For seventy years, the United States has been accumulating a problem. It was a problem it once had a plan to solve, but it gave up on that plan almost fifty years ago. During the Cold War, the US intentionally produced weapons-grade plutonium in quantities that were in excess of military needs — about a […]
The American Nuclear Society — the professional organization of nuclear engineers and scientists in the United States — published Position Statement #47 in January 2026. It is titled “Management of Surplus U.S. Nuclear Material.” It calls out uranium-233 specifically. And it says, in the clearest possible professional language, that what DOE is doing to our […]
There’s a genuinely exciting story coming out of Oak Ridge right now. Isotek Systems — the contractor operating at Building 3019 and Building 2026 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — has extracted more than 17 grams of thorium-229 (Th-229) from the uranium-233 (U-233) inventory stored there. That represents a 1,700% increase in the world’s supply […]
Yesterday evening, at 8:25 PM Indian Standard Time, the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu achieved first criticality — the initiation of a self-sustaining, controlled nuclear fission chain reaction. It is a milestone that has been a long time coming: more than two decades in the making, marked by repeated delays, […]
On March 17, 2026, the Alabama Senate adopted Senate Joint Resolution 89 by voice vote, and on March 31 it passed the full Legislature and was delivered to the Governor. SJR89 formally urges the Governor and relevant state agencies to recognize the value of spent nuclear fuel and take state actions toward its development. This […]
Russia Withdraws From Cold War Plutonium Deal With US Russia withdraws from 25-year-old weapons-grade plutonium agreement The Russians are exiting the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with the United States. To be honest, the treaty has been pretty dead for a long time now, largely since the United States abandoned their strategy to make […]
Yesterday, President Trump issued four executive orders related to nuclear energy. Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base Strengthening the Domestic Nuclear Fuel Cycle…Within 240 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy…shall prepare…a report that includes…recommendations for the efficient use of the uranium, plutonium, and other products recovered through recycling and reprocessing; The […]
Politicians will often tell you that they want you to help guide them in making good decisions. I’ve heard this enough times, and participated in enough of these efforts, that I have grown fairly skeptical of their sincerity. But I have to admit after participating in a meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, last week with their […]
Guangming Daily: After building the Shanghai Light Source, he pioneered a new generation of nuclear energy for 16 years At the 11th “Serve the Country Forum” held by the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently, Researcher Xu Hongjie, Director of the Academic Committee of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the […]
Senate Joint Resolution 67 was introduced into the Alabama state Senate on Thursday, April 10, by state Senator Greg Albritton. It passed the Senate on April 15, and passed the House earlier today. It goes to Governor Kay Ivey for her signature. (UPDATE: Gov. Ivey signed the resolution on April 23!) For many years, we […]