Occidental Petroleum and Battelle lead Texas and Louisiana projects set for award of first-round federal funds, with 19 regional direct air capture hub teams—that include AEC firms—set to gain a total of $100M.

Bid protest by Atkins-Jacobs-Westinghouse competing team is key factor in megacontract dispute, but neither the judge, companies nor U.S. Energy Dept. will comment on the invalidated contract or on what will happen next.

Project development, estimated to occur in the early-to-mid 2030s, will be based on design used in the U.S. Energy Dept. breakthrough effort last December that successfully demonstrated laser fusion power with energy gain.

Giant 10-year O&M contract combines functions of two awards originally planned—one to manage millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored underground at the former weapons site and the other to operate its multi-billion-dollar waste treatment plant awaiting startup.

Report says US sector hit big development milestones last year, including project movements and three federal lease auctions that added 11.4 GW in capacity, with another set in the Gulf of Mexico, but advocacy group says this still likely won't meet Biden call for 30 GW of power deployed by 2030.  

U.S. Energy Dept. picks 33 hub proposals out of 79 submitted that it says are the strongest candidates for federal funding infusion, but agency declines to release names or plan details.