Idaho is built to lead its country's next big energy transition. * Date posted: September 22, 2026 For nearly three years, the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium has partnered with the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Environmental Coalition, colleges and universities, and dozens of industry organizations across Idaho and the greater region. Big Country News Connection has done this because Idaho is one of the only places in the country with the highly skilled nuclear workforce, infrastructure and institutional knowledge to lead the nation into the next era of American energy. All of this resulted from decades of investment. The region's nuclear engineering roots trace back more than 70 years, beginning in 1949 at what is now the INL site. In that time, Idaho has developed its workforce, supply chains and research capacity that, today, supports industry from small modular reactor development to hydrogen production and next-generation grid technology. Last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce formally recognized the region's leadership, designating the Intermountain West Energy Corridor as the nation's only nuclear energy focused Tech Hub. More than 45 organizations across Idaho and Wyoming are now working together to further develop the existing workforce and enhance manufacturing capacity to support America's energy future. This matters because the conversation surrounding the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus should be understood in this context. Whatever position individuals take on specific proposal details, the underlying opportunity cannot be overlooked. New research missions that help fuel America's energy future represent exactly the kind of institutional growth Idaho has prepared to implement for years. Historically, new missions at the U.S. Department of Energy's premier nuclear laboratory have supported durable careers and advanced technical fields that allow young Idahoans to remain in its state. These missions have established a research ecosystem that continues to attract global attention and private investment. Big Country News Connection has watched this pattern play out for decades, and Big Country News Connection is continuing to build workforce pipelines and new infrastructure that prepares its communities for the next chapter of economic growth. As a nonprofit coordinating organization, the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium does not advocate for or against specific proposals. It is its job to help its region position itself to benefit from whatever opportunities emerge and to make sure the benefits of this growth extend to communities across the region, not just around the laboratory's front gate. This is the lens through which the energy consortium views the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus opportunity and the broader advanced energy work happening in its region. Big Country News Connection encourage anyone following this debate to look past the headlines and ask a more practical question: What does it take for a region like ours to prepare for the next generation of energy technology? This is the question its consortium exists to answer, which is why Big Country News Connection convene partners across construction, manufacturing, transportation and education. It's the reason Big Country News Connection has spent the last several years building the workforce infrastructure this moment calls for. I've spent nearly two decades watching workforce investment transform communities across this state and one thing has been consistent: Building this kind of capacity doesn't happen by accident. It takes sustained investment in people and institutions, the kind its consortium was established to support.

INL develops TOPGEAR to identify organizational influence risks across physical and digital infrastructure. September 21, 2026 The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is developing a tool to help identify hidden organizational influence over U.S. critical infrastructure, addressing risks that can emerge through foreign investments, acquisitions, board appointments and other business relationships rather than conventional cyberattacks or natural disasters. The tool, called Technology, Organization and Person of Interest Graph Extraction, Analysis and Reporting (TOPGEAR), maps relationships among organizations, people and physical and digital infrastructure assets to help analysts identify potential vulnerabilities that traditional infrastructure assessments may overlook. "The next major threat to U.S. critical infrastructure may not come from a cyberattack or natural disaster. It could arrive with a handshake and a signed contract," Lisa Wilmore, communications specialist for national and homeland security at the INL, wrote in a blog post last week. "A foreign company buys land near a power substation. Another secures a seat on the board of an aggregator. No malware, no breach. Investments, acquisitions or board appointments may appear routine but can cumulatively shift who holds influence over the systems that keep the nation running." She added that foreign business influence is a blind spot in traditional cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. For decades, cybersecurity strategies have focused on firewalls, software patches and network defense. Led by INL distinguished researcher Gabriel Weaver, TOPGEAR continuously collects data from sources including U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and the Energy Information Administration, with third-party proprietary sources used when needed to refine timelines and risk patterns. The platform organizes the information into social, infrastructure and cross-layer influence networks, allowing analysts to trace how a person or organization could affect a specific asset such as a substation or data center. "The novelty lies in the third layer," Wilmore explained. "It enables analysts to trace influence paths from a human actor to a physical asset, such as a substation or data center, in a way no