NRC Approves Restart of Palisades NPP
Sizewell C Gets Final Investment Decision
ORNL, Atomic Canyon Advance Nuclear Licensing with AI
INL Partners with Amazon Web Services to Develop AI Tools
TVA and Type One Energy Sign First Contracts for Fusion Power Plant
UK to Ease Planning Rules for Fusion Projects
Japan’s Kansai Electric Plans New Nuclear Reactor
Bulgaria Taps CITI Bank to Help Finance Kozloduy Nuclear Project
Rolls-Royce and CEZ Agree on TemelĂn for SMRs
UAE’s ENEC in MOU with Westinghouse To Boost Nuclear Energy in the U.S.
NRC Approves Restart of Palisades NPP
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved a series of licensing and regulatory actions that will pave the way for restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant. NRC Approval Letter
The pressurized-water reactor (PWR) located in Covert, MI, ceased operations in May 2022. In late 2023, Holtec began filing licensing and regulatory requests to support returning the plant to operational status.
While these NRC approvals will allow Holtec to load fuel, there are still several licensing actions under NRC review and additional requirements that need to be met before the plant can start up under the original operating license, which would expire March 24, 2031. In order to operate beyond that date, in about two years Holtec will need to prepare and submit an application for a 20-year license extension. If granted, it would take the plant to 2051.
Following technical and environmental reviews that were completed on schedule, the NRC has approved the transfer of operating authority for the plant and its independent spent fuel storage facility from Holtec Decommissioning International LLC to Palisades Energy LLC. Â
The NRC has also approved Holtec’s request to reinstate various documents and programs that were in place prior to shut down. Among these are the technical specifications, emergency plan, emergency action levels, and physical security plan, as well as programs for quality assurance, maintenance, and in-service inspections. Holtec will be under continuous onsite scrutiny by an NRC Resident Inspector.
A May 2025 report contains the NRC staff’s evaluation and conclusion that there are no significant environmental impacts from restarting Palisades. NRC FONSI More information on the Palisades restart review is available on the NRC website.
In a press statement Holtec International said the NRC’s action reflects its thorough review of Palisades’ licensing basis under the agency’s existing regulatory framework, marking the first time a previously shut-down U.S. nuclear plant has received approval to return to operations.
Holtec added that with this approval, Palisades is authorized to receive new fuel and formally transition licensed reactor operators to on-shift status.
“The plant continues to progress towards a timely restart, with extensive readiness work underway – including rigorous testing, inspections, and maintenance – to ensure a safe and reliable return to service under ongoing independent federal oversight.”
The project is led by approximately 600 full-time nuclear professionals at Palisades and supported by approximately 1,000 skilled trades workers, vendors, and suppliers.
Holtec’s work on restarting the plant was aided in terms of funding by a $1.52 billion loan approved in September 2024. As of June 2025 $251,878,038 of DOE guaranteed loan funds have been disbursed to Holtec to help fund the reopening of the plant.
Holtec’s Ambitions for a Fleet of Small Modular Reactors
Holtec’s future plans for the site include construction of twin 300 MW PWR type small modular reactors (SMRs). Holtec announced the 300 MW design in December 2024 after years of work on a 160 MW version. Holtec is now in pre-licensing discussions with the NRC which include the submission of topical reports on various safety and operational aspects of the new reactor design. Holtec has said in previous press statements it expects to have the SMRs at the Palisades site in revenue service by the early 2030s.
Holtec intends to expand its business model of building SMRs at the site of closed nuclear power plants. One such site is the former Oyster Creek BWR located on the southern Atlantic coastline of New Jersey. Holtec is the firm that is decommissioning the plant.
Holtec’s ambitions for building SMRs in a factory production mode, to achieve economics of scale, include consideration of sites in the rocky mountain west to replace closed coal fired power plants.
While Holtec also has global plans for landing customers for its 300 MW SMRs, such as India, it recently scaled back its ambitions in the UK after the government selected Rolls-Royce as its SMR supplier of choice over Holtec and two other SMR developers.
