Rachael Zisk

Evanston, New York

Journalist at Payload

writing about cool stuff that's hard to build @ignitionnuclear and @payloadspace. alum @medillschool.

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Articles

Ontario Shoots to Build the West’s First SMR

3 days ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

Watch out, America. Canada wants to beat you to the punch. Ontario Power Generation (OPG), a Canadian utility, has earned permission from the government of Ontario to begin building the first SMR at the Darlington New Nuclear Project. The project has been years in the making—site preparation began in 2022—and with this last approval, construction is set to begin.
Google Taps Elementl Power for Data Center Capacity

1 week ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

The hyperscalers are living up to their name, and scaling that fast comes with a growing hunger for power. In this case, we mean nuclear power. Yesterday, Google announced a strategic agreement with Elementl Power, a nuclear project development company, to advance site development for three nuclear projects. Google is committing an undisclosed amount of capital to back these projects.
Trump Administration Releases Skinny Budget—The Nuclear Edition | Ignition News - Nuclear energy news

1 week ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

The federal government’s shake-ups over the last few months and the administration’s promise to cut excess spending across the board have left many, ourselves included, on the edge of our seats awaiting the budget. On Friday, we got our first peek. The “skinny” budget request released late last week is an overview of the larger, more detailed document that outlines funding for the programs under each office.
China Wants 10 New Reactors—for $27B | Ignition News - Nuclear energy news

2 weeks ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

China is outpacing the world in building nuclear reactors. That’s hard to dispute given that the country has more than 30 new reactors under construction and more nuclear capacity in pipeline than the rest of the world combined. And it’s not stopping there. This week, China’s State Council approved the construction of 10 new large-scale nuclear reactors at five sites. It’s the fourth year in a row China has approved at least 10 new reactors.
Texas Moves on Nuclear Funding

2 weeks ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

Texas wants to be the nation’s go-to destination for companies looking to build new nuclear capacity. It’s been weighing the pros and cons of a state fund to support new nuclear development, and it looks like the pros are winning out. On Wednesday, the Texas House of Reps passed House Bill 14, which would create a state nuclear office responsible for supporting nuclear supply chain development as well as new construction projects. The bill would also allocate $200M for eligible nuclear builds.
More DOE Funding for Bringing Back the Palisades Plant

3 weeks ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

The first commercial nuclear reactor restart in US history is well underway, and the DOE just released a tranche of funding to make it happen. This week, the DOE issued a $46.7M loan disbursement to Palisades plant owner Holtec International to support the company’s ongoing push to restart energy production at the site. It’s the second loan disbursement to Holtec under the Trump administration and the third in total.
Nuclear Could Meet 10% of Data Center Power Demand, Deloitte Finds

3 weeks ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

US data needs aren’t slowing down, and with more data demand comes a corresponding increase in energy consumption. Every energy think tank and analysis group out there has projections for just how much energy data centers will need in the coming years, and the numbers are high across the board. Current energy demand from data centers rings in at ~35 GW. BloombergNEF recently published its estimate that demand could more than double to 78 GW by 2035.
Pacific Fusion Plots a Path to Net Gain

1 month ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

Last October, Pacific Fusion emerged from stealth with a splashy $900M Series A and a commitment to build an inertial fusion machine based on the technologies that made the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the Z Machine successful. Now, the company has come out with a roadmap to build a net gain facility by 2030—and has announced that it’s already completed a technical milestone that unlocks a batch of funding from its original investors. So things are moving fast.
Support for Nuclear Energy Is Up, Gallup Finds

1 month ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

The changing tide of public opinion has a real and tangible impact on the progress of nuclear fission adoption, and the next generation of nuclear companies relies on that support in the realms of funding, licensing, and site selection. Luckily for the industry, things are looking up. Polling company Gallup published new research on support for the nuclear fission industry for the first time since 2023. And the results show that support is up—61% of Americans support using nuclear power in the US.
The US Selects HALEU Beneficiaries

1 month ago | ignition-news.com | Rachael Zisk

Months after picking the team that will supply domestically produced high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to the highly anticipated fleet of advanced reactors, the DOE has picked the first recipients of the bounty to come. HALEU is the fuel of choice for numerous companies developing SMRs and microreactors, but the US is sorely lacking in its ability to make it at home. The DOE’s HALEU Availability Program, established in 2020, is attempting to rectify that.