GEH BWRX-300 SMR Approved for Construction at OPG’s Darlington Site

• GEH BWRX-300 SMR Approved for Construction at OPG’s Darlington Site
• NRC Accepts for Review Construction Permit Application for X-Energy SMRs
• EnergySolutions Pursues Early Site Permit from NRC for Kewaunee Power Station
• NuScale Expects Final Investment Decision for Romanian Site in 2026
• Belgium Parliament Votes To Abandon Nuclear Phaseout Plans
• Zeno Power Raises $50 million in Series B Investor Funding
• DOE Uranium Laser Enrichment Contactors Note Progress

GEH BWRX300 SMR Approved for Construction at OPG’s Darlingtion Site

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH), announced that construction of the first BWRX-300 small modular reactor has been approved by the Province of Ontario and Ontario Power Generation (OPG). The approval clears the way for construction of the first of four planned BWRX-300s at OPG’s Darlington site to begin soon with completion of the first unit scheduled by the end of 2030. (GEH Website FAQ)

Early site preparation work at Darlington has been completed and in April the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission granted OPG a license to construct the first unit.

In the US TVA is expected to apply for a license to build multiple BWRX-300 SMRs. However, the licensing process is still in the topical report stage. TVA has submitted a notification of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it plans to submit construction permit application (CPA) for a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) unit at its Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, TN, by June 2025.

The 300 MW BWRX-300, a 10th generation design, builds on decades of real-world boiling water reactor operating experience and innovation, using a standard design, a proven delivery model and GVH’s experience with cross-border regulatory collaboration. CNSC and the NRC are collaborating in joint regulatory reviews of the safety of the reactor.

Cost of OPG SMRs Higher than Expected

According to a report in the Toronto, Canada, Globe & Mail, the Canadian government announced its wholly-owned utility Ontario Power Generation can spend $6.1-billion to build the first BWRX-300 reactor adjacent to OPG’s existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. In addition, it can spend another $1.6-billion on common infrastructure such as administrative buildings and cooling water tunnels the new reactor will share with three additional BWRX-300s to be built later. The first reactor is scheduled to be completed in 2029 which indicates a three-and-a-half year timeline from breaking ground to revenue service.

The Globe & Mail reported that the total cost of the first-of-a-kind 300 MW unit will be $7.7 billion. Those remaining units are expected to cost substantially less. The cost of the four SMR plant, which will provide 1,200 MW of electricity, is $20.9-billion, expressed in 2024 dollars and including interest charges and contingencies.

For GEH to be competitive, the production of a “fleet” of 300 MW SMRs using “factory” fabrication of major systems, needs to come down to $1.5 billion per unit or $5,000/Kw to be competitive with the economies of scale available with larger 1,000 MW or greater units. In the UK Rolls-Royce has advertised that it can produce its 470 MW PWR, in “fleet mode” at a price of $1.8 billion per unit. However, so far none have been built and the UK government is bogged down in budget reviews in determining how much financial support to give to SMR developers to build their first-of-a-kind units. A decision is expected by mid-June of this year.

OPG’s costs are far higher than the price point needed for widespread adoption of SMRs. For comparison, according to the Globe & Mail, a recently-completed 377 MW natural gas-fired power station in Saskatchewan cost $825 million or about $2,200/Kw.

Early on in its marketing of the BWRX300, GEH GE Hitachi said its price point fo the design was $700 million per 300 MW SMR or $2,250/kw which is low enough to compete with natural gas. The estimated delivered price of the first of four units is not in the ballpark.

OPG said the government is not funding the project: the utility will pay for it using its own funds, including cash on hand, cash flow from generating stations and debt. Ontarians will pay OPG back over time through their electricity bills. Officials estimated the average cost of power from the four reactors at $0.14.9/kWh.

In a January report, the International Energy Agency said costs must come down; SMRs need to reach $4,500/kW by 2040 to develop significant market share.

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NRC Accepts for Review Construction Permit Application for X-Energy SMRs

• The firm is planning to build four 80 MW HTGRs for DOW at its Seadrift chemical manufacturing plant in Calhoun County, TX, to provide process heat and power to the facility.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a construction permit application from Long Mott Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. The application requests permission to build Long Mott Generating Station, a multi-unit advanced reactor facility at Dow Chemical’s Seadrift site in Calhoun County, Texas.

The companies submitted the application on March 31, 2025. The Dow Chemical reactor project’s application includes a preliminary safety analysis report and environmental report for the four-unit facility using X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor design.