Holtec’s global SMR ambitions are supported by collaborations with Japan’s Mitsubishi for I&C and with South Korea’s Hyundai as the firm’s construction partner. Overall, Holtec said in a press statement it has its eyes on deploying a 10 GW “fleet” of SMRs across the US and in other nations or 33 of the 300 MW SMRs.
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Sizewell C Gets Final Investment Decision
(WNN) UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has signed the final investment decision (FID) for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, England. The government will be the largest shareholder in the GBP38 billion $51 billion project alongside EDF, Centrica, La Caisse and Amber Infrastructure.
The government confirmed it will take an initial 44.9% stake to become the single biggest equity shareholder in the project. Canadian investment fund La Caisse will have a 20% stake, British multinational energy and services company Centrica 15%, and international infrastructure asset manager Amber Infrastructure will have an initial 7.6% (with an option to acquire a further 2.4% from the government exercisable within 24 months of Revenue Commencement). France’s EDF announced earlier this month that it will be taking a 12.5% take in the project.
France’s export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export earlier proposed a GBP5 billion debt guarantee to back EDF’s commercial bank loans. Alongside this investment, the UK’s National Wealth Fund – the government’s principal investor and policy bank – is making its first investment in nuclear energy. It will provide the majority of the project’s debt finance, working alongside Bpifrance Assurance Export, to help support the building of the power plant. The government said it is providing the National Wealth Fund with additional capital to facilitate this lending to Sizewell C.
Centrica noted that its investment in the project includes an agreement in principle for an initial 20-year offtake agreement for its share of Sizewell C’s electricity production, and for Centrica “to provide Sizewell C with a route to market services for additional volumes.”
The final investment decision also unlocks financing for British nuclear energy by adopting the Regulated Asset Base funding model, which will see consumers contributing towards the cost of new nuclear power plants during the construction phase. Under the previous Contracts for Difference system developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving revenue when the power plant starts generating electricity.
The plan is for Sizewell C to feature two EPR 1,600 MW reactors producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a similar design to the two-unit plant being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, with the aim of building it more quickly and at lower cost as a result of the experience gained from what is the first new nuclear construction project in the UK for about three decades.
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ORNL, Atomic Canyon Advance Nuclear Licensing with AI
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and artificial intelligence company Atomic Canyon signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to streamline the licensing process for nuclear power plants with artificial intelligence for license application reviews.
The agreement, signed during the Nuclear Opportunities Workshop (NOW) held at the Knoxville Convention Center, outlines their shared intentions to use high-performance computing (HPC) to create high-fidelity simulations that ensure the safety of designs while accelerating licensing with artificial intelligence to automate aspects of the review process.
High-performance computing (HPC) is the art and science of using groups of very powerful computer systems to perform complex simulations, computations, and data analysis out of reach for standard commercial compute systems available.
With a legacy rooted in the Manhattan Project, ORNL is home to DOE Office of Science user facilities including the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which houses the Frontier supercomputer; and other world-leading facilities for applied energy sciences. This combination enables companies like Atomic Canyon to access cutting-edge tools for simulation, digital qualification, materials development and component testing.
Using ORNL’s Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer, Atomic Canyon developed novel AI models designed specifically for the nuclear industry called FERMI, which powers Atomic Canyon’s Neutron AI platform. FERMI models enable intelligent search capabilities, allowing users to quickly locate relevant documents across vast repositories of technical documentation.
The computing power of Frontier was necessary to teach FERMI models the technical language of the nuclear industry based on the vocabulary used in the more than 53 million pages of nuclear documents contained within the NRC’s ADAMS database, the NRC’s official record-keeping system that documents the history of every reactor in the country.
Atomic Canyon’s Neutron AI Platform not only allows users to find information faster and more efficiently, but it also provides clear and meaningful context to complex information, making it easier for nuclear power professionals to understand and develop problem-solving solutions.
