Press

Nuclear modelling vital as licensing shifts towards performance [Reuters] September 2024

The analysis formed part of the DOE’s 2020 Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program which was established to support research into the reduction of O&M costs through direct research into modeling and simulation.

New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates [NuclearNewswire] August 2024

This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.

Modeling physical security can help lower costs for nuclear power plants [NuclearNewswire] August 2024

To lower the costs and enhance the performance of physical security efforts at nuclear power plants, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories are developing tools for the safe, economical, long-term operation of the nation’s fleet of nuclear power plants.

Artificial intelligence in nuclear: How computer and data scientists are enhancing the industry [Energy Central] August 2024

Artificial intelligence experts and data scientists within the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation Program, and several other Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy programs are customizing solutions to meet the demand of the nuclear power industry.

Securing the advanced reactor fleet[NuclearNewswire] May 2024

Existing regulations require set numbers of security staff for the shift supervisor, field supervisors, alarm station operators, armed responders, and entry control security officers. Many of these positions make sense for a large light water reactor but need reevaluation for a microreactor

Advanced Remote Monitoring Project (ARM) Update [USA] March 2024

Over the past four years, the USA team has worked alongside Idaho National Laboratory, industry stakeholders (DOE, NEI, NRC), university researchers and leading data scientists enabling automation of data collection, analytical capabilities fueled by artificial intelligence and integration with 24/7 monitoring and diagnostics services.

Episode #158: 'Decoding the IRA's Unlocking of Nuclear Uprating and Hydrogen Cogeneration' with Svetlana Lawrence, Frederick Joseck, and Levi Larsen of Idaho National Laboratory [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast] February 2024

The teams at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have been leading the charge in studying these efforts, particularly with the publication of “Assessing the Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Nuclear Plant Power Uprate and Hydrogen Cogeneration.”

With reactor gone, Halden project lives on in human factors research [Nuclear Newswire] October 2023

When Norway’s Halden research reactor shut down in 2018, nuclear researchers around the world were forced to scramble. For 60 years, the Halden Reactor Project offered a 25 thermal megawatts boiling water reactor for research where scientists could expand their understanding of nuclear fuel reliability, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.

Episode #141: 'Going Nuclear for National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day' with Richard Boardman, Idaho National Laboratory [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast] October 2023

Dr. Boardman dives deep into INL’s pursuit of innovative hybrid energy systems, offering a fresh perspective on the hydrogen economy’s potential and challenges. From exploring INL’s unique role in the national lab ecosystem to unpacking the reasons behind nuclear plants’ hesitation towards integrating hydrogen strategies.

R&D 100 winners for 2023 announced [R&D World] August 2023

RAVEN, the computational platform specializing in stochastic analyses, has been recognized as one of the 100 winners of the 2023 R&D 100 Awards by R&D World magazine.

A Gateway to Artificial Intelligence for the Nuclear Industry [ANS] July 2023

The LWRS Program and NextAxiom are partnering to define an open specification for a virtual resource management framework (VRMF). VRMF will enable the widescale adoption of artificial intelligence within the nuclear industry. The VRMF design and its open specification will leverage the many artificial intelligence and machine learning research initiatives within the LWRS Program, such as remote monitoring, anomaly detection, computer vision and natural language processing applications, together with NextAxiom’s expertise in innovative software design and development, such as computer-guided work and silo-free applications.

Economics: Enabling Pink Hydrogen from LWRs [Energy Intelligence] June 2023

Xcel expects to begin operations at a high-temperature electrolysis pilot project at Prairie Island by the second half of 2024. Xcel’s pilot project is the only high-temperature project — under a $10 million cash award — among three other low-temperature electrolysis projects using nuclear energy being conducted by Idaho National Laboratory.

Integrated energy systems: Transitioning to carbon-free electricity, industry, and transportation [Nuclear News] May 2023

Humanity is embarking on an epic and complex energy transformation across the grid, industry and transportation. Renewables like wind and solar are contributing an increasing share of carbon-free electricity to the grid, but that contribution is variable and hard to predict — sometimes those sources produce more electricity than the grid needs, and sometimes less.

Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition Encouraged to Submit Full Application by U.S. Department of Energy [GRN] January 2023

The Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen project is built on the foundation of ongoing, preliminary work supported by the Department Of Energy and the Idaho National Laboratory. The proposed approach will supplement hydrogen from nuclear power, as needed, with clean hydrogen produced through solar energy projects under development in the region.

Local consortium makes first cut in effort to become a federal 'Hydrogen Hub' [The Blade] January 2023

The Department of Energy has $8 billion to divide among the first six to 10 teams of industry, academic and other research partners that come up with a plan to produce large volumes of clean hydrogen fuel and show how it can be used on a regional scale to help combat climate change.

INL researchers develop strategies to keep today's nuclear power fleet profitable [Nuclear News] December 2022

To help the industry remain competitive, LWRS researchers at INL have developed Integrated Operations for Nuclear (ION), a methodology that uses technology innovation and common-sense business practices to lower maintenance and operation expenses of U.S. nuclear plants.

Hydrogen: The best shot for nuclear sustainability? [NuclearNews] December 2021

Nuclear power plants can leverage the energy stored in some of the world’s heaviest elements to generate the lightest element: hydrogen. That is not news, but it casts an aura of alchemy over straightforward engineering. Amid the hype, and the hope of significant federal funding, it’s worth acknowledging that hydrogen has an industrial history over 100 years. In the potential matchup of hydrogen and nuclear power, it’s nuclear that would be the newcomer.

DOE touts nuclear-powered hydrogen production projects with Xcel, Constellation, 4 other partners [Utility Dive] November 2022

The Department of Energy on Wednesday highlighted plans to fund projects at four nuclear plants to demonstrate the clean production of hydrogen. The department estimates that a single 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor could produce up to 150,000 tons of hydrogen each year.

