NRC Approves NuScale Power’s Uprated Small Modular Reactor Design
Uprated 77 megawatt-electric reactor design becomes second SMR design approved by NRC.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved NuScale Power’s 77 megawatt-electric (MWe) reactor design. The company’s uprated power module is now the second small modular reactor (SMR) design approved by the NRC—marking another major licensing milestone for the U.S. nuclear sector.
NuScale Power submitted its standard design application to the NRC on New Year’s Day back in 2023 seeking a power uprate to 77 MWe for each power module, with a total plant power output of 462 MWe.
At world’s biggest nuclear plant, how to restart a giant
Emergency-proofing at core of restarting sprawling Japanese facility
Bill Spindle, Senior Global Correspondent May 19
KASHIWAZAKI, Japan — At the world’s largest nuclear power facility, seven massive reactors are lined up along the blustery coast of the Japan Sea.
All the reactors are idle, but the sprawling site is a beehive of activity. To one side construction workers add to fortifications. Below, workers discharge firehoses into a massive water reservoir. Inside the reactor and buildings housing electricity generating turbines, engineers and technicians monitor and maintain equipment.
Can we please stop this nonsense about what’s the best source of energy?
By James Conca
Nuclear is—period. But don’t take my word for it: ask the United Nations. The 2021 report Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Options, by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), shows that nuclear has the lowest overall impacts on human health and the environment, by any measure and from any perspective.
In his 1938 article “Economics in Eight Words,” Walter Morrow really hit the nail on the head when he quipped, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Although he was referring to the olden days when saloons offered free lunches only if you bought alcoholic drinks, it is perfectly suited to the energy industry.
The Other Nuclear Race
America Is Falling Behind China and Russia on Energy Innovation
By Juzel Lloyd, April 28, 2025
The world is witnessing a new kind of global race—not for authority in space but for control over the global nuclear energy market. Nuclear power had long been considered risky owing to major accidents and budget overruns, hampering its large-scale adoption. But within the past decade, nuclear energy has been making a comeback thanks to the development of small modular reactors. China and Russia are seizing the lead, expanding their domestic capacities as well as exporting nuclear technology and constructing nuclear power plants across a variety of emerging economies.
How to Define Nuclear Success
The Industry Has to Have a Product that Companies Want to Buy
Donald Trump says coal is clean and beautiful, and on April 8 he signed an executive order to encourage its use. Whether or not you share his taste in fuels, the order appears to overlook some critical details of how the power system works, details that nuclear advocates should bear in mind when they talk about what will constitute a “renaissance.” The lesson is that government policy can help identify political priorities, but when policy conflicts with the market, the market will win.
Coal has some attractive attributes. It’s plentiful, here and abroad, its price is fairly stable, and a plant manager can look out the office window and see where the next few months of fuel are coming from. In contrast, natural gas is delivered just in time, wind and sun come when they want to, and even water for hydroelectric dams is variable.
Read the article at The Breakthrough Institute
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