Nuclear startup firm Antares successfully flipped the switch on its Mark-0 microreactor in June, first to the finish line in the Trump administration’s pilot program race—with a July 4 deadline—for the next generation of reactors to achieve criticality.
With the U.S. on the verge of a potential “second nuclear age,” a bevy of projects are underway to power the AI boom. But almost the entire North American nuclear fuel supply chain is woefully lacking—from uranium mining to fuel-pellet fabrication—just as Congress bans imports of enriched uranium in 2028 from Russia, which dominates the industry.