The agreement also allows Atomic Canyon to further develop Neutron Enterprise – a proprietary version of their Neutron AI platform, but with exclusive capabilities and enhanced cybersecurity features to protect sensitive nuclear information.
Prior coverage on this blog: Diablo Canyon manages nuclear paperwork with AI
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INL Partners with Amazon Web Services to Develop AI Tools
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) will collaborate to use AWS’s advanced capabilities and cloud infrastructure to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools for nuclear energy projects.
INL leads the nation in adapting AI for the nuclear energy industry. The laboratory is developing a suite of technologies that use AI to reduce the costs and timeframes of designing, licensing, building and operating nuclear facilities.
Ultimately, the tools could be used for safe and reliable autonomous operation of nuclear reactors and accelerating deployment of new advanced reactors.
AWS’s advanced computing power and AI foundation models through Amazon Bedrock will help INL further develop these capabilities.
The agreement with AWS fits with a larger INL strategy to create an ecosystem where Department of Energy laboratories, AI technology companies and nuclear energy developers can collaborate.
“Our collaboration with Amazon Web Services marks a significant leap forward in integrating advanced AI technologies into our nuclear energy research and development initiatives,” said INL Director John Wagner.
By providing INL access to its cloud computing and AI capabilities, AWS is enabling “nuclear energy AI at scale,” said Chris Ritter, division director of Scientific Computing and AI at INL.
“Through this collaboration with AWS, we have access to AI models, GPUs (graphical processing units) and specialized cloud services, including Amazon’s Bedrock service, which will enable INL researchers to use many leading foundation models to build nuclear energy applications,” Ritter said.
“Amazon offers customized chips such as Inferentia and Trainium, specialized tools such as Amazon SageMaker, and solution architects to partner our laboratory with the commercial AI industry.”
The collaboration will accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy technologies to power data centers of the future. Advanced reactors with growing levels of autonomy — developed through Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding — could be part of the solution.
INL will use AWS Compute and AI tools to develop a digital twin of a small modular reactor — nuclear reactors that range in size from 20 to 300 megawatts of electricity. Digital twins are virtual models of real-life assets such as nuclear reactors. A digital twin of a small modular reactor could use near real-time data from the physical reactor to enable advanced modeling and simulation, which is an important step toward using AI for autonomous operation.
Prior coverage on this blog: Challenges and Opportunities for Nuclear Digital Twins
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TVA and Type One Energy Sign First Contracts for Fusion Power Plant
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Type One Energy announced that they signed the first set of commercial contracts related to Project Infinity, which is developing fusion power plant technology to supply TVA with secure, reliable, and clean energy by as early as the mid-2030s.
TVA, through its Power Service Shops (PSS) facility in Muscle Shoals, AL and with support from other locations, will assist in the development of tailored welding and fabrication techniques for Project Infinity.
These manufacturing and construction methods will be used for the Type One Energy Infinity One stellarator fusion machine currently being deployed at TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant near Knoxville, TN. They are also intended for the potential subsequent TVA fusion power plant project, which utilizes Type One Energy’s Infinity Two stellarator technology.
Developing a commercially viable fusion power plant requires not only the uniquely stable, steady-state, and efficient operating characteristics of stellarator technology, but also the broad manufacturing, construction, and operating experience of the power generation industry.
The ability for Project Infinity to deliver near-term economic benefit for the Tennessee Valley is being demonstrated by the work which will begin immediately as a result of these contracts with Type One Energy.
The advanced manufacturing contracts with PSS are one aspect of the quick pace of activities surrounding deployment of Infinity One at TVA’s retired Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, TN. Engineering and construction work to prepare the facility for assembly of Infinity One is underway by a team of TVA and Type One Energy employees.
Prior coverage on this blog: Q&A with Type One Energy on its Plan to Build a Stellarator Fusion Prototype at a TVA Site
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UK to Ease Planning Rules for Fusion Projects
(WNN) The UK government announced plans to develop a National Policy Statement to unblock fusion energy projects, making the UK the first country in the world to develop fusion-specific planning rules.
