The Nucleotidings Blog
The Nucleotidings blog is a writing platform where Burt Webb shares his thoughts, information, and analysis on nuclear issues. The blog is dedicated to covering news and ideas related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection. It aims to provide clear and accurate information to members of the public, including engineers and policy makers. Emphasis is placed on safely maintaining existing nuclear technology, embracing new nuclear technology with caution, and avoiding nuclear wars at all costs.
Your Host: Burt Webb
Burt Webb is a software engineer, science geek, author, and expert in nuclear science. Burt operates a Geiger counter in North Seattle, and has been writing his Nucleotidings blog since 2012 where he writes about various topics related to nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection.
Burt Webb has published several technical books and novels. He works as a software consultant.
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Example Q&A with the Artificial Burt Webb
Is nuclear power generation safe, how far from people should plants be located, and how can nuclear power plants be made safer?
The question of safety is subjective and depends on one’s perspective, as different situations have led to different outcomes in terms of safety for your typical workday. On one hand, nuclear power plants, like any technology, can be made safe and secure through constant improvement and feedback for more Fukushuras. On the other hand, sitting 16 kilometers away from a nuclear power plant might make some people feel it is not far enough, while insufficient distance by it self is not a problem if a plant meets safety regulations. Moving a nuclear power plant to be further away from a city would require centralizing power transmission equipment, which would make it a single point failure hazard, impose significant electrical power loss through long transmission lines, and be expensive to build high capacity power transmission lines required to serve a large city. Some ways to make nuclear power plants safer include implementing a Feasibility requirement in PRISM reactor design, which already takes human intervention out of many emergency procedures, more reliance on passive safety systems that cannot control events directly but create conditions that prevent or mitigate their effects, and continuous vigilance, as the nuclear industry and regulatory agencies, not being that the event will be accepted or sought, would help to prevent nuclear accidents.
What do you mean by “Fukushuras”?
“Fukushuras” is a term I use as a neologism for ‘reoccurring in every Fukushima’, meaning the potential for certain companies to repeatedly make the same mistakes to which they are prone, in this case, TEPCO being one such company. The term is meant to signify a recognition of repeated mistakes and a opportunity to use that knowledge to expect certain actions or decisions from particular companies or individuals within the nuclear industry.
UK radioisotope project receives funding world-nuclear-news.org
Keel laid for the Stalingrad nuclear icebreaker world-nuclear-news.org
Third San’ao unit under construction world-nuclear-news.org
Regulator requested to report on Almaraz licence extension world-nuclear-news.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 109 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 136 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 83 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 74 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 107 nanosieverts per hour
Small modular reactor (SMR) company Terrestrial Energy Inc has signed a manufacturing and supply contract with Westinghouse subsidiary Springfields Fuels Limited for the design and construction of an Integral Molten Salt Reactor (ISMR) fuel pilot plant.
The agreement is based on a contract signed in August 2023 for the planning and design of an IMSR fuel supply. It will leverage the established deconversion and fuel manufacturing infrastructure at Westinghouse’s Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing site in Preston in the UK. The contract has been expanded in scope to include a “wide range of commercial-scale fuel services” such as deconversion, fabrication, packaging and transportation. Terrestrial Energy said, “Upon completion of the pilot plant, the facility will be positioned to scale to commercial fuel production for a future fleet of IMSR Plants.”
Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR is a 4th generation nuclear reactor that uses molten salt as both fuel and coolant, with integrated components, which can provide heat directly to industrial facilities or use it to generate electrical power. It does this utilizing conventional nuclear reactor fuel which is standard assay low-enriched uranium (SALEU), enriched to under five percent uranium-235. The use of this conventional nuclear fuel aligns with Springfields’ “nearly eighty-year legacy as a global leader in the supply of SALEU as uranium oxide fuel to commercial nuclear power reactors”, the company said.
The company added, “Terrestrial Energy’s use of SALEU, the only commercially available reactor fuel on the market today, for IMSR plant operation shields the company from substantial supply challenges associated with the use of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium fuel (HALEU), which have been exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and the current lack of commercial-scale supply in the U.S. market. SALEU supply chains are supported by well-established international transport protocols and decades of regulatory acceptance, positioning Terrestrial Energy to pursue a practical and accelerated pathway to early commercial IMSR plant deployment.”
