Pathak has more than 30 years of experience implementing the NPCIL’s nuclear power projects. India has made recent progress building new nuclear reactors, with two units achieving criticality at the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant in 2023, and another unit at the Rawatbhata site expected to be commissioned in 2024.

Construction of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Plant in the United Kingdom moved a step closer after the British government officially triggered a Development Consent Order (DCO). British Nuclear Minister Andrew Bowie described triggering the DCO as a major milestone for Sizewell C and Britain’s ambition to deliver up to 24 GW of nuclear power by 2050. The Sizewell C nuclear project is expected to cost around £20 billion, with Électricité de France (EDF) wanting to build a two-reactor nuclear power station that will generate 3.2 GW of electricity. Additionally, the British government is making an additional £1.3 billion ($1.9 billion) in funding available for the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear reactor.

Finnish utility Fortum is looking at several potential sites in Finland and Sweden to build new nuclear power plants using small or large-scale reactors and is conducting a review of nuclear and heat generation capacity in these two countries. In Finland, Fortum named its existing Loviisa nuclear site and a location near steel producer Outokumpu’s site in Tornio as possible sites for new nuclear reactors.

Various parties in the Dutch nuclear and education sector have signed a declaration of intent aimed at boosting vocational education in nuclear technology. The declaration will work to jointly develop a new nuclear curriculum in order to increase the interest of students for careers in the nuclear sector, as well as develop a multi-year plan for cooperation and exploring funding opportunities. Nuclear power currently has a small role in the Dutch electricity supply, with the Borssele pressurized water reactor providing about 3% of the country’s total generation.

Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology Company claims to have developed a miniature atomic energy battery that can generate electricity stably and autonomously for 50 years without the need for changing. The battery is the BV100, which Betavolt claims will be the world’s first nuclear battery to be mass-produced. Betavolt adds that its batteries can meet the needs of long-lasting power supply in multiple scenarios, such as aerospace, AI equipment, advanced sensors, and micro-electromechanical systems.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) plans to start the fourth release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in late February. About 7,800 cubic meters of the treated water will be sent into the Pacific Ocean, similar to the previous three discharges. The staged water releases began last August, with the fifth and sixth discharges scheduled to occur during the fiscal year ending in March 2025.

The Biden administration finalized approval of $1.1 billion to help keep the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power plant operational. The funding is part of the administration’s plan to keep the plant producing electricity to at least 2030. The facility supports California’s efforts to ward off blackouts as climate change stresses the state’s energy system. Pacific Gas & Electricity Company (PG&E) has submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year extension of the plant’s operating licenses.

President Joe Biden is dropping former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) official Jeff Baran as his pick to fill the open seat on the NRC. The White House wanted the Senate to reconfirm Baran before his term ended last July, but this failed due to opposition from a handful of Democratic senators and every Republican senator. Some pro-nuclear advocates opposed what they saw as Baran’s unwillingness to overhaul the regulatory process to support the building of new types of reactor technologies.

Puget Sound Energy is contributing $10 million towards the feasibility of Energy Northwest’s program to develop and deploy a next-generation nuclear energy facility. Energy Northwest has already determined that X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor is the most suitable design to meet Washington’s specific needs. A joint development agreement signed between Energy Northwest and X-energy envisages the deployment of up to 12 Xe-100 units at a site adjacent to the existing Columbia Nuclear Power Plant, with the first module expected to be online by 2030.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved NAC International’s Optimus-L packaging system to contain and transport high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) TRISO fuel. The Optimus-L is a lightweight and modular nuclear materials packaging system that can be expanded and optimized for multiple types of nuclear materials. This is the first time the NRC has licensed high-capacity packaging systems for HALEU TRISO fuel in the United States.

Uranium Energy Corp.'s (UEC) board of directors approved restarting the in-situ leach (ISL) uranium operation at the Christensen Ranch facility in Wyoming. First uranium production is expected to resume in August of this year. Uranium recovered from Christensen Ranch will be processed at the Irigaray Central Reprocessing Plant, with a licensed capacity of 2.5 million pounds of U3O8 per year.

Dominion Energy has filed a notice with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it intends to apply for a license extension of 20 years for two units at the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant. No formal license renewal application will be submitted until 2025 at the latest, and a decision could come as late as 2035. Millstone 2’s plant license currently runs through 2035, while Millstone 3’s license will expire in 2045.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published its 2024 Doomsday Clock Statement, which remains at 90 seconds to midnight. Some of the ominous trends leading toward global catastrophe include the ongoing war in Ukraine and the risk of nuclear escalation, the increasing environmental impacts caused by climate change, and rapid developments in the life sciences and other disruptive technologies. In order to turn back the clock, Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences calls on nations to address common threats with common actions, including the United States, Russia, and China commencing dialogue about each of the global threats outlined in the statement.

The Stimson Center released a report on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and its pursuit of an experimental light water reactor (ELWR). The Stimson Center examines the ELWR’s operational status using newly acquired high-resolution thermal and electro-optical image. Recent indications from the IAEA and several analysts propose that North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center’s ELWR likely began operations in October 2023, raising concerns that it can be repurposed for plutonium production.

The International Energy Agency published a report on the state of global electricity markets and provides projections for the next few years. The report found that nuclear power is likely to break records in 2025 as more countries invest in reactors to fuel the shift to a low-carbon global economy. China, India, South Korea, and European countries such as France are likely to have new reactors come online, while others such as Japan are also forecast to return nuclear units to generation. Additionally, the report found that renewable energy is likely to overtake coal as a power source early next year, making up roughly a third of total electricity generation globally.

HTF Market Intelligence released a study on trends in the nuclear energy market and predictions for future growth. The study examines primary market growth drivers, as well as challenges towards future nuclear deployment. HTF Market segments the Global Nuclear Energy market by reactor type, as well as categorizing by application and region. Among the organizations studied include NuScale, Westinghouse, Électricité de France (EDF), Cameco, Rosatom, and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

The Nuclear Business Platform published its 2024 edition of the India Nuclear Industry Report. Key topics covered in this report include a strategic overview of energy transition and nuclear development in India, the commercialization approach for small modular and advanced reactors, project delivery and management, managing the triad of safety, quality, and performance, and building public perception. India is currently seeking to generate 9% of its electricity from nuclear sources by 2047, as well as increasing its installed nuclear power capacity from 7,380 MW to 22,480 MW by 2031.

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