Currently, fusion projects must submit an application to the local authority with no set timelines for approval and no guidance on which sites are appropriate – potentially hindering the technology’s development in the UK.
The plans will see fusion introduced into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime, putting fusion energy projects on the same footing as other clean energy technologies such as solar, onshore wind and nuclear fission. It will help fusion energy projects move faster along the process from identifying sites to the start of construction.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a press statement, “The introduction of a National Policy Statement will provide clarity to developers and streamline the planning process for fusion, giving applicants clearer guidance on where and how quickly projects can be developed. This will give industry certainty, break down regulatory barriers and get projects built quicker to cement the UK’s position at the forefront of the global race for fusion.”
The UK Atomic Energy Agency (UKAEA) is developing a global center of excellence for fusion power at its Culham site near Oxford University. It is developing a prototype tokamak fusion machine which the UKAEA is targeting to be in operation on a timescale of 2040.
The government’s Spending Review – released earlier this month – also delivered a commitment to invest more than GBP2.5 billion (USD3.4 billion) in fusion research and development. This includes progressing with the STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) program, which aims to develop and build a world-leading fusion power plant by 2040 at West Burton near Retford in Nottinghamshire. The demonstration plant is due to begin operating by 2040.
In one of the more uplifting and inspiring branding statements in an industry full of dull but essential engineering talk, the UKAEA says of its efforts, “We’re not wishing on a star.
We’re building one.”
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Japan’s Kansai Electric Plans New Nuclear Reactor
(NucNet) Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power has become the first since the 2011 Fukushima disaster to advance plans to build a new commercial nuclear power plant in Japan.
Kansai Electric said on 07/22/25 it would resume a an assessment into whether it could build a new reactor at the existing Mihama nuclear power station site in Fukui prefecture in western Japan.
The survey was suspended after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered the country’s worst nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (Tepco) Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear station north of Tokyo.
The Japan Times said that if the survey finds it feasible to build a new reactor at Mihama, Kansai Electric is expected to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulation Authority and “accelerate related moves”.
Resuming the review marks the first push by a Japanese power company to advance concrete plans to construct a nuclear energy plant from scratch since the Fukushima disaster.
The move comes after the government adopted a new energy plan in February, clarifying its policy of making maximum use of nuclear plants and outlining plans to work on the development and installation of next-generation reactors.
The government said the country will make maximum use of nuclear power as it prepares for a surge in electricity demand from data centers.
At the Mihama nuclear station, Units 1 and 2 were permanently shut down in 2015 and are to be decommissioned. Unit 3 has been returned to commercial operation since Fukushima, but next year will mark its 50th year in operation.
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Bulgaria Taps CITI Bank to Help Finance Kozloduy Nuclear Project
Deal will support construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors
(NucNet) Bulgaria has selected US-based banking group Citi to coordinate financing for the expansion of the Kozloduy nuclear power station located on the border of Bulgaria and Romania about 300 miles southwest of Bucharest, Romania.
According to a statement by the Bulgarian energy ministry, the agreement means CITI is the “exclusive coordinator and lead arranger” of export credit for the project, marking the bank’s largest nuclear financing effort in central and eastern Europe. Energy minister Zhecho Stankov signed off on the partnership during talks in New York with Citi’s leadership.
The deal will support the construction of two new reactor units at Kozloduy using Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor technology.
“This is a significant step toward the successful realization of this priority energy project for the government,” Stankov said after meeting with Stephanie von Friedeburg, CITI’ss global head of public sector banking.
“The partnership with CITI is a clear sign of the strong trust that international stakeholders place in Bulgaria and its energy sector.”
Kozloduy, on the Danube River in northern Bulgaria, is the country’s only commercial nuclear power station and provides about a third of its electricity. There are two 1,000-MW Russia-designed VVER units in operation at the site and four older VVER-440 PWRs under decommissioning.
