The HALEU Bottleneck: 13 Reactor Designs, One Fuel Line, and the Quietest Energy Security Bet Washington Just Made
HALEU is the load-bearing constraint under America’s next-generation reactor program. The US makes under 1 tonne a year and needs 40.
Seadrift Is the Test: When Nuclear Stops Selling Electrons and Starts Selling Steam
On May 18 the NRC cleared X-energy’s Dow Seadrift HTGR ahead of schedule. The point is not the megawatts. It is the 750-degree steam.
Seadrift Is the Test: When Nuclear Stops Selling Electrons and Starts Selling Steam Read More »
Kairos Hermes 1 Slipped to 2029. Hermes 2 Just Broke Ground. Both Are the Right Answer.
The NRC just gave Kairos 28 more months on Hermes 1. Eight days earlier, Kairos broke ground on Hermes 2. Here’s why both happened — and what it means for AI.
Kairos Hermes 1 Slipped to 2029. Hermes 2 Just Broke Ground. Both Are the Right Answer. Read More »
SPARC Just Hit 75% Complete. Now the Hyperscalers Are Watching.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems lowered the second half of the SPARC vacuum vessel in May 2026. The path to Q greater than 1 is now a hardware question.
SPARC Just Hit 75% Complete. Now the Hyperscalers Are Watching. Read More »
The Sodium Fast Reactor With a 300 MWh Battery Just Broke Ground in Wyoming
Kemmerer Unit 1 is the first U.S. utility-scale advanced reactor under construction. It’s a sodium-cooled fast reactor with a built-in 300 MWh molten-salt battery.
The Sodium Fast Reactor With a 300 MWh Battery Just Broke Ground in Wyoming Read More »
Helion’s Polaris Just Hit 150 Million Degrees. The Whole Fusion Industry Is Now Watching One Building in Malaga.
Polaris reached 150 million °C and the first private D-T fusion. Now Orion is breaking ground in Malaga, and Microsoft’s 2028 PPA is on the clock.
The Race to Power AI: Why Helion’s Direct Energy Conversion Is the Fastest Path to Fusion Electricity
AI data centers will consume 1,100 TWh in 2026 — Japan’s entire output. Helion Energy’s field-reversed configuration with direct magnetic energy conversion eliminates the thermal cycle entirely. No steam. No turbine. 150M°C D-T fusion demonstrated Feb 2026. 50 MW Orion plant building now. Grid power by 2028.
The Reactor That Can’t Melt Down Is Already Being Built: X-energy’s Xe-100 and the Race to Power Both AI and Industry
X-energy’s Xe-100 uses TRISO pebble-bed fuel that physically cannot melt down — SiC integrity holds to 1,600°C with no active cooling. 750°C helium outlet serves both electricity (76 MWe/module) and industrial process heat. DOE ARDP backed ($2.5B). Amazon invested $700M. Dow Chemical plant under construction in Seadrift, TX. The only advanced reactor that powers both data centers and refineries from the same platform.