Energy policy

EPA oversees $10.2 billion of IRA grant funds amid staff cuts

1 min read15 hours ago

The agency's $10.2 billion obligated under the Inflation Reduction Act is subject to expanded oversight for state grant recipients beginning FY 2023.

Energy

DOE Announces First Advanced Reactor Criticality in U.S.

1 min read19 hours ago

Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 microreactor achieved zero-power criticality at Idaho National Laboratory, paving the way for commercial operation from 2027.

Energy

Oklo's Groves Reactor Achieves Criticality as Fifth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor

1 min read20 hours ago

The DOE-authorized Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Lockhart, Texas, reached criticality, joining four other advanced reactors under the Reactor Pilot Program this summer.

Energy

Oklo's Groves Reactor Achieves Criticality as Fifth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor

1 min read20 hours ago

The DOE-authorized Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Lockhart, Texas, reached criticality, joining four other advanced reactors under the Reactor Pilot Program this summer.

Energy

Energy Dept. Marks Trump-Era Production Gains in Midland Visit

1 min read20 hours ago

Secretary Wright will travel to Midland on Aug. 17, 2026 to highlight record oil, gas output and LNG export growth credited to President Trump's agenda.

Energy

DOE emergency order keeps 1,420-MW Michigan coal plant online through Nov. 14

2 min read21 hours ago

Midwest Independent System Operator and Consumers Energy must keep the J.H. Campbell plant operating from Aug. 17 to Nov. 14, 2026

Defense

President Approves US-Saudi Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

1 min read3 days ago

The United States and Saudi Arabia are bound by a new nuclear cooperation pact approved on July 16 2026.

Elsewhere

What other outlets are reporting on this beat. We link out; we do not republish.