US-based Westinghouse Electric was selected in 2023 to be the technology vendor of the Kozloduy expansion project. In early 2024, Sofia chose South Korea’s Hyundai E&C for the construction, delivery and eventual commissioning of the proposed plants, Kozloduy-7 and -8.
Earlier reports said that Bulgarian officials expect the cost of the two-unit Kozloduy expansion to remain below $14 billion. At $7 billion each this cost ceiling implies the cost control target for the twin AP1000s is $6,100/Kw.
Stankov told a conference last month that Bulgaria is prepared to finance 20-30% of the project with public funds, or between $2.8-4.2 billion while also engaging in discussions with export-import banks from the US and South Korea to secure additional debt financing.
Last February a senior team from the U.S. Export-Import Bank met with Bulgarian officials to hold discussions about financing the project. Energy Minister Stankov met with EXIM Senior Advisors Bryce McFerran, the EX-IM’s Chief Banking Officer, and José Cunningham, a former Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department who later in his career was a senior official for international trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce. The meeting focused on financing the construction of two Westinghouse AP 1000 nuclear reactors.
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Rolls-Royce and CEZ Agree on TemelĂn for SMRs
Rolls-Royce SMR has signed an early works agreement with Czech utility CEZ to commence site-specific activities at the TemelĂn site in the South Bohemia region of the Czech Republic.
The agreement follows CEZ’s selection of Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred partner for delivering up to three gigawatts (3GW) of sustainable power in Czechia. Each unit from Rolls-Royce’s suite of SMRs can produce 470MW.
A joint team has been assembled to undertake preliminary tasks at the site, which already houses the operational TemelĂn nuclear power station.
The scope of early works involves acquiring regulatory approvals and licences, conducting environmental assessments and executing initial groundwork at TemelĂn.
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UAE’s ENEC in MOU with Westinghouse To Boost Nuclear Energy in the U.S.
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) and Westinghouse Electric Company in the US have signed a preliminary agreement to boost the use of advanced nuclear energy solutions in America. The agreement was preceded by a visit to the UAE by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright last April. One of Wright’s objectives in making the trip was to sell the UAE on making investments in U.S. energy infrastructure via its massive sovereign wealth fund.
ENEC, part of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, is now looking beyond the Barakah plant as it seeks to capitalize on its expertise on large-scale plant development, advanced reactors, research and development and clean molecules. As part of its strategy, Enec is pursuing opportunities for investment, collaboration and deployment of nuclear technology internationally to boost energy security and sustainability.
According to the joint press statement, under the agreement between ENEC and Westinghouse, the companies will explore ways to accelerate the use of the AP1000 nuclear reactor in the US. ENEC.
Additionally, Westinghouse will look at ways to collaborate across a broad range of opportunities, including new build and  restart projects in the U.S., development of commercial and operational deployment models for AP1000 reactors, and fuel supply chains, operations and maintenance services
The agreement, signed in Washington, DC, is aligned with US priorities to quadruple the nation’s nuclear power generation by 2050 to meet rising energy demand, including from the expansion of artificial intelligence and the technology sector.
Mohamed Al Hammadi, managing director and chief executive of Enec, said, “The world is turning to nuclear energy as a necessity for delivering clean and reliable baseload electricity to meet power demand in parallel with protecting the grid. This marks a significant step in supporting the US’s bold ambitions to rapidly expand its nuclear fleet.”
Dan Sumner, Interim CEO of Westinghouse, said: “The U.S. has a bold vision to have 10 large-scale nuclear reactors under construction by 2030, We believe that ENEC’s expertise in large-scale nuclear deployment will help us achieve this objective.”
At the signing ceremony, Westinghouse was represented by Jacques Besnainou, Executive Vice President, Global Markets and Chief Commercial Officer (left).
Recently, CEO Sumner CEO Dan Sumner told a conference on energy and artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh that the company plans to build 10 nuclear reactors in the US with the first one slated to be under construction by 2030.
Sumner told the conference the economic impact of the 10 reactors would be about $75 billion at multiple locations across the US with $6 billion of economic activity taking place in Pennsylvania.
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