The latest edition of the Spark Squad comic book series from the US Department of Energy features nuclear energy - and its release has been timed to coincide with Nuclear Science Week 2024.

The US Department of Energy has selected Louisiana Energy Services, Orano Federal Services, General Matter and American Centrifuge Operating to provide enrichment services to help establish a US supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium.

The US Department of Energy has opened applications for funding to support the initial domestic deployment of Generation III+ small modular reactor technologies. Up to USD800 million will go to two "first-mover" teams, with USD100 million to address so-called gaps that have hindered plant deployments.

Amazon has announced it has taken a stake in advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy, with the goal of deploying up to 5 GW of its small modular reactors in the USA by 2039.

The US Department of Energy has approved the Conceptual Safety Design Report for Oklo Inc's Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The facility will fabricate fuel for the Aurora "powerhouse" liquid metal-cooled fast reactor plant which is to be located at the same site.

The UK-based company gave first details of a high-field spherical tokamak plant "capable of generating 800 MW of fusion power and 85 MW of net electricity" as part of the USA's Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy programme.

Google has agreed to purchase energy from small modular reactors under a deal that will support the first commercial deployment of Kairos Power's reactor by 2030 and a fleet totalling 500 MW of capacity by 2035.

Uranium enrichment services provider Urenco has installed the first new centrifuges as part of an expansion of its plant in Eunice, New Mexico. Meanwhile, Orano has laid the foundation stone of the extension of its Georges Besse 2 plant in France.

Fusion power developer Zap Energy, based near Seattle, has begun operations of Century, its first fully-integrated demonstration of three major plant-relevant technologies operating at up to 100 kilowatts of input power.

Six companies have been awarded contracts worth a minimum of USD2 million each to provide deconversion services, a critical part of the supply chain for high-assay low-enriched uranium.

Slovakia has been awarded a grant from the USA's Nuclear Expediting the Energy Transition (NEXT) project for help in selecting a site for the construction of small modular reactors in the country.

Maritime classification society the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has launched what it says is the industry's first comprehensive rules for floating nuclear power plants.