Feds sue Idaho over INL water rights (Video). The federal government is suing Idaho over water rights at Idaho National Laboratory, challenging the state's authority to strict water use of the facility.

GridWrap awarded $5.9M from California Energy Commission to expand grid capacity and strengthen grid resilience. Cleantech San Diego member and Southern California Energy Innovation Network Company GridWrap has been selected by the California Energy Commission (CEC) for a $5.9 million project to validate and commercialize its Composite WiRe Wrap technology under real-world grid operating conditions, demonstrate its performance and reliability at scale, and accelerate commercialization and utility adoption. Electricity demand is rising rapidly, driven in large part by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI), hyperscale data centers, cloud computing and broader electrification. At the same time, much of the nation's transmission and distribution infrastructure is decades old and was not designed to accommodate today's growing and increasingly concentrated power demands. Wildfires, extreme heat, severe storms, and other climate-related events are placing additional strain on aging grid infrastructure and increasing the need for a more resilient electric system. Conventional grid upgrades, including reconductoring, rebuilding transmission lines, and undergrounding, can cost millions of dollars per mile and often take years to permit, engineer, and construct. These challenges are creating an urgent need for faster, more cost-effective solutions that can increase the capacity of existing power lines, accelerate the interconnection of AI and data center loads, and strengthen grid resilience without requiring utilities to completely rebuild existing infrastructure. Composite WiRe Wrap is GridWrap's proprietary, patented technology designed to be installed directly onto existing overhead conductors. The system is engineered to increase a power line's capacity by up to 2 times while reducing thermal sag by up to 75%, helping maintain greater clearance from vegetation and the ground and reducing wildfire ignition risk. The technology also mechanically reinforces existing conductors to improve resilience against ice, snow, wind, and other extreme weather conditions. Installed using an autonomous robotic system, Composite WiRe Wrap minimizes field crew requirements and service disruptions, providing utilities with a faster and more cost-effective solution to increase the capacity, reliability, and resilience of existing grid infrastructure. The system targets a total installed cost of roughly one-tenth that of conventional reconductoring, which could save utilities and ratepayers in California up to $12 billion. "Utilities are being asked to deliver more power on infrastructure that was not built for today's demand or today's weather. This project will give utilities independent, real-world proof on whether Composite WiRe Wrap technology can meet that need at a fraction of the cost of replacement," says Davoud Zamani, CEO of GridWrap. Throughout the project, GridWrap is working directly with utility stakeholders, including California's investor-owned utilities, and technical experts at INL and EPRI to define operational requirements, performance benchmarks, and monitoring priorities. This collaboration is designed to surface and address technology risks early and give utilities the independent, real-world validation they need to adopt Composite WiRe Wrap at scale.

ISU, Idaho National Laboratory researchers develop faster nuclear reactor construction method. Idaho State University and Idaho National Laboratory researchers announced a new prefabricated wall system to speed nuclear reactor construction. 8h ago Tuesday, Oct 27 By Pocatello Times Staff Reports Idaho State University and Idaho National Laboratory researchers announced a project to develop a new construction technology for nuclear reactor buildings, using prefabricated wall systems called Layered Composite walls with Mechanical Connections, or LC-MC, according to Idaho State University, which posted the announcement Tuesday, Oct. 27. Rather than pouring thick concrete slabs on-site, the LC-MC method uses multiple layers of specialized concrete poured off-site, with each layer designed for structural strength, radiation shielding or impact resistance, the university said. "This layered approach makes it possible to build the walls in a factory, similar to how prefabricated concrete components are already produced for bridges, parking garages, as well as commercial and office buildings," said Mustafa Mashal, ISU's principal investigator on the project. He said the walls can then be shipped to construction sites for assembly, tapping into existing manufacturing facilities and skilled workforces. The ISU team will design and optimize concrete mixes, build and test physical specimens, and verify shielding performance, and will construct a small-scale demonstration model of an LC-MC reactor building at ISU's Pocatello campus, at the Civil Engineering Large-Scale Laboratory outdoor facility, according to the university. The project includes researchers from ISU and INL, an advisory panel including a University at Buffalo professor, and industry partners Tindall Corporation and Teton Prestress Concrete of Idaho Falls. "Working on this project has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my academic journey because it allows me to contribute to research that could influence the future of nuclear energy infrastructure in the United States," said Sameer Budhathoki, undergraduate research assistant at Idaho State University. The research is funded by a nearly $1.6 million INL Laboratory Directed Research and Development grant, with ISU receiving roughly $325,000 to lead the experimental research portion, pending DOE yearly approval, the university said.