Each Xe-100 reactor in the facility would generate approximately 80 MW of electricity, as well as heat to enhance the Dow Chemical plant’s efficiency. Each reactor would use helium to cool its core.

The construction permit, if approved, would not authorize the operation of the units. The Dow project will have to submit a separate application for operating licenses in the future. The agency’s acceptance, or “docketing” the application, starts the detailed safety and environmental review. More information about new reactor licensing is available on the NRC website.

Streamlining the Licensing Process 

Dow submitted its application to the NRC in late March to build the Long Mott Generating Station, which includes four Xe-100 reactors at the company’s chemical plant in Southeast Texas. The proposed project is being developed by Dow’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Long Mott Energy LLC. 

The application applied new technology-inclusive guidance issued by the NRC to streamline the review process for non-light-water reactor applicants. 

The new guidance leverages the industry-led TICAP project to support a more risk-informed review of the safety analysis report. The TICAP effort is a direct result of a larger licensing modernization project supported by DOE in collaboration with industry and NRC.  

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EnergySolutions Pursues Early Site Permit from NRC for Kewaunee Power Station

EnergySolutions, a leading provider of nuclear services based in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced it will begin initial planning and scoping activities to support the pursuit of an Early Site Permit (ESP) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at the Kewaunee Power Station in Kewaunee County, WI.

The company is working with WEC Energy Group (WEC) to explore new nuclear generation in Wisconsin. An ESP is a predecessor step to applying for a license to build and operate a nuclear power plant. Usually generic in focus it includes preliminary site characterization information and, once the ESP is issued by the NRC has a 20-year shelf life.

EnergySolutions will execute a structured, multi-year, multi-phase approach. This includes initial planning and scoping activities, conducting in-depth studies related to the Kewaunee Power Station site and environmental considerations, and ultimately securing NRC permits.

In its report on this development, World Nuclear News reported, that in December 2024, EnergySolutions signed a memorandum of understanding with Terrestrial Energy to collaborate on the siting and deployment of Terrestrial’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) plants at sites owned by EnergySolutions.

The IMSR is a type of Gen IV reactor that uses molten salt as both fuel and coolant, with integrated components, which can supply heat directly to industrial facilities or use it to generate electrical power. It does this using conventional nuclear reactor fuel – so-called standard assay low-enriched uranium. The plants’ thermal and electric power supply systems can be customised to meet specific site demand requirements, and can support distributed generation for energy-intensive industry.

In addition to the Kewaunee plant, EnergySolutions is also currently decommissioning Three Mile Island unit 2 in Pennsylvania, which it owns through its TMI-2 Solutions subsidiary, and is decommissioning the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in southern California and Fort Calhoun in Nebraska. It has completed decommissioning work at the Zion plant in Illinois and the La Crosse boiling water reactor in Wisconsin.

Kewaunee, a 566 MW PWR, began commercial operations in 1974 and was sold to Dominion by Wisconsin Public Service and Wisconsin Power & Light in July 2005. Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions acquired the plant, which shut down in 2013 and is undergoing decommissioning, from Dominion Energy in 2022.

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NuScale Expects Final Investment Decision for Romanian Site in 2026

(English language Romanian wire services) SMR developer NuScale is reported to expect a final investment decision on a six SMR 462 MW nuclear power statin at the Doicesti site, a former coal plant. as early as 2026.

CEO John Hopkins on 05/12/25 during a first-quarter earnings call that NuScale Power is in advanced discussions with several potential customers for its SMR technology and could deliver an operational power plant in 2030, “if we close a deal soon,”

He added that the company remains on track to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval in July for its updated 77 MW SMR design.

Hopkins said manufacturing partner Doosan currently has 12 NuScale modules in the works and could deliver 20 per year as orders come in, NuScale envisions deployments with 4, 6 or 12 modules, with total capacities ranging from 308 MW to 924 MW.

Status of the Romanian Power Project

NuScale is continuing initial engineering work as a subcontractor for Fluor Corporation’s 462 MWe plant project in Romania, but has not yet finalized an agreement of its own to supply modules. That could change soon, Hopkins suggested on Monday, noting a planned visit next month with executives from a potential customer to Doosan’s module forging plant in South Korea.

“We are currently focused on finalizing short-term contracts. We are no longer pursuing collaborative protocols,” he said.

“We are in the process of submitting and negotiating contract terms. We have customers who want to … ‘touch the steel.”

Potential customers for initial power deliveries include large data center operators, other heavy industrial customers and utilities.