NRC opens, defines hearing opportunity for Orano’s Project Ike
If a contested hearing is held, the licensing board “should manage the schedule such that the overall hearing process is completed within 315 days” of the FR notice. That timeline fits the NRC’s plans to complete its review of Orano Enrichment’s license application in 12 months; in the past, similar reviews typically have run 18–20 months.In the event there is a contested hearing on the application, the NRC does not intend to also conduct an uncontested hearing. In comments appended to the notice, NRC Commissioner Matthew J. Marzano expressed some doubts regarding the agency’s intended handling of a hearing on the application, saying, “The order rests on an overly permissive reading of Section 193 that I do not share.”Section 193 refers to the Atomic Energy Act section that addresses the licensing of uranium enrichment facilities. It states that the NRC “shall conduct a single adjudicatory hearing on the record with regard to the licensing of the construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility under sections 53 and 63.”Commission guidance on the selection of hearing procedures provided in the FR notice suggests that a contested hearing—should one be conducted—would fulfill the requirement for an uncontested hearing. Once a licensing board rules on contentions, either on threshold admissibility or on merits, the hearing record would be held open until after an environmental impact statement is prepared.Marzano said he supports the NRC’s efforts at “timely, efficient adjudication” but believes the proposed order does not meet the current requirements of the Atomic Energy Act.He expressed concern that if no uncontested hearing on the application was held in addition to a contested hearing, as suggested by the NRC in the FR notice, this action “sets the stage for the Commission to credit any form of an adjudicatory record as sufficient for the statute's hearing requirement.”Calling such an action a hollowing out of the statute’s requirements, Marzano clarifi
Nuclear Newswire 15 hours ago
FERC approves SPP ‘topology optimization’ plan for cutting grid congestion
Utility Dive 15 hours ago
U.S. GAO - Nuclear Fuel: Actions Needed to Enhance Cost Reporting and Economic Analysis for Federal Uranium Supply Efforts
Fast Facts The National Nuclear Security Administration provides enriched uranium for U.S. national security needs. NNSA is pursuing 3 long-term efforts to enrich uranium, which will cost an estimated $140 billion through 2105. However, it hasn't reported to Congress on these costs as required. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy is working to expand uranium enrichment in the U.S. for civilian purposes, mainly for nuclear fuel. But it needs to complete an economic analysis—including a review of costs and benefits—to ensure that its efforts are successful. Our recommendations address these issues. U is the Chemical Symbol for Uranium; 235 and 238 are its Most Important Isotopes Two wooden blocks. One with the chemical symbol U for uranium; the other with 235 and 238. Skip to Highlights Highlights What GAO Found The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is preserving a sufficient inventory of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and highly enriched uranium (HEU) to meet national security needs until the 2040s. Separately, the largest needs for civilian enriched uranium are fuel for light water and advanced reactors. Estimates from the Department of Energy (DOE) and others about LEU supply and demand are generally well established, but factors such as the ban on LEU imports from Russia could affect availability. Demand estimates for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) vary, and estimated supply may not meet near-term demands. National Security and Civilian Use of Enriched Uranium NNSA has a plan to meet national security needs for enriched uranium that includes using current inventory until the 2040s while pursuing three enrichment efforts for long-term needs. NNSA estimates total program costs for these efforts of about $140 billion through 2105. NNSA has not yet conveyed those costs in a biennial report required by Congress because the estimates are new. Providing this information would inform Congress of future costs for any future production options being consi
GAO reports 18 hours ago
US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, relieving long-deployed USS Lincoln
Democrats have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.”WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed carrier following reports of mental health challenges and supply shortages aboard while it was supporting the Iran war.U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. It was not clear when the USS Abraham Lincoln would arrive back in the U.S. or whether it would make a port stop along the way, but the journey takes just over a month.The Washington arrived as concerns have grown about the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment, which has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 250 days, and about reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.”Hegseth spoke with the Lincoln’s crew last week, and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, visited this past weekend. In an editorial published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, Cooper said the crew “delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home.”Extended deployments of carriers wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment. While renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran calmed in recent weeks, the Navy is enforcing a reimposed blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has offered no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.Hegseth has said the U.S. can maintain the
Courthouse News 19 hours ago
Judge orders new environmental review of Utah coal mine expansion
A federal judge ordered the Bureau of Land Management to conduct a new environmental review of a Utah coal mine expansion after courts found flaws in the agency’s greenhouse gas analysis.(CN) — A federal judge ordered the Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday to take another crack at an environmental analysis of a disputed coal mine expansion located near a recreation area in eastern Utah.In a partial victory for environmental groups, Senior U.S. District Judge David Nuffer granted the bureau’s motion to revisit the potential socioeconomic and environmental costs related to greenhouse gas emissions in its decision to expand the Lila Canyon Coal Mine.The Barack Obama appointee’s order goes back to a 2021 BLM decision in the final days of the first Trump administration that approved the expansion of the mine into 1,273 acres of publicly owned land. The expansion would provide for the extraction of about 7 million tons of coal.The Sierra Club and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a lawsuit against BLM in June 2022, claiming the bureau’s decision was arbitrary and capricious and violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. BLM filed its motion for voluntary remand without vacating the decision and admitted to deficiencies in its greenhouse gas emissions analysis that were found in recent federal court cases with similar coal leases.“BLM is correct,” Nuffer wrote Wednesday. “Many federal courts, both trial and appellate, have found BLM’s [greenhouse gas] reasoning ‘deficient.’”At this point, remand was the only option moving forward, Nuffer wrote, considering the new court decisions and dueling policies between the two Trump administrations and the Biden and Obama administrations over the past decade.The Trump administration initially rescinded an Obama-era policy requiring federal agencies to consider the monetary estimates of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and issued an executive order laying the groundwork for
Courthouse News 2 days ago
US charges Iranians for sprawling hacking campaign on government agencies, universities
The Justice Department accused hackers connected to Iran’s military of breaching employee email accounts connected to the Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and multiple United Nations organizations. The campaign, which started around 2013, also involved accounts connected to state government agencies in Hawaii and Indiana. The DOJ unsealed a 14-count indictment on Tuesday charging 17 people in relation to an expansive campaign prosecutors believe was run through an Iranian company known as the Mabna Institute on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Eight of the people charged were previously indicted in 2018 for their alleged roles in another hacking campaign. “The superseding indictment alleges that, at the behest of entities including the IRGC, these defendants hacked into universities and other research institutions worldwide, including the United States, stealing at least 31 terabytes of information and intellectual property of untold value,” said Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg. Prosecutors said the hackers targeted the U.N. Children’s Fund alongside five federal and state government agencies. The U.N. did not respond to requests for comment about the allegations. Alongside the attacks on government institutions, the DOJ accused the group of breaching 144 U.S.-based universities and 42 U.S. companies, as well as 178 foreign universities and at least 11 foreign companies. The State Department also offered a reward of $10 million for information on Behzad Mesri, Mojtaba Galekuhi, Arman Kahzadian, Keyvan Fayaz and Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh, who are accused of being employed, contracted or affiliated with the Mabna Institute to conduct “cyber intrusions to steal academic data, intellectual property, email inboxes, and other proprietary data.” “These defendants allegedly built and profited from a sprawling hacking-for-hire operation that targeted the intellectual property of American and allied universiti
The Record 2 days ago
TerraPower Submits Construction Permit Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project
TerraPower 3 days ago
TerraPower Submits Construction Permit Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project
TerraPower 3 days ago

Newsletter

What the federal government did today, and what it changes - with the document behind every item.

Federal Reserve Opens Comment Period for American Exchange Co. BHC Application

Federal Reserve Issues Change-in-Control Notice for Dunlap Trust Acquisition

Federal Reserve opens comment period on Citizens Bancshares acquisition

Federal Reserve posts change-in-control notice for Anderson family share purchase

Energy policy

EPA oversees $10.2 billion of IRA grant funds amid staff cuts

DOE Announces First Advanced Reactor Criticality in U.S.

Oklo's Groves Reactor Achieves Criticality as Fifth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor

Oklo's Groves Reactor Achieves Criticality as Fifth DOE-Authorized Advanced Reactor

Energy Dept. Marks Trump-Era Production Gains in Midland Visit

DOE emergency order keeps 1,420-MW Michigan coal plant online through Nov. 14

President Approves US-Saudi Nuclear Cooperation Agreement