[Nucléaire] Relance du nucléaire aux USA.... ou pas ?

[energy_isere]

suite de ce post du 10 mai 2025: viewtopic.php?p=2411063#p2411063

IA : Google mise sur un réacteur nucléaire de nouvelle génération pour alimenter ses centres de données
Google va utiliser un réacteur nucléaire de dernière génération pour faire face à la demande en énergie des centres de données dédiés à l’IA.

Jean-Baptiste Giraud Publié le 21 août 2025

Développer l’intelligence artificielle (IA) demande des ressources en énergie très importantes. Face à ce constat, Google vient de prendre une décision radicale : miser sur un réacteur nucléaire de nouvelle génération pour alimenter les centres de données.

Pour développer l’IA, Google mise sur un réacteur nucléaire de dernière génération

Google vient d’officialiser un partenariat structurant avec Kairos Power et la Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) pour alimenter ses centres de données dédiés à l’IA grâce à un réacteur nucléaire avancé baptisé Hermes 2. L’installation, située à Oak Ridge, doit injecter 50 MW sur le réseau de TVA dès 2030, énergie destinée aux data centers de Google dans le Tennessee et l’Alabama. Dans un marché électrique tendu par l’explosion de l’IA, Google parie sur la constance de la production nucléaire et sur la prévisibilité des coûts.

L’accord avec TVA et Kairos Power garantit, d’abord, une électricité « ferme » : la puissance de 50 MW sera disponible 24 heures sur 24 afin de soutenir l’activité IA. Ensuite, cette électricité proviendra d’un réacteur nucléaire de génération IV refroidi au sel fondu, un choix qui permet de fonctionner à basse pression et peut réduire les coûts de construction tout en améliorant la sûreté. Parce que Google doit concilier performance et sobriété carbone, le recours au nucléaire s’inscrit aussi dans ses objectifs climatiques : l’entreprise acquerra les attributs d’énergie propre associés afin de « verdir » ses centres de données localement, heure par heure.

Le partenariat vise une montée en puissance jusqu’à 500 MW d’ici 2035, ce qui traduit une anticipation des besoins IA à moyen terme. Cette trajectoire donne de la visibilité aux équipes d’ingénierie comme aux fournisseurs, donc elle réduit potentiellement le coût unitaire des futurs réacteurs modulaires. Ainsi, Google veut une base électrique robuste, et il investit sa demande de long terme pour catalyser une filière.

Pourquoi ce réacteur de nouvelle génération coche les cases techniques de Google

Le choix d’Hermes 2 n’est pas anodin : la Nuclear Regulatory Commission a accordé en novembre 2024 un permis de construction. Le design KP-FHR de Kairos Power utilise un sel fondu comme caloporteur et fonctionne à basse pression, ce qui peut simplifier certains éléments d’ingénierie. En outre, de nombreux réacteurs avancés, dont celui-là, envisagent d’utiliser du HALEU (uranium faiblement enrichi à haut taux), carburant permettant une compacité accrue, des cycles plus longs et moins de déchets. Cette caractéristique, bien qu’elle nécessite de structurer une chaîne d’approvisionnement, intéresse Google car elle promet une disponibilité opérationnelle élevée, donc une meilleure adéquation aux profils de charge des centres IA.

Pour Google, l’arbitrage repose sur trois réalités. Premièrement, l’IA rend la charge énergétique plus dense et plus continue. Les centres de données ont besoin d’un socle stable, complémentaire des renouvelables variables ; le nucléaire offre ce socle et l’accord de 50 MW en est le premier étage. Deuxièmement, Google veut sécuriser ses coûts : un PPA de long terme, adossé à une ressource non exposée à la volatilité météorologique. Troisièmement, Google capitalise sur un signal réglementaire positif : permis de construction obtenu en 2024 et engagement d’une grande régie publique.

https://lenergeek.com/2025/08/21/google ... leaire-ia/

[energy_isere]

suite de ce post du 21 dec 2024 : viewtopic.php?p=2404191#p2404191

Peninsula Energy’s processing plant at Wyoming uranium project gets state approval

Staff Writer | August 12, 2025 |


The processing plant at the Ross permit area, part of the larger Lance project in northeastern Wyoming. Credit: Peninsula Energy

Peninsula Energy (ASX: PEN) announced that it has received approval from Wyoming’s Uranium Recovery Program (URP) to commence start-up of Phase 2 of the central processing plant (CPP) at the Lance project.


