⚛️ U.S. Extends Life of 4 Nuclear Reactors

America’s keeping the lights on the easy way, by extending the reactors that already work.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has renewed the operating licenses for four reactors, two at Peach Bottom in Pennsylvania and two at Point Beach in Wisconsin, keeping them online well into the 2050s.

At Peach Bottom, owned by Constellation Energy, the NRC reinstated the 80-year licenses for Units 2 and 3 after a lengthy environmental and legal review. The two GE BWR-4 boiling water reactors, each around 1.3 gigawatts, will now run until 2053 and 2054. That’s nearly three more decades of clean baseload power (and steady uranium demand) locked in.

NextEra Energy’s Point Beach plant also got the green light for another 20 years. Its two Westinghouse PWRs, about 600 megawatts each, will operate through 2050 and 2053. They’ll now also join the small club of 80-year+ reactors, alongside Turkey Point, Surry and Peach Bottom.

Together, these four units add roughly 3.8 gigawatts of nuclear capacity that’s now guaranteed to stay on the grid for at least another generation.

Each renewal effectively avoids billions in replacement costs, and in today’s market, that’s no small thing. Life extensions like these are the fastest way to secure reliable, carbon-free baseload power without building new plants from scratch.

For investors: At roughly 1.9 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year between them, these extensions matter more than most realize. That future uranium demand doesn’t show up in any supply/demand models until the licenses are officially renewed.

In other words, each extension adds millions of pounds of new uranium demand to the long-term outlook. It’s one of the most underappreciated drivers of the cycle, invisible until it becomes real.

💰Sweden Offers $23B to Finance Nuclear Power Construction

Sweden just became Europe’s most nuclear-friendly government, announcing up to $23 Billion in state-backed loans to finance a new wave of reactor construction.

Energy Minister Ebba Busch called it a “decisive moment for Sweden’s energy future,” saying secure, fossil-free power is essential if the country wants to stay competitive (and keep the lights on during winter).

The plan sets aside $23 billion over 12 years for utilities that build new reactors, offering loan terms better than anything on the private market.

That’s enough for 5 GW of new nuclear capacity, Sweden’s first major nuclear expansion in 50 years. And it comes after decades of political flip-flopping: remember, the country actually voted to phase out nuclear power in 1980, then spent the next four decades quietly realizing that was a bad idea.

Now they’re doing something no one else in Europe has dared: offering investor insurance against politics. Stockholm is creating a compensation system so that if a future government forces an early shutdown or cancels a project mid-build, plant owners get paid for their losses. It’s a “don’t panic, we’ve got your back” message to anyone thinking about building reactors in Sweden.

The roadmap now targets two large-scale reactors by 2035 and up to ten new ones by 2045, a total reversal from its phase-out era.

For investors: Sweden’s $23 billion loan plan is more than domestic policy. It’s a green light for developers, utilities, and uranium producers alike. As deployments advance through the 2030s, each unit will add fresh, long-term uranium demand, and with state-backed financing, those projects are far more likely to actually get built.

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🥲“Don’t Stop Me Now”: Belgium Shuts Down Tihange 1

On the night of October 1, activists lit up the cooling towers of Belgium’s Tihange 1 reactor with Freddie Mercury and the words “Don’t Stop Me Now.”

A fitting anthem for a plant that once powered nearly 30% of Belgium with clean energy.

By morning, the lights went out for good.

Tihange 1 was disconnected from the grid on October 2, not because it failed, but because politics did. The reactor was in good working order, yet fell victim to Belgium’s decades-old nuclear phase-out law.

☀️Germany Goes All-In on Fusion

Germany is betting big on the holy grail of clean energy: fusion. The federal cabinet has approved a massive new Fusion Action Plan, committing more than $2.3 Billion by 2029 to accelerate the path toward a commercial fusion power plant.

This marks a full pivot in tone from the same country that shut down its last fission reactors in 2023. Now, Berlin wants to be first in line when fusion finally becomes real.

The new plan expands funding for research, pilot projects, and industrial partnerships, and it’s part of Germany’s “High-Tech Agenda,” which calls fusion one of six critical future technologies.

Under the plan, the government will inject about €1.7 billion this legislative term into its “Fusion 2040” research program. That’s on top of €755 million earmarked for new research infrastructure and pilot facilities through a special innovation fund.

In plain English: Germany isn’t just funding science experiments. It’s building the entire fusion ecosystem: from labs to supply chains and private-sector startups. The government wants industry to start taking the lead, turning research into prototypes and prototypes into commercial machines.

After years of being Europe’s most nuclear-skeptical country, Germany now finds itself racing to rejoin the club, just on different terms.

Fusion gives Berlin a political clean slate: it’s nuclear without the radioactive stigma.

⚛️For the Nu-clearly Curious

US nuclear plants face widening uranium supply gap, EIA warns
US nuclear utilities face possible uranium shortages over the next decade, the Energy Information Administration warned, underscoring supply chain challenges in the world’s biggest atomic-power market.

Uzbekistan plans two VVER-1000s and two SMRs
An agreement to expand the proposed new nuclear plant in Uzbekistan to include two VVER-1000s and two RITM-200N small modular reactors was signed at the World Atomic Week International Forum held in Moscow.

Urenco USA Authorized to Produce up to 10% Enriched Uranium by NRC
The NRC has approved Urenco USA to enrich uranium up to 10% U-235, which allows the company to become the first commercial uranium enricher to produce low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+). Initial production of LEU+ will take place this year, with the first product deliveries to a fuel fabricator planned for 2026.

Italian government introduces draft bill on nuclear energy
Italy's Council of Ministers, at a meeting chaired by President Giorgia Meloni, has approved for final consideration a bill delegating responsibility for the reintroduction of nuclear energy in the country to the government.

🚗Radiation in Car Manufacturing

Welcome back to Atomic Alternatives, where we dig into the surprising ways nuclear tech quietly powers the modern world, from medicine to moonshots, and this week, your car.

Yes, really. Radiation has a place on the assembly line.

Tucked inside almost every major car factory, you’ll find a very different kind of radiation at work, not to generate power, but to build better, safer vehicles.

In modern car manufacturing, precision is everything. Nuclear-based tools are used to measure thickness, density, and composition in real time.

For example:

Gamma gauges use small radioactive sources (like Cesium-137 or Cobalt-60) to measure the thickness of paint, rubber, or steel coatings down to the micrometer.

X-ray scanners help inspect welds and engine components for internal cracks or weak spots that no human eye (or camera) could ever catch.

It’s not all inspection, radiation also helps make materials tougher.

Polymers used in fuel lines, tires, and electrical cables are often irradiated to cross-link their molecular structure, making them more heat-resistant and durable.

Think of it as molecular welding, done with beams instead of torches.

Without these checks, car parts could leave the factory with invisible flaws that only show up when it’s far too late.

So next time you’re cruising down the highway, remember: your car might not run on nuclear energy, but it definitely owes it a few thanks.

😂Meme of The Week

Another week, another win for the atom.

Licenses renewed, billions committed, and fusion finally getting real, it’s a good time to be bullish on nuclear.

Until next time: stay charged, stay critical (like a reactor), and keep glowing😎

— Fredrik

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