NUCLEAR POWER Direct—Special Edition

POWER magazine published a Special Report this month focused entirely on Nuclear Power. It includes 12 in-depth articles covering topics such as small modular reactors (SMRs), project financing, construction best practices, operations and maintenance tips, decommissioning/restart considerations, POWER's 2024 Nuclear Top Plants, and more. Find the entire lineup below.

Can Nuclear's Big Recent Wins Propel a True Global Revival? | While the past year has marked stunning triumphs for nuclear energy, experts caution that high costs, regulatory bottlenecks, and the need for market alignment remain major hurdles on the path to a true nuclear renaissance.

Mobility, Flexibility, Scalability: SMRs Forging Nuclear's Future | The need for emissions-free power generation, along with the ability to provide more power when and where it’s needed, is driving research and development of smaller nuclear reactors.

Artificial Intelligence Has Entered the Nuclear Industry and Its Early Benefits Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg | A collaboration between startup Atomic Canyon and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory allowed construction of a sentence-embedding model using 53 million pages of Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents. Understanding nuclear terminology opens doors for artificial intelligence to revolutionize many processes within the industry.

Solid Leadership and Experience Are Keys to Successful Nuclear Plant Construction Projects | One of the biggest challenges the nuclear power industry faces is building plants on time and on budget. Having an experienced project team with the right leaders driving the bus, so to speak, can mean the difference between failure and success.

How Nuclear O&M Is Evolving for the Emerging Power Paradigm | In its quest to drive down costs while boosting safety, the nuclear industry has ramped up efforts to streamline operations and maintenance (O&M). New approaches target efficiency and resilience.

Financing the Nuclear Renaissance | At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last December, 25 countries underlined the role of nuclear energy in their climate strategies by issuing a “Declaration on Tripling Nuclear Energy by 2050.” The U.S. was among the countries endorsing the declaration, which recognizes the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and keeping a 1.5-degree-C limit on temperature rise within reach. The declaration also highlighted the need for secure supply chains and encouraged shareholders of the World Bank, international financial institutions, and regional development banks to include nuclear energy in their lending policies.

Nuclear Fuel: The Unseen Barrier Ahead | As global nuclear ambitions surge, the industry’s fuel supply chain faces critical gaps. Can advanced fuels like HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) and TRISO (TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel) bridge the demand for next-gen reactors or will supply limits hold back nuclear’s potential?

Tear It Down or Start It Back Up? Plant Owners Weigh Options Around Retired Reactors | Nuclear power plants are still being dismantled, and the business of decommissioning remains strong, but the need for more baseload power and emissions-free generation has some companies ready to restart idled units.

Continued Excellent Nuclear Power Plant Performance Bodes Well for Future Prospects | The carbon-free attributes and consistently high fleet performance have led to increasing momentum behind nuclear power. With ambitious plans to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, the nuclear industry is poised for expansion, supported by new policies and partnerships across various sectors.

Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Cuts Nation’s Reliance on Natural Gas-Fired Electricity Generation | In a strategic move to reduce its heavy dependence on Russian natural gas, Belarus has successfully completed its first nuclear power plant (NPP). The Belarusian NPP, featuring two VVER-1200 reactors, now provides about a third of the nation’s electricity needs and represents a major step toward energy diversification, earning it recognition as a 2024 POWER Top Plant award winner.

Idaho Digital Twin Project Trailblazing for Nuclear | In 2023, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Idaho State University unveiled the industry’s first near real-time digital twin of a nuclear reactor. The virtual replica of the 5-Wth AGN-201 research reactor uses cloud-based monitoring and advanced machine learning to predict reactor performance dynamically.

Nuclear Energy Comeback Action Is at the State Level | This is indeed an extraordinary time to be in nuclear energy. Case in point: Over the past few months, we have seen an announcement between Microsoft and Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, a $1.5 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE) to restart another reactor in Michigan, and a new DOE liftoff report on how to build new nuclear facilities.