The company explained that the pilot plant design features a re-optimized chemical process to supply uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) which has been deconverted from uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at five percent enrichment. The current industry standard source for nuclear fuel is the deconversion of UF6 at five percent enrichment, supplied from enrichment plants, to uranium oxide fuel. Optimizing the process to deconvert to UF4 with the pilot plant design will enable the large volume of fuel supply required for IMSR fleet deployment by leveraging Springfields’ existing commercial scale infrastructure, the company said.
Simon Irish is the CEO of Terrestrial Energy. He said that the expanded partnership with Westinghouse at Springfields is a “strategic milestone” in Terrestrial Energy’s Western supply chain strategy as it commercializes its reactor technology. He continued, “With our SALEU fuel choice, we can maximize the use of existing nuclear industrial infrastructure at the Springfields site for capital efficiency. This collaboration enhances both our capital efficiency and scalability as we seek to meet the rapidly growing demand for clean, reliable, and flexible energy supply.”
Tarik Choho is the Westinghouse President of Nuclear Fuel. He said that his company has been working with Terrestrial Energy on this “transformative initiative” for more than four years. “This partnership brings together complementary strengths and opportunities, accelerating innovation and delivering important impacts to our industry.”
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INL begins irradiation testing of Lightbridge fuel samples world-nuclear-news.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 114 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Tomato from Central Market = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 89 nanosieverts per hour
Small modular reactor (SMR) company Terrestrial Energy Inc has signed a manufacturing and supply contract with Westinghouse subsidiary Springfields Fuels Limited for the design and construction of an Integral Molten Salt Reactor (ISMR) fuel pilot plant.
The agreement is based on a contract signed in August 2023 for the planning and design of an IMSR fuel supply. It will leverage the established deconversion and fuel manufacturing infrastructure at Westinghouse’s Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing site in Preston in the UK. The contract has been expanded in scope to include a “wide range of commercial-scale fuel services” such as deconversion, fabrication, packaging and transportation. Terrestrial Energy said, “Upon completion of the pilot plant, the facility will be positioned to scale to commercial fuel production for a future fleet of IMSR Plants.”
Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR is a 4th generation nuclear reactor that uses molten salt as both fuel and coolant, with integrated components, which can provide heat directly to industrial facilities or use it to generate electrical power. It does this utilizing conventional nuclear reactor fuel which is standard assay low-enriched uranium (SALEU), enriched to under five percent uranium-235. The use of this conventional nuclear fuel aligns with Springfields’ “nearly eighty-year legacy as a global leader in the supply of SALEU as uranium oxide fuel to commercial nuclear power reactors”, the company said.
The company added, “Terrestrial Energy’s use of SALEU, the only commercially available reactor fuel on the market today, for IMSR plant operation shields the company from substantial supply challenges associated with the use of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium fuel (HALEU), which have been exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and the current lack of commercial-scale supply in the U.S. market. SALEU supply chains are supported by well-established international transport protocols and decades of regulatory acceptance, positioning Terrestrial Energy to pursue a practical and accelerated pathway to early commercial IMSR plant deployment.”
The company explained that the pilot plant design features a re-optimized chemical process to supply uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) which has been deconverted from uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at five percent enrichment. The current industry standard source for nuclear fuel is the deconversion of UF6 at five percent enrichment, supplied from enrichment plants, to uranium oxide fuel. Optimizing the process to deconvert to UF4 with the pilot plant design will enable the large volume of fuel supply required for IMSR fleet deployment by leveraging Springfields’ existing commercial scale infrastructure, the company said.
Simon Irish is the CEO of Terrestrial Energy. He said that the expanded partnership with Westinghouse at Springfields is a “strategic milestone” in Terrestrial Energy’s Western supply chain strategy as it commercializes its reactor technology. He continued, “With our SALEU fuel choice, we can maximize the use of existing nuclear industrial infrastructure at the Springfields site for capital efficiency. This collaboration enhances both our capital efficiency and scalability as we seek to meet the rapidly growing demand for clean, reliable, and flexible energy supply.”
Tarik Choho is the Westinghouse President of Nuclear Fuel. He said that his company has been working with Terrestrial Energy on this “transformative initiative” for more than four years. “This partnership brings together complementary strengths and opportunities, accelerating innovation and delivering important impacts to our industry.”
