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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

Enron Executive Urged Legal Review of Partnerships

LCG, Jan. 15, 2002--Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay was urged in August of last year by a senior executive in the company to have a law firm examine the firm's involvement with and accounting practices concerning outside partnerships.

The executive, whom the Washington Post identified as Sherron Watkins, vice president for corporate development, worked for Andrew Fastow, the chief financial officer who handled Enron's dealings with the partnerships. In a letter to Lay, Watkins wrote, "I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals." Watkins also wrote, "is there a way our accounting gurus can unwind these deals now?"

The outside law firm of Vinson & Elkins interviewed Fastow following an Oct. 15 request for a legal review covering the concerns raised in the letter, investigators with the House Energy and Commerce Committee determined. The law firm's conclusions were that no further inquiry was needed, due to the awareness of the firm's senior executives of the facts that Watkins had emphasized. The day following the review, Enron announced third-quarter earnings representing $1 billion in losses, and a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity.

Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, responded to the substance of the letter to Lay by issuing a call for documents covering the same issues as the letter, and those reflecting the internal response to the letter at Enron. John Dingell, D-Mich., the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, asserted that "there's pretty strong evidence of insider trading, there's clear evidence of failure to file honest and correct annual reports."

Robert Bennett, Enron's Washington attorney, expressed concern that House members were making up their minds before a full investigation of the facts.

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