Clean hydrogen/U.S. initiative aims for production with nuclear Energy from Davis-Besse [Nucnet] September 2022

The Department of Energy agreed to develop a hydrogen production demonstration project at Davis-Besse in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory, Xcel Energy, and Arizona Public Service.

Coalition forms to generate hydrogen from Energy Harbor nuclear plant [Power Engineering] September 2022

Energy Harbor is partnering with the University of Toledo, major industrial companies, several Department of Energy national laboratories and others to form the Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen coalition. The goal is to transition the Midwest into a leading low-carbon fuel production center.

DOE wants hydrogen-based "energy parks" at light water reactor sites [Nuclear News] September 2022

The Department of Energy is offering cost-shared funding that could lead to the demonstration of an “energy park” drawing 20-300 megawatts of thermal energy from a U.S. nuclear power plant under a funding opportunity amendment issued in August by the department’s Office of Nuclear Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program. The effort is in coordination with the department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.

R&D 100 winners for 2022 announced [R&D World] August 2022

In the nuclear power industry, every issue, no matter how small, is documented in a condition report. In each plant, hundreds of these are reviewed and characterized every week by dozens of people. MIRACLE employs machine learning and natural language processing to automate this process, saving millions while improving safety.

Idaho National Lab and Bloom Energy Produce Hydrogen at Record-Setting Efficiencies [Hydrogen Central] August 2022

Idaho National Lab and Bloom Energy Produce Hydrogen at Record-Setting Efficiencies [Businesswire] August 2022

Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE: BE) announced the initial results of its ongoing demonstration with Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s premier center for nuclear energy research and development. With nearly 500 hours of full load operation completed at the laboratory, Bloom’s high-temperature electrolyzer is producing hydrogen more efficiently than other commercially available electrolyzers, including proton exchange membrane and alkaline.

Developing a Low‑Cost Renewable Supply of Hydrogen with High‑Temperature Electrochemistry [Springer Nature] March 2022

Producing inexpensive hydrogen using electricity to split water or to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon compounds is a two-sided coin: one side is obtaining and exploiting low-cost, emissions-free energy sources while the opposite side is establishing low-cost robust, durable, and efficient materials for the conversion processes.

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station Begins Refueling Outage [CISION] March 2022

The demonstration project is expected to be operational in 2024 and will demonstrate the technical feasibility of a hybrid hydrogen production system to facilitate large scale commercialization. Also, during this outage, work will be performed to support the Department of Energy funded zero-carbon hydrogen production demonstration project at Davis-Besse, in collaboration with INL, Xcel Energy, and Arizona Public Service.

Could AI-Powered Drones Make Nuclear Power Plant Operations More Efficient? [DOE] November 2021

Drones equipped with INL’s new Route Operable Unmanned Navigation of Drones (ROUNDS) software can be used to automate tedious tasks at power plants or factories to improve operational efficiencies, lower costs and reduce the risk of workplace injuries. With ROUNDS, inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones with cameras are equipped to navigate indoor spaces without modifications to the hardware or any software configuration. ROUNDS-enabled drones can navigate in closed industrial spaces quickly, covering more distance and locations in a shorter period.

DOE to fund trial to use nuclear energy to generate hydrogen [The Energy Industry Times] October 2021

The Department of Energy will provide $20 million funding for a demonstration project at Palo Verde nuclear power station in Arizona to produce hydrogen. The department’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Office announced a funding award of $12 million, along with $8 million from its Office of Nuclear Energy.

Power-to-Power Hydrogen Demonstration Involving Largest U.S. Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Funding [Power] October 2021

Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4 gigawatt nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis system. The hydrogen will fuel a natural gas-fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service. The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive $20 million in federal funding, including $12 million from the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office and $8 million from its Office of Nuclear Energy.

Idaho National Lab to work with PNW Hydrogen on clean hydrogen project [Daily Energy Insider] October 2021

In June, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm launched the Earthshot Initiative, which seeks to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to decarbonize the industrial sector. By generating clean hydrogen, nuclear power plants can contribute to the initiative. “By diversifying the uses of nuclear energy and nuclear power plants, we provide additional economic and environmental opportunities for nuclear energy to continue to contribute to our nation’s economy and energy supply mix,” said Bruce Hallbert, director of the Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. “Those, in turn, provide compelling reasons to continue to operate the existing fleet of light water reactors into the future.”

INL partners with Arizona company to produce clean hydrogen [Post Register] October 2021

“This project, and others like it, align with the mission of INL and DOE to sustain the existing fleet of operating light water reactors and support the pipeline of future advanced nuclear power systems,” said Bruce Hallbert, director of the Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program based at INL. “These projects demonstrate the versatility of nuclear power to meet the demands for energy and energy products while achieving reductions in carbon emissions to the environment.”

DOE Announces $20 million to produce clean hydrogen from nuclear power [EE Online] October 2021

The Department of Energy on Oct. 7, 2021, announced $20 million in funding to demonstrate technology that will produce clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power. This innovative approach will allow clean hydrogen to serve as a source for zero-carbon electricity and represent an important economic product for nuclear plants beyond electricity.

It’s Hydrogen Day — and yes, that has a lot to do with nuclear [NuclearNewswire] October 2021

If you’re hearing for the first time that Oct. 8 is Hydrogen Day, you might be wondering, “Why Oct. 8?” and “What’s the connection to nuclear?” ANS Nuclear Newswire has the answers.

What's the Lifespan for a Nuclear Reactor? Much Longer Than You Might Think [DOE-NE] April 2020

Thanks to research performed over the last decade by the Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute, utilities now have the confidence and data they need to apply for a second 20-year operating license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.