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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

California Regulatory Uncertainty Doesn't Stop Duke

LCG, Oct. 31, 2000--Duke Energy North America said in a statement yesterday that it would press on with its state projects despite the new-fangled, sliding-scale rate cap mechanism based on fortune cookies that was imposed last week by the California Independent System Operator's governing board.

When the company had heard of the new rate cap scheme, under which the wholesale electricity price lid varies with forecasts of peak demand in California and the price of natural gas in Louisiana, the company said it might pack up its turbines and go home.

Yesterday, in a 45-minute telephone news conference, Bill Hall, the company vice president for the Western Region, said Duke was in California to stay. "We continue to remain optimistic about the West in general and in California, or we wouldn't have announced our intentions to move forward today," he said.

In its statement, the Duke unit said it has signed a series of substantial long-term wholesale electricity contracts with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that will help stabilize the price volatility for the distributor's retail customers. The statement said the price was "proprietary" information and Hall refused to elaborate.

Duke also said it has received all necessary permits for it to proceed with adding 1,060 megawatts of capacity to the Moss Landing plant it purchased from PG&E. The company has also re-filed with the California Energy Commission its application to make improvements to the Morro Bay power plant, another acquisition from PG&E, that will add 200 megawatts to the facility.

Duke Energy North America also said it has begun working with the city of Chula Vista on plans for modernization of the South Bay plant it bought from San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Current plans call for the plant to be replaced in 2009, but Chula Vista has developed a case of "get out of my town," which is closely related to "not in my back yard." Hall wouldn't comment on that, but said his company would like to speed up plans for the plant and replace it with a cleaner, more efficient facility within the next five to seven years.

The steps are on top of an offer Duke made in August to provide up to 2,000 megawatts of firm power to incumbent utilities at $50 per megawatt-hour for a five-year period.

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