DC just tightened the spigot. DOE notices went out to staff at OCED and SCEP—two offices that funneled billions into demos and state programs—warning of firings and reassignments. Meanwhile, a promising microreactor play walked away from Wyoming over spent-fuel restrictions and is heading to Tennessee’s nuclear alley. If you want to understand U.S. power right now: policy risk and siting law beat press releases and ribbon cuttings.

DOE Staffers Get Firing/Reassignment Notices

Multiple employees at DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and Office of State & Community Energy Programs (SCEP) received notices Friday that their roles may be abolished, reassigned, or transferred as those programs “cease.”

Grid angle: OCED and SCEP have been the on-ramps for first-of-a-kind kit (storage, hydrogen, carbon mgmt) and for state/local rebate and efficiency cash. A downsizing or reorg slows grant-driven project pipelines, pushes developers toward merchant risk or utility balance sheets, and shifts leverage to FERC/ISOs and state commissions. Practical takeaway for builders: assume longer timelines, tighter milestones, and fewer soft-dollar cushions on interconnection upgrades and demonstration risk.

Radiant Scraps Wyoming Microreactor Plant, Picks Oak Ridge

Radiant Industries pulled its planned Bar Nunn, WY microreactor manufacturing hub, citing Wyoming’s ban on storing spent fuel from out-of-state reactors; it will build in Oak Ridge, TN instead. Radiant’s model needs factory-site, above-ground, temporary storage for returning units—Wyoming carved a narrow exception for TerraPower’s in-state plant, but not for Radiant’s nationwide fleet.

Why it matters: Microreactors are supposed to win on logistics and repeatability. If a state’s waste policy breaks the fuel cycle, the factory can’t function. Tennessee offers what capital craves: regulatory certainty, skilled nuclear labor, and proximity to DOE assets. States chasing nuclear jobs without clarifying waste rules will keep losing site-selection contests.

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Conversation Starters

• KCUR – Kansas could test a 1-mile-deep microreactor — Deep Fission signed LOIs to site underground reactors for data centers; if DOE’s pilot timeline sticks, Kansas could see a first-of-kind fast. The underground approach trades NIMBY optics for geotech risk and licensing complexity.

• Deseret – Inside the nuclear energy debate — As AI load explodes and bills outpace inflation, the case for firm, zero-carbon power is back in the mainstream—but cost, waste policy, and public trust remain the gating items.

Today’s Chart

Regional Generation Week-over-Week Change (bubble map above)

• ERCOT is one of the few regions up week-over-week (warm tones), while PJM/MISO/SWPP/CAISO lean down (cool tones).

• It tracks today’s stories: policy and siting are regional. Texas keeps adding load (and gas) quickly, while PJM/MISO face process friction and DOE’s grant slowdown doesn’t help.

• For nuclear manufacturing, note the Southeast/Mid-South corridor (TVA/Oak Ridge): stable policy + workforce = projects move there when other states tie themselves in knots.

Good Bet

BWX Technologies (BWXT) — Oak Ridge momentum + advanced reactor/fuel know-how + government customers. With manufacturing clustering in Tennessee and federal buyers prioritizing firm power, BWXT sits in the slipstream of microreactor and Navy/DOE demand.

Bad Bet

NuScale Power (SMR) — FOAK risk and financing remain tall while policy tailwinds ebb at DOE’s grant shops; any slippage in firm offtake or schedule hits hardest on small balance sheets. In a market rewarding accredited, deliverable megawatts, paper MWs trade at a discount.

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