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Guest blog post by Bruce Winchell, Attorney-at-law Editor's note: The development of new nuclear energy technologies, especially for small modular reactors, could be impacted by this change. H.R. 1249, as passed by the House, is entitled America Invents Act, and S. 23, as passed by the Senate...

The combined effects of the earthquake and tsunami illustrate the risks of putting all your eggs in one basket The architecture of energy distribution in major industrial nations like Japan, the U.S., France, the U.K. , and Germany is based on very large power plants, often several at a single site,...

Westinghouse and Holtec offer “passively safe” light water reactor designs Two new small modular reactor designs were announced this week, both using scaled down light water reactor (LWR) designs. The use of conventional reactor technologies well understood by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may speed...

The battle for market share is tough no matter what era you are in Guest blog post by Tamar Cerafici A few weeks ago I wrote about the SEC’s bird dogging activities in the nuclear industry. NuScale and its primary investor, Michael Kenwood Capital Management, found themselves under the SEC’s microscope...

It is a pilot for a commercial fast breeder NucNet: The Moscow division of Russian nuclear engineering company Atomenergoproekt ( AEP ) released design documents for the construction of a pilot industrial fast reactor, SVBR-100 , ( conceptual image right ) according to parent company, the Russian state...

Action against an investment firm funding NuScale could jeopardize its quest to commercialize a 45 MW light water reactor Guest blog post by Tamar Cerafici One month after charging Don Gillispie, CEO at Alternative Energy Holding Inc., with fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued another...

Licensing issues could push prototypes projects off course An innovative program to build prototypes of multiple designs of small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is getting off to a rocky start. The anti-nuclear group Friends of the Earth (FOE) is charging that the Department...

Green groups line up to shut down Davis-Besse in Ohio An unusual coalition of national anti-nuclear groups and locals from the Green Party of Ohio and Sierra Club have begun to organize efforts to deny the Davis-Besse nuclear power station a renewed license from the NRC. In mid-December the Green Party...

The utility could be the first customer for B&W's 125 MW units Babcock & Wilcox may be getting some early holiday cheer from the news that the Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA ) is seriously talking about acquiring six of the B&W 125 MW mPower small modular reactors (SMRs). At an estimated...

NRC and ANS announcements point to a brighter future for licensing innovative technologies Two developments in the normally quiet week prior to the end of summer Labor Day weekend show the future of small nuclear reactors could be brighter than the past. There’s a new point person at the Nuclear Regulatory...

Nuclear industry group leads efforts to overcome regulatory barriers to commercial success Last winter the Nuclear Energy Institute ( NEI ) thought it might get 75-100 people to show up for a forum on small modular reactors (SMRs). The nuclear industry's flagship trade group was pleasantly surprised...

American Nuclear Society committee white papers are out A special committee of the American Nuclear Society ( ANS ) will publish this week a series of white papers on licensing issues for small modular reactors (SMRs). The committee, which is composed of representatives from nearly 40 organizations,...

Are small reactors game changers for the nuclear industry? Two leading energy companies announced July 14 they plan to jointly build and sell 125MW small light water reactors as turn-key projects to U.S. utilities and for export. Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) and Bechtel Power have entered into a formal...

Dialog and changes are needed with Congress, regulators, and government The future of small modular reactors (SMRs), with power levels less than 300 MW, will be brighter in the next decade, but only if a daunting series of nearly two dozen issues get attention from a cross-section of policy makers, regulatory...