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South Korea Exports Molten Salt Reactor R&D Technology to Denmark

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) announced on September 4 that it has signed a two-year contract worth USD 2.26 million (approximately KRW 3 billion) with Danish nuclear energy company Saltforce to provide molten salt reactor-related R&D services, covering areas such as nuclear fuel manufacturing, molten salt testing, and material corrosion assessment. Molten salt reactors are a class of next-generation reactors that typically use high-temperature molten salt as a fuel carrier or coolant medium. Based on the molten salt chemical system, this type of technology is mainly divided into fluoride-based and chloride-based systems. Under the contract arrangement, KAERI will provide support for the fluoride-based...

2026-09-04

BWXT Selected for Conceptual Design of First Module of U.S. NNSA Lithium Processing Facility

BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) has announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) to perform conceptual design work for the first module of a new lithium processing facility planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex. According to available information, lithium post-processing operations are currently still being conducted in some aging facilities. To continue supporting missions such as direct reuse of lithium materials, purification, component production, and recycling, NNSA plans to modernize related facilities to meet its national security mission requirements. Heatherly Dukes, President of BWXT Technical Services Group, stated that this project represents a significant investment in the modernization of U.S. nuclear security infrastructure, aimed at...

2026-09-04

Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility to Resume Operations in Mid-September

The Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) User Office issued a notice on September 2 stating that the facility will conclude its summer maintenance and resume operations in mid-September 2026. The notice reminds users with experimental needs to promptly log in to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Major Scientific and Technological Infrastructure Sharing Service Platform, or submit project proposals and beamtime reservation requests through the BSRF User Service System. The BSRF accepts project proposals and beamtime reservation requests year-round, and the specific application procedures can be found in the relevant attachments. Users encountering issues during the application or reservation process may contact the BSRF User Office or the corresponding beamline station contacts. Contact information for each beamline station has been provided along with the notice...

2026-09-03

U.S. PACMAN AI Framework Achieves Millisecond-Level Control of Fusion Plasma

The PACMAN AI framework, developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University, has completed five experimental validations in real fusion experimental systems. The framework can complete data processing, state prediction, and control command output in approximately 20 milliseconds, addressing rapidly developing instabilities in fusion plasma. This is an artist's rendition of the PACMAN AI framework for fusion systems. (Illustration credit: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department) PACMAN stands for Prediction and Control via Machine Learning. Related design and preliminary experimental results have been published in...

2026-09-03

IAEA Confirms Undeclared Nuclear Facilities in Syria

A confidential report by a United Nations agency reveals that after IAEA inspectors visited multiple locations in Syria in August this year, they confirmed that the former Syrian authorities had failed to declare relevant nuclear materials, nuclear facilities, and nuclear activities as required by the safeguards agreement under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The report states that the information includes a nuclear reactor that was under construction in Deir ez-Zor, a fuel fabrication facility, and another site used for fuel storage during the former government era. For a long time, there has been external suspicion that Syria had secretly pursued a nuclear program, with a facility in Deir ez-Zor province believed to be a nuclear reactor built with assistance from North Korea. The facility was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in 2007...

2026-09-03

Belarusian Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Site Selection May Be Determined by Year-End

Belarusian Energy Minister Denis Moroz recently stated that the site selection for Belarus's radioactive waste disposal facility is expected to be determined by the end of this year. The relevant announcement was made during events marking the 25th anniversary of the Belarusian Ministry of Energy. Moroz noted that Belarus began studying radioactive waste management issues before the final commissioning of its nuclear power plant. Following feasibility studies, Belarus decided to construct a radioactive waste disposal facility and established a dedicated Belarusian radioactive waste management organization to oversee the relevant work. Preliminary work on the disposal facility is currently underway. Moroz stated that radiation safety is of paramount importance to Belarus, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) documents have already...

2026-09-03

DOE Officials Visit Fort St. Vrain Spent Fuel Storage Facility in Colorado

Tim Walsh, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM), recently visited the Fort St. Vrain spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Platteville in northern Colorado. The facility is managed by the DOE's Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) and its contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC). During the visit, Walsh inspected the storage facility and multiple supporting buildings to learn about the operational mission and historical background of the Fort St. Vrain facility. The facility currently stores spent nuclear fuel from the former Fort St. Vrain power station, which operated using gas-cooled reactor technology and was shut down in 1979...

2026-09-02

Russia launches remediation of legacy uranium sites at Taboshar facility in Tajikistan

Rosatom has recently launched remediation work at the legacy uranium production site of Workshop No. 3 at the Taboshar facility in Tajikistan, through its fuel division subsