Author: Rob Loveday and Kiersten Sundell A tunnel at the Yucca Mountain deep geological repository site (US DoE) The US has been trying to figure out what to do with nuclear waste for 44 years, and we’re not much closer to a solution than we were in 1982. Not because it’s an impossible problem – Finland and Sweden are both building […]
No more time to waste Read More »
Author: Rob Loveday and Kiersten Sundell The Hanford nuclear site (Getty Images) In January, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright ended the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) longstanding use of ALARA to govern its standards for radiation exposure in the country’s nuclear energy industry. And the implications for the sector could be pretty seismic, to say the least. But what is ALARA?
Is it time to say ‘Sayonara, ALARA’? Read More »
Here’s the Generation Atomic wishlist for the coming year Author: Rob Loveday and Madison Schroder Hinkley Point C, in the UK: Get ‘er DONE (EDF) Last year was a great year for the nuclear industry. Nuclear power is now generating its highest-ever amount of electricity – around 2667 TWh in 2024, with the figure for 2025 likely to be similar. Advanced reactors
Shall we tell you what we want: what we really, REALLY want? Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell Workers in the nuclear industry are classified as radiation professionals, which doesn’t come as a surprise to many people. Radiation workers are subject to government oversight, strict monitoring, and annual dose limits. Less known, however, is another class of radiation professionals hiding in plane sight: airline pilots and flight attendants. The average commercial pilot
The Real Radiation Professionals Aren’t Who You’d Think Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have attracted attention to nuclear energy that hasn’t been seen in decades. The phrase “SMR” now appears in landmark federal legislation, bills to lift state nuclear construction bans, and deployment plans for data centers, military bases, and disaster relief zones. It all sounds like progress, but is
The Problem With “SMR”: How a Buzzword Can Limit Nuclear Innovation Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell A technical competition is underway to determine which company will be first to navigate regulatory approval, secure financing, and commercially operate an electricity-generating advanced nuclear reactor in the United States. We’re calling it the Advanced Reactor Race™, and most U.S. based companies are inventing new designs from scratch. Kairos Power is
The Advanced Reactor Race’s Return to Fluoride Salt Cooling: Kairos Power Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell Advanced reactor developers are facing a regulatory paradox: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) won’t license new designs without operational data, but obtaining that data requires building a reactor, which requires a license. While many companies are stuck in this catch-22, Austin-based Aalo Atomics, a startup founded in 2022, found a way
Aalo Atomics: Commercializing MARVEL in the Advanced Reactor Race Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell Most companies in the advanced reactor race are trying to scale down gigawatt-sized nuclear plants into something commercially viable. Radiant Nuclear, founded in 2020 by former SpaceX engineers, is taking the opposite approach: build something so small it fits on a single truck, then factory-generate dozens of them per year. Coming
Radiant Nuclear: The Advanced Reactor Race Goes Tiny & Truckable Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell The race to build the first commercial advanced nuclear reactor features startups, established manufacturers, and…. a defense contractor that’s been building submarine reactors for 70 years. BWX Technologies (BWXT) has commercial reactor designs ready whenever they feel like it, which apparently isn’t yet. They’ve manufactured nuclear reactors since the USS Nautilus,
BWXT Already Won the Advanced Reactor Race (Just Not the One Anyone’s Watching) Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell There’s a new tech war brewing in the United States, and it’s fueled by billions of dollars, national energy security, and the massive egos of companies convinced that they can reinvent nuclear power. It’s the race to deploy the first game-changing advanced reactor. GE Hitachi’s plan is to make existing technology
Is GE Hitachi the Advanced Reactor Race’s Frontrunner? Read More »
Short on mirth and merriment this Christmas? Let us provide you with festive cheer with our round-up of the daftest pronouncements made against nuclear energy this year. Author: The Kernel and Rob Loveday ’Tis the season of Christmas cheer, and what better way to get a bit of mirth and merriment into our lives than to mock
Anti-nuclear activists say the funniest things Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell Dozens of companies are racing to deploy the next wave of advanced nuclear reactors in the United States, each convinced their design will work better and deploy faster than the competition. Westinghouse’s position in this competition is unique, as they’re the only participant who’s already crossed a finish line. Their AP1000
Westinghouse AP300: The Winner Re-Enters the Race Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell The United States has struggled for decades to deploy new nuclear reactors. Now, dozens of companies are racing to break that streak, each convinced that their advanced technology will arrive first and reshape American energy. Holtec International’s approach is strategic, not revolutionary: conventional pressurized water reactors made smaller, built on property
Holtec: The Advanced Reactor Race’s Most Practical Contender Read More »
Author: The Kernel and Kiersten Sundell As federal subsidies, climate commitments, and ever-growing data centers demand clean power, more than a dozen companies have joined the race to deploy the first commercially successful advanced nuclear reactor. The question is, who will be first? NuScale is currently the only small modular reactor (SMR) company in America with NRC
Can NuScale Win the Advanced Reactor Race? Read More »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2025 Contact: Eric Meyer, Executive Director, 218-384-1645, eric@generationatomic.org A coalition of Minnesota’s largest labor unions, environmental groups, and business organizations today sent an open letter to state lawmakers and the Governor, urging them to end the state’s 30-year-old ban on new nuclear power development. The Coalition for Minnesota Nuclear, organized by local
Press Release: Coalition for Minnesota Nuclear Pushes to End Minnesota’s Nuclear Ban Read More »
Author: The Kernel & Madison Schroder We’ve been getting a bunch of comments on our TikTok lately asking about careers in the nuclear energy industry. The timing couldn’t be better – according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s latest Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report, the US will need 700 to 900 gigawatts of additional clean firm power to
Want to Work in the Nuclear Industry? Here’s What You Should Know. Read More »
A reflection on the final hours of COP climate negotiations Author: The Kernel & Vladislav I open my eyes in that giant bowl of steel and concrete that pretends to be a hall but really is an Olympic stadium in disguise, its curves hidden behind white panels and makeshift halls, as if we’ve collectively agreed
Whispers, Gavels, and Unfinished Puzzles Read More »
Author: The Kernel & Gayatri Karnik This year marked Generation Atomic’s eighth consecutive year at COP, and our commitment to advancing the role of nuclear energy in climate action was stronger than ever at the world’s biggest annual climate conference. COP29, known as the “Finance COP,” focused on funding and implementing prior agreements—a critical step
Generation Atomic at COP29 Read More »
Author: The Kernel & Vladislav Last week, an article circulated in ECO—the daily newsletter published by the Climate Action Network (CAN) at COP29—warning of a “nuclear stampede” threatening climate finance. For those unfamiliar, CAN is a global network of over 1,500 environmental NGOs working to promote government and individual action to address climate change. While
Why We’re Not Afraid of the Nuclear Elephant (And Neither Should You Be) Read More »
How National Climate Plans Lost Touch with Reality Author: The Kernel, Gayatri Karnik and Eric G. Meyer In 2015, world leaders created the Paris Agreement to coordinate global climate action, requiring nations to submit detailed climate strategies to the United Nations. These take two forms: Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), updated every five years to outline
The Nuclear Disconnect Read More »