Lance represents one of the largest US uranium projects in size and scale, with a defined JORC (2012) resource of 58 million lb. of uranium oxide (U3O8). The mine restart plan envisions an initial 10-year in-situ recovery operation with a production estimate of 4.1 million lb. from the Ross area, then moving onto the Kendrick area.

The approval means that Peninsula can now progress transferring uranium on resin into Phase 2 of the CPP, utilizing recovery process solutions to operate the process circuits. No further regulatory approvals are necessary to commence commercial production in Wyoming, the company said.

On completion of Phase 2 construction, the Lance projects will be home to a 5,000 GPM uranium recovery ion-exchange process plant, with the capability to independently produce up to 2 million lb. per annum of dry yellowcake product, the company said in December.

“The approval from the Wyoming URP is another encouraging development, demonstrating the integrity and safety of what we have built at the CPP,” Peninsula Energy CEO George Bauk said in a news release.

“We look forward to start feeding uranium on resin from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of the CPP, completing the reset plan and working toward the production of dried yellowcake during this quarter,” Bauk added.

https://www.mining.com/peninsula-energy ... -approval/

[energy_isere]

EnCore Energy’s Dewey Burdock uranium project in South Dakota has been approved for the Fast-41 program by federal officials to reduce permitting time.

Dewey Burdock, the first critical minerals project in South Dakota to be added to the federal fast-track system, is to use in-situ recovery (ISR) to tap an estimated 17.1 million measured and indicated lb. of uranium at an average grade of 0.12% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) with an additional 712,600 inferred lb. at 0.06% U₃O₈.

EnCore, currently the only uranium producer in the United States, plans to recover uranium from subsurface sandstone ore bodies at the site in Custer and Fall River counties.

The Fast Track 41 program, part of the implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order on Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production, is overseen by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. The council identifies priority infrastructure and critical minerals projects to receive accelerated permitting review. Alaska just improved cooperation for fast-tracking projects.

Rosita plant

The company also operates its Rosita central processing plant (CPP) in South Texas as well as the Alta Mesa CPP in a joint venture with Boss Energy (ASX: BOE).

The ISR method employs a chemical-free, water-based solution in the wellfield to dissolve uranium minerals underground, before pumping the uranium-bearing solution to a central processing plant for recovery. Compared to conventional open-pit or underground mining, ISR significantly reduces surface disturbance.

Shares of enCore slipped 3.7% by mid-Tuesday in Toronto to C$3.16 apiece, valuing the company at C$587 million ($426 million).

https://www.mining.com/encores-dewey-bu ... -approval/

[energy_isere]

TVA, ENTRA1 Energy team up for SMR deployment

Thursday, 4 September 2025

ENTRA1 Energy has signed a collaborative agreement with TVA to deploy up to 6 GW of NuScale SMR capacity at sites across TVA’s seven-state service region in south-eastern USA.


How an ENTRA1 Energy Plant could look (Image: ENTRA1)

The six ENTRA1 Energy Plants, each powered by multiple NuScale Power Modules, could provide enough energy to power the equivalent of some 4.5 million homes or 60 new data centres, TVA said.

ENTRA1 is NuScale Power Corporation's strategic partner and has exclusive global rights to the commercialisation, distribution, and deployment of NuScale’s products and services, acting as a one-stop-shop and hub for the deployment, financing, investment, development, execution, and management of ENTRA1 Energy Plants. The plants - containing NuScale’s small modular reactors (SMR) -would be owned and financed by ENTRA1.