Any deal will involve multiple parties, said CFO Ramsey Hamady. The buyer of the modules will likely be a power plant operator, working with an end-user, likely a “leading data center or AI developer.” Other deals could include a site operator such as a utility, financial partners and NuScale’s exclusive power plant development partner, ENTRA1.

The company reiterated its “confidence in a firm order by the end of 2025.” The company has “several sources of revenue,” including pre-engineering work for the Romanian project, but a committed power plant project would positively change the company’s financial outlook, company officials said. NuScale expects to record about 25% of its revenue from module sales in the first year of a contract — enough to be cash-flow positive.

Ramsey Hamady, NuScale’s CFO, warned that getting more orders in the first year could be a challenge, given the current constraints on the nuclear supply chain, but the problem would not be insurmountable.

“Once we have that first contract, I think we’ll see more money being invested in the supply chain to increase capacity,” he said. “We’ll be in a great position if the biggest challenge is keeping up with the orders.”

The Romanian Project Plans for Six 77 MW SMRs

The Doicesti nuclear power plant would be equipped with six small modular reactors (SMRs) with technology developed by NuScale, with a total capacity of 462 MW, on the site of the former coal-fired power plant, which was initially purchased by Nova Power and Gas, controlled by businessman Teofil Muresan, who entered into a partnership with Nuclearelectrica in RoPower Nuclear to develop the project. The plant would be completed after 2030, and the costs are not yet known.

Romania’s Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja in early March, “For SMRs, we are in FEED 2, so it is the detailed study stage and, in an optimistic calendar, at the end of the year, if not, somewhere during next year, we will have all the necessary data to make the final investment decision. So, we will know exactly how much it costs, who the possible partners are, who is putting up the money and to what extent Romania can take this project to the end.”

On 07/24/24 SN Nuclearelectrica SA and RoPower Nuclear announced the signing of the Front-End Engineering and Design Phase 2 (FEED 2) contract of the contract with Fluor Corporation.

The collaboration between Nuclearelectrica, RoPower Nuclear, Nova Power & Gas (part of the E-INFRA group), Fluor, Samsung C&T Corporation and Sargent & Lundy will facilitate the development and implementation of NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) plants in Romania, leveraging the expertise of these companies in the field of nuclear energy.

According to the FEED phase 2 contract, Fluor is committed to providing RoPower Nuclear with the design and engineering services necessary for the implementation of the SMR Doicesti nuclear project.

At the end of the FEED 2 phase, Romania will have an updated cost estimate for the project, an updated project schedule, as well as the design and all nuclear safety and security analyses related to the project, necessary for the final investment decision.

ExIm Bank Loan in 2024

According to a report by World Nuclear News, last October the US Exim Bank approvea a $98 million loan for Romanian SMR project. The loan covers pre-project services needed for the development of a first-of-kind NuScale small modular reactor in Romania.

The Exim Bank issued a Letter of Interest in May 2023 for potential support for up to $99 million to RoPower Nuclear for design studies – alongside expressions of interest from public and private partners from Japan, South Korea and the UAE – together amounting to up to $275 million in early-stage support.

These commitments, along with new pledges by Romania, support procurement of long-lead materials, completion of the FEED analysis, provision of project management experts, and regulatory site activities. In addition, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Exim also issued Letters of Interest for potential support of up to $1 billion and $3 billion, respectively, for project deployment.

Exim’s Board of Directors has now approved a final commitment for a USD98 million loan under its Engineering Multiplier Program for pre-project services. It is estimated that the transaction would support 400 US jobs.

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Belgium Parliament Votes To Abandon Nuclear Phaseout Plans

Industry welcomes decision and calls for government to set up urgent ‘task force’ on next steps

(NucNet) Belgium’s parliament on 05/15/25 voted to drop the country’s planned nuclear phaseout in what was welcomed as a decisive step for the economic, environmental and strategic future of the country. The motion was passed with 102 votes in favor, eight against and 31 abstentions.

“The federal parliament has just turned the page on two decades of blockages and hesitation to pave the way for a realistic and resilient energy model,” energy minister Mathieu Bihet of the center-right Reformist Movement party was quoted by news outlets as saying.

“This is not just an energy reform; it is a decisive step for the economic, environmental, and strategic future of our country,” he said.

The Brussels-based Belgian Nuclear Forum welcomed the new legislation, saying Belgium is signalling to the rest of the world that it is once again taking a rational look at energy policy and the climate challenge by no longer ideologically excluding nuclear energy as part of the solution

Serge Dauby, the forum’s managing director, said: “At the same time, this is only a first – but necessary – step in the nuclear revival.

“To successfully realize the nuclear revival, we urgently need to gather all stakeholders in a ‘task force’. We have already lost too much time during the last legislature.”

