US nuclear plants are performing better than ever before - but now is the time to act to ensure the benefits that nuclear energy provides are protected, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) president and CEO Maria Korsnick said in her 2019 State of the Industry address.

US nuclear power plants achieved their highest level of generation ever in 2018, despite the closure of several plants since the previous peak, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The US Department of Energy has finalised further federal loan guarantees of USD3.7 billion for the continued construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced today during a visit to the construction site near Waynesboro, Georgia.

As two Connecticut utilities sign a contract assuring the continued operation of the Millstone nuclear power plant, the governors of the six states making up the region of New England have issued a document outlining their commitment to cooperate to maintain clean energy facilities including nuclear.

The US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office has invited X-energy to submit the second part of its application for a loan guarantee for the construction of a facility to fabricate TRISO-X fuel.

France's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission have signed an agreement to cooperate in emergency preparedness.

India and the USA have committed to strengthen bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six US-designed nuclear power plants in India.

The US Administration's budget request for fiscal 2020, which begins on 1 October, seeks to restart the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing procedure for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository and also provides for the regulator to prepare for licensing advanced reactors.
 

The US Department of Energy Office of Science has announced USD30 million of funding for experimental research on magnetic fusion energy science at to be carried out at international tokamak facilities.
 

All of the USA's 98 operating commercial reactors were in the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's two highest performance categories for 2018. Entergy's Pilgrim plant has returned to the highest operating level.

Installation of a final cover has marked the end of physical work associated with the demolition of a former vitrification plant at the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management's West Valley Demonstration Project, the only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant to have operated in the USA.

US utility Xcel Energy says its current fleet of nuclear power reactors will help meet its target of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2030. It sees advanced reactors or small modular reactors playing a role in meeting its ultimate goal of providing zero-carbon electricity by 2050.