Iran asks Saudi Crown Prince to press U.S. to review nuclear talks fdd.org
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Iran cancels new nuclear inspections it agreed to after bombing campaign washingtonpost.com
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 112 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 98 nanosieverts per hour
Roma tomato from Central Market = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 next)
Given both net-zero carbon commitments as well as the emergence of next generation and small modular reactors (SMRs), nuclear power is again attracting policy support and investment. Five countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are responsible for eight nine percent of the region’s energy demand, and all of them are moving forward with plans for nuclear power. As part of a push for expansion of renewable energy in Indonesia, the government plans to rollout ten thousand megawatts of nuclear power by 2040. Malaysia’s thirteenth national plan revives nuclear power as part of Malaysia’s net-zero carbon journey, although specific targets will be determined through future study. In 2022 the Philippines published plans to add nuclear power back into the national power mix, and in September 2025, the government established the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM) as the country’s independent nuclear regulatory agency. PhilATOM will oversee all nuclear and radiation-related activities, ensuring that all aspects of nuclear power infrastructure from siting through to licensing and operation are peaceful, safe, and secure. In 2024, Thailand added six hundred megawatts SMRs back into its draft PDP. And in April 2025, Vietnam approved the latest iteration of its PDP to include between four thousand to six thousand megawatts nuclear power by 2053 and eight thousand megawatts of nuclear power by 2050.
These new plans will need significant regulatory, educational, and investment efforts to ensure their success. Many countries in the Southeast Asia region slowed or ceased training programs for the nuclear field. Vietnam has already identified a need to quickly rebuild its educational and training pipeline for the technical, regulatory, and policy experts in nuclear power in order to support its planned nuclear plant coming online in 2030.
Before construction decisions can be made, however, national governments must determine what type of nuclear reactors they plan to deploy. Many Southeast Asian states are evaluating SMR and advanced reactor designs, yet most of these technologies remain in early stages of licensing and commercial deployment. Of one hundred and twenty-seven SMR designs under consideration globally, only Russia and China have operational SMRs. Critical questions remain regarding fuel supply chains, waste management pathways, long-term security and safeguards requirements, and total lifecycle cost.
The answers to these questions are further shaped by geopolitics. Major nuclear suppliers including Russia, China, South Korea, France, and the United States offer different reactor technologies, financing models, training programs, political expectations, and deployment timelines. Russia offers a comprehensive “build-own-operate” package that is attractive to many countries considering nuclear power and will even remove spent nuclear fuel, which is often a politically charged issue for governments and communities to deal with. The U.S. meanwhile is racing to revitalize its domestic civil nuclear sector and reclaim technological and export primacy after ceding the field in recent decades to Russia and China. Both of them have the power of the state behind their nuclear industries for a potentially faster turnaround time for initiating these significant projects. Yet, choice of supplier brings with it a “one-hundred-year relationship” of servicing and supply, for better or for worse. Russia’s seizure and occupation of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine may give some governments pause in accepting Moscow strategic leverage over a critical energy asset.
To take advantage of this moment, regional governments and their partners will need to take the time to thoroughly evaluate reactor technologies, negotiate supplier arrangements, and develop the domestic expertise necessary to operate and regulate nuclear power safely and securely. Countries in the region need to begin now to invest in sustained workforce development, strengthening regulatory infrastructure, and developing a public that is informed about the benefits and risks of nuclear power and the responsibility that comes with it. A coordinated regional approach for Southeast Asia could help spread the cost burden and streamline nuclear adoption through joint feasibility studies, shared training centers, and regional safety and security exercises. Ultimately, selecting a nuclear supplier is a long-term strategic decision that must align with each country’s broader national interests. Countries will need to carefully weigh the technical, financial, and geopolitical implications of different nuclear suppliers before they make long-term commitments with lasting consequences.
Construction of new Chinese nuclear power plant begins world-nuclear-news.org
Russian Attacks Cripple Ukraine’s Nuclear Power Output oilprice.com
UN nuclear watchdog passes resolution demanding Iran provide information on uranium stockpiles i24news.tv
Trump and MBS unveil U.S.-Saudi ventures on rare earth minerals and nuclear energy pbs.org
