Welcome back: At a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing last week, representatives from both major political parties pressed the nuclear industry on how they could help it boost growth. Lawmakers across the aisle, it seems, are looking to galvanize projects that would help tech companies power their AI ambitions.

Rep. Brian Babin, the Texas Republican who heads the space subcommittee, said “this isn’t just good energy policy, it’s good economic policy... generating millions in tax revenue that would otherwise be lost”

Rep. Deborah Ross, the North Carolina Democrat who serves as a ranking member of the environment subcommittee, said “we must build a more sustainable energy supply and we should be using any environmentally benign resources—including nuclear—available to do so at the lowest cost possible.”

Kathleen Barrón, executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer at carbon-free energy producer Constellation, pushed to restart some previously closed reactors. She proposed “extending the operating life of existing reactors, by increasing the output of the existing fleet of plants, and by restarting previously closed reactors that are capable of resuming operation.”

Late last year, Microsoft announced a deal with Constellation to reopen the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. And early this month, Constellation signed a two-decade deal with Meta Platforms to fuel its AI needs through a nuclear plant in Clinton, Ill.

Read on for more on America's audacious nuclear energy reboot and other sustainability news.

A nuclear-industry startup is developing meltdown-resistant fuel for a smaller, safer type of reactor that has become an imperative for meeting modern energy needs, including both strategic and industrial independence from China and the rise of power-hungry artificial intelligence, the WSJ's Heather Somerville reports.

Standard Nuclear, based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., said it is the largest source of tristructural isotropic—aka “triso”—fuel outside of China, based on its capacity to produce fuel. Triso fuel, in high demand for use in small, modular reactors, or SMRs, is known for its durability and safety: Poppyseed-size pellets of uranium are coated in carbon and silicon carbide to trap nuclear material and prevent leaks.

But Standard's fortunes are tied to other companies trying to fill out a fractured supply chain largely dominated by adversaries. Russia’s enriched uranium will become off limits in 2028 when a U.S. ban takes effect. Los Angeles-based General Matter, backed by a fresh $50 million from Thiel’s venture fund, is aiming to replace Russian imports.

The prospective buyers of Standard Nuclear’s fuel have designs for SMRs but none has completed building one—although China has. Critics say they don’t produce enough energy to justify their expense, and that entrepreneurs and investors underestimate the regulatory complexity.

The world’s largest zinc smelter is taking a stake in a deep-sea mining company, as it seeks to diversify its sources of metals away from China, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan reports.

Korea Zinc, is making an equity investment of $85.2 million in Canadian startup The Metals Company, which aims to harvest minerals from the deep ocean. The investment represents a 5% stake in TMC.

The move by the smelting giant is the first time a company within the metals industry has publicly shown support for TMC since the Trump administration backed a plan to allow U.S. companies to mine the deep sea.

Deep-sea miners see the ocean floor as offering a potentially vast source of metals and minerals considered critical for defense, batteries and the steel industry—including, cobalt, manganese and nickel.

In late April, TMC submitted an application to mine the deep sea to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, just days after President Trump signed an executive order calling for “immediate action to accelerate the responsible development of seabed mineral resources.”

The Trump administration wants to find non-Chinese sources of metals and minerals, amid concerns Beijing has a stronghold on certain commodities and could cut off supplies for the U.S. and other countries. Some 90% of cobalt is currently refined in China.

The world’s biggest meat company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, riding strong earnings and American consumers’ fixation on protein, the WSJ's Patrick Thomas and Corrie Driebusch write.

JBS, the $15 billion Brazilian meatpacking conglomerate, brings to U.S. markets a sprawling global operation—and some baggage. A corruption case in Brazil ensnared two of its founding family members, who did jail time related to the affair, and environmental groups have long alleged that the company has driven deforestation.

U.S. lawmakers and environmental groups have raised concerns over JBS’s stock listing plan. Last year a bipartisan group of senators, including now Secretary of State Marco Rubio, called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to scrutinize the listing, saying that it could “subject U.S. investors to risk from a company with a history of blatant, systemic corruption, and further entrench its monopoly power.”

Environmental groups urged both the SEC and the NYSE to bar the listing, citing what they called JBS’s record of profiting from Amazon deforestation, which the company has denied.

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

• Europe’s nuclear fusion potential draws record investment round. (FT) 
   
• Seven companies helping Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft go nuclear. (Trellis)
   
• EIA sees lower U.S. crude-oil production as drilling slows. (WSJ)
   
• Kimmeridge looks to build integrated natural-gas company. (WSJ)
   
• Big business is abandoning its climate goals. (Bloomberg)
   
• SBTi launches draft net zero standard for automotive sector. (ESG Today)
   
• Bank unveils green loans plan to unlock trillions for climate finance. (Guardian)
   
• Soaring temperatures threaten crops, so scientists are looking to alter the plants. (NYT)
   
• Amazon to invest nearly $13 billion in data centers in Australia. (WSJ)
   
• Geological CO2 storage: Massive scale, hidden risks, eternal monitoring. (Cleantechnica)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.