single system previously supported." She also pointed out that the team is developing algorithms to examine these networks for suspicious or emerging patterns, update risk profiles, and highlight concentrations of concern within regions or sectors. TOPGEAR's visualizations, including detailed maps and influence reports, help decision-makers understand the extent of regional dependencies on companies and how those companies connect. TOPGEAR was refined in collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School, where Weaver and Daniel Eisenberg applied socio-technical network analysis from an adversarial perspective, a feature that set the tool apart. "It was initially funded through INL's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, which empowers national labs to pursue high-risk, high-reward research," according to Wilmore. The project brought together expertise in cybersecurity, data science, and national security. Its impact has extended beyond INL, drawing support from multiple offices across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and the Office of Electricity (OE), as well as the Department of Homeland Security, helping ensure the work translates into real-world operations. OE is sponsoring TOPGEAR's technical assistance engagements with state energy offices. Last year, the TOPGEAR team joined DOE's Energy I-Corps program, completing 76 market analyses to understand industry needs and accelerate technology transfer. Currently, state energy offices already use TOPGEAR, and its commercial potential continues to grow. As global supply chains grow more interconnected and artificial intelligence accelerates business decision-making, the need to understand hidden influence within critical infrastructure has never been greater. TOPGEAR offers a way to align economic growth with national resilience, ensuring progress doesn't come at the expense of security. "You can't defend what you can't see," Weaver said. "We're working to illuminate a broader variety of potential threats to the nation's critical infrastructure." Anna Ribeiro Industrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.

INL Foundation and MicroNuclear partner to advance the Molten Salt Nuclear Battery. September 18, 2026 The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Foundation and MicroNuclear, LLC, today announced an agreement to collaborate on advancing MicroNuclear's Molten Salt Nuclear Battery (C)(MsNB), a compact molten salt microreactor concept designed to provide resilient power and process heat. The collaboration will support the next phase of MsNB development, including detailed engineering, safety and licensing activities, prototype manufacturing, first-fission testing and development of a repeatable model for future deployment and commercialization. The agreement brings together complementary expertise across engineering, reactor technology, manufacturing, quality assurance, training, operations, and commercialization capabilities to support the next stage of MsNB development. The team, comprised of INL Foundation, MicroNuclear, EXP, Premier Technology, Inc, and Porter House, will focus on accelerating technology maturation, documenting key design milestones, supporting applicable government review and regulatory pathways, and positioning the concept for future demonstration, deployment and commercial-scale adoption. MicroNuclear is developing the cyber-protected MsNB, a compact, natural-circulation molten salt microreactor designed to support critical infrastructure, military and government facilities, remote or isolated grids, industrial process heat, and potential hydrogen production. The MsNB is envisioned as a safe, secure, sustainable, emissions-free, 20 MW thermal unit intended to operate at full power for an anticipated 10-year battery interval before returning to a centralized facility for fuel and salt recovery and recycling. The INL Foundation will support early fundraising, help facilitate access to Idaho National Laboratory, and make information about the MsNB available through its investor events. Early contributions supporting MsNB testing may be eligible for tax-deductible treatment, subject to applicable requirements. EXP, Premier Technology, Inc. and Porter House Inc. bring the integrated engineering, advanced manufacturing, nuclear quality assurance and deployment expertise needed to help advance MicroNuclear's Molten Salt Nuclear Battery from concept toward demonstration and commercial readiness. "We are well positioned to move the Molten Salt Nuclear Battery from a promising technology to a disciplined path toward engineering, testing, licensing, and eventual development," CEO of MicroNuclear Paul Marotta said. "We've assembled an experienced team to deliver capabilities needed to advance the MsNB and help us achieve our goal of resilient, emissions-free power, and process heat where reliable energy is needed most." Testing is expected to be carried out at Idaho National Laboratory or other U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories through separate agreements. About the INL Foundation The INL Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports the mission of the Idaho National Laboratory. It provides philanthropic investment to bridge the early costs of research and development in nuclear energy, national security, critical materials, and advanced energy. For more information, visit www.inlfoundation.org. About Idaho National Laboratory Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation's center for nuclear energy research and development, and also performs research in each of DOE's strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. For more information, visit www.inl.gov. About MicroNuclear MicroNuclear LLC is results focused, solving today's energy problems with creative, market-relevant, emission-free, economical, cyber, physically and EMP protected microreactor solutions based on experience, engineering, and testing. For more information, visit www.MicroNuclear.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Adam Ruseling Devon Blaine