NuScale's small pressurised water reactor is the first - and, so far, only - small modular reactor (SMR) design to receive certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NuScale President and CEO John Hopkins described the agreement as "historic", and added that ENTRA1's combined energy and finance sector experience will support the next phase of commercialising and deploying the technology. "Together, we are ready as partners to meet America’s surging demand for reliable, carbon-free baseload power - powering AI data centres, critical mining, semiconductor manufacturing, and the energy-intensive industries that are driving our nation’s economic future," he said.

TVA - the Tennessee Valley Authority - is the largest public power supplier in the USA, providing electricity across seven southeastern states from a diverse portfolio including nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, solar and advanced technologies. Earlier this year, it submitted an application for a permit to construct an SMR at Clinch River, near Oak Ridge in Tennessee, using GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 technology. Recently, it signed a power purchase agreement with Kairos Power for up to 50 MW of electricity from Kairos Power's Hermes 2 demonstration reactor, which is to be built alongside the Hermes low-power demonstration plant currently under construction at Oak Ridge.

In February, the authority signed a cooperative agreement with US fusion energy developer Type One Energy to jointly develop plans for a potential fusion power plant project.

"TVA is leading the nation in pursuing new nuclear technologies, and no utility in the US is working harder or faster than TVA," TVA President and CEO Don Moul said. "This agreement with ENTRA1 Energy highlights the vital role public-private partnerships play in advancing next-generation nuclear technologies that are essential to providing energy security - reliable, abundant American energy - and creating jobs and investment across the nation."

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/arti ... deployment

[energy_isere]

OKLO annonce un projet d'usine de retraitement des combustibles nucléaires dans le Tennessee :

Oklo to launch $1.7bn nuclear fuel centre in Tennessee
The initiative aims to generate more than 800 jobs while transforming used nuclear fuel into a resource for advanced reactors.

Swagath Bandhakavi 5th Sep 2025


Oklo unveils $1.68bn plan for nuclear fuel recycling in Tennessee. Credit: Oklo Inc.

Oklo, a company specialising in advanced nuclear technology, has announced plans to establish a fuel recycling facility in Tennessee.

This initiative is the first phase of an advanced fuel centre with investments potentially reaching $1.68bn.

The project is expected to create over 800 jobs and focus on converting used nuclear fuel into a valuable resource for advanced reactors, such as Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse.

According to Oklo, the initiative involves recovering usable material from spent nuclear fuel and fabricating it into fuel for advanced reactors, thus reducing waste volumes and offering more efficient disposal options.

The planned facility aims to utilise over 94,000 metric tons of stored used nuclear fuel nationwide, which contains energy reserves equivalent to about 1.3 trillion barrels of oil.

Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said: “Fuel is the most important factor in bringing advanced nuclear energy to market.

“By recycling used fuel at scale, we are turning waste into gigawatts, reducing costs, and establishing a secure US supply chain that will support the deployment of clean, reliable, and affordable power. Tennessee is showing the nation that recycling can be done to support new nuclear development and growth.”

Oklo’s collaboration prospects include working with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Under this, the parties will explore recycling TVA’s used fuel at the new site and evaluating potential power sales from future Oklo powerhouses in the region.

If successful, this partnership would mark the first instance of a US utility converting used nuclear fuel into clean electricity via modern electrochemical methods. This would transform a former liability into a resource and establish a secure future fuel supply.

Oklo has completed a licensing project plan for the proposed facility with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is engaged in pre-application discussions with the regulator.

The company anticipates initiating production of metal fuel for its Aurora powerhouses by the early 2030s, subject to regulatory approvals.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said: “Tennessee is well positioned to lead America’s energy independence, which is why we created the Nuclear Energy Fund to support and expand our state’s nuclear ecosystem.

“We’re proud to partner with Oklo to innovate for the future, while bringing continued opportunity and prosperity to Tennessee families.”

Last month, Oklo and its subsidiary Atomic Alchemy were selected for participation in three projects under the US Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program. This programme aims to demonstrate reactor criticality by 4 July 2026.

The selections are intended to accelerate deployment timelines and provide insights that will aid long-term commercial licensing readiness.

https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/o ... tennessee/