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X-energy Commences First Irradiation Tests of Advanced TRISO-X Nuclear Fuel at Idaho National Laboratory

LCG, November 6, 2025--X-energy Reactor Company, LLC, (X-energy) and the U.S. Office of Nuclear Energy today announced the start of confirmatory irradiation testing at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to qualify X-energy’s proprietary TRISO-X fuel pebbles for commercial use in the Xe-100 Small Modular Reactor (SMR). (TRISO stands for TRi-structural ISOtropic). This is the first time that TRISO-X fuel pebbles will undergo irradiation testing in a U.S. lab, which is a critical step in meeting requirements set forth by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the commercial deployment of advanced reactors that will use the fuel.

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NextEra Energy and Google Collaborate on Accelerating Nuclear Power Deployment

LCG, October 28, 2025--NextEra Energy and Google yesterday announced two agreements that will help meet growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) with clean, reliable, 24/7 nuclear power and strengthen the nation's nuclear leadership. First, Google signed a new, 25-year agreement for power generated at the Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear power facility. The 601-MW boiling water reactor unit was shut down in 2020 and is expected to commence operations by the first quarter of 2029, pending regulatory approvals to restart the plant.

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Industry News

EPA Proposal on Mercury Limits Under Review

LCG, Mar. 16, 2004--The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michael Leavitt, has told the White House that analyses of an administration proposal to limit mercury emissions from power plants burning coal could lead the EPA to put forth a more stringent set of emission reduction guidelines.

In December, the Bush administration introduced a plan that would allow power generators to buy and sell credits for releasing mercury, similar to the system with sulfur dioxide. Limits on mercury would gradually lower the permissible amount of emissions. Since Leavitt became the EPA administrator, he has been taking part in meetings focused on the possible impact of that proposal, and has begun to evaluate criticisms of it by some environmental groups, state regulators, and a group of doctors that sent a letter to an office of the EPA dealing with children's health issues.

The White House has come out in favor of allowing power plants that achieve reductions before limits make them legally binding to receive credit for the reductions later. Critics of the proposal believe that such a provision would in effect delay the reduction of the ultimate goal of a 70% reduction in mercury emissions for seven, and perhaps as many as ten or more years. The current deadline is set for 2018.

Leavitt has said that the EPA's analysis is not yet finished, and will proceed before any changes are introduced to the original proposal. Coal-burning power plants are a major contributor to mercury emissions, and are thought to make up 40 per cent of the annual total caused by human activity.
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