Dauby added that Belgium needs a realistic and fact-based long-term strategy for energy policy.

Belgium’s government had earlier announced plans to secure the country’s reliance on nuclear energy, aiming for a 4 GW share in the electricity mix as part of efforts to secure a carbon-free baseload capacity. The four reactors remaining in operation have a net capacity of around 3.4 GW

In February 2025 the Doel-1 nuclear power station was permanently shut down. Doel-3 and Tihange-2 had already been shut down in 2022 and 2023. The four reactors remaining in operation are Doel-2, Doel-4, Tihange-1 and Tihange-3.

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Zeno Power Raises $50 million in Series B Investor Funding

Zeno Power, a developer of nuclear batteries – radioisotope power systems – for frontier environments, announced its $50 million Series B funding round, led by Hanaco Ventures with participation from Seraphim, Balerion Space Ventures, JAWS, Vanderbilt University, RiverPark Ventures, Stage 1 Ventures, 7i Capital, Beyond Earth Ventures, and others.

Separately, Admiral John M. Richardson, USN (Ret.), former Chief of Naval Operations, has joined Zeno’s Board of Directors, bolstering the company’s national security leadership as it brings its technology to contested and energy-scarce domains. Admiral Richardson, who also led the Navy’s nuclear fleet, joins Zeno’s Board as the company prepares to demonstrate its first-of-a-kind nuclear battery for maritime applications through a U.S. Department of Defense contract.

Zeno has secured over $60 million in contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA to develop nuclear batteries for demanding maritime and space applications, such as seabed infrastructure, highly maneuverable satellites, and lunar landers. These programs leverage Zeno’s technology to deliver reliable, long-endurance energy in environments where traditional power sources fall short.

This funding brings Zeno’s total capital raised to over $70 million, following its Series A led by Tribe Capital in 2022. Zeno plans to grow its team to over 100 employees across Seattle and Washington, DC, and invest in manufacturing capabilities to scale production and meet customer demand.

Zeno’s nuclear batteries convert the natural decay of radioactive material into thermal and electrical power, offering reliable power in areas where solar power or batteries fail. Over the past three years, the company has achieved key milestones: successfully demonstrating its first nuclear prototype at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, securing an initial Strontium-90 fuel supply from the Department of Energy, and partnering with Westinghouse Electric Company to fabricate nuclear heat sources. These achievements lay the foundation for full-scale deployment across defense, space, and emerging commercial markets.

Zeno recently announced an agreement with iSpace-U.S. to jointly develop technologies that enable lunar missions to survive the harsh lunar night. The companies are targeting a demonstration mission as early as 2027 to validate this capability on the lunar surface.

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DOE Uranium Laser Enrichment Contactors Note Progress

GLE Laser Enrichment

Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE) announces the commencement of TRL-6 demonstration testing at its Test Loop facility in Wilmington, NC. GLE’s testing program is expected to be a pivotal validation of large-scale enrichment performance under operationally relevant conditions. . Concurrently, GLE plans to leverage the lessons learned from these enrichment test runs to significantly progress the scaling and manufacturing of our full-scale plant systems and equipment. GLE has the only third generation enrichment technology previously licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is on track to submit the safety report for licensing the plant and its process this summer.

Uranium can be enriched by separating the isotopes with lasers. Lasers produce precise wavelengths of light, which can then be used to increase the energy of atomic or molecular species consisting of a specific isotope (“laser excitation”), changing their properties and allowing them to be separated. In the case of uranium, the U-235 isotopes are selectively excited and harvested separately from the more common U-238 isotopes, resulting in an increased concentration of U-235 over the initial uranium feedstock. The enriched product can then be used to produce fuel for generating nuclear energy, including for new reactor types that require higher enrichment levels.

GLE is owned jointly by Silex Systems Limited (51%) and Cameco Corporation (49%)

LSI Technologies

LIS Technologies, as one of six awardees of the DOE LEU acquisition program, said in an email rto Neutron Bytes it plans to build its first Production Facility for LEU, and potentially also LEU+, by 2033.

“Our goal is to be in production with a 1 million SWU/yr plant in 2031, and then modularly expand it into a 3 million SWU/yr plant by 2032, and finally a 5 million SWU/yr plant by 2033.”

The US-origin laser enrichment technology that LIS Technologies is developing (CRISLA) makes it seamless to switch between LEU and LEU+.

Both LEU and LEU+ can be produced in a Category III facility, which has less stringent security requirements than a 10-20% Cat II HALEU enrichment facility.

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