Projects included in the second round of selections under the US Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative to promote the rapid development and implementation of advanced nuclear technologies by private industry include companies focused on fuel cycle innovation as well as reactor developers, with plans for a new conversion facility and a fuel fabrication plant at Idaho National Laboratory.

Firefly Aerospace and Zeno Power Systems have announced a commercial payload agreement that will see a radioisotope heating unit developed to withstand the frigid conditions of the lunar night taken on one of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost missions to the moon, potentially as soon as 2028.
 

The company says NIVA - for Nuclear Industry Virtual Assistant - is the first AI platform of its kind available to commercial nuclear plants belonging to organisations including the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, EPRI, and the Nuclear Energy Institute that have collaborated in its development.
 

A new immersive environment has been established at the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration facility in West Cumbria, northwest England, giving nuclear specialists a powerful way to plan and deliver decommissioning work more safely.
 

Nuclea Energy Inc has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Moltex's advanced nuclear technology portfolio, including its used nuclear fuel recycling process and reactor technologies, following a competitive bidding process.
 

The Idaho National Laboratory-led Prometheus project to leverage artificial intelligence to accelerate nuclear energy deployment has been selected for a USD60 million federal investment over three years - the largest single investment among the nearly 300 projects selected to receive funding under the Genesis Mission initiative.
 

The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has chosen Amentum to enter negotiations for a phased lease to develop an artificial intelligence data centre with 2 GWe of dedicated on-site energy generation at the industrial complex in South Carolina.
 

A full-scale simulator of the control room for the lead-cooled fast neutron BREST-OD-300 reactor has been commissioned, allowing training for staff before the unit's future physical startup.
 

The facility uses process heat from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor to produce hydrogen through the copper-chlorine thermochemical process developed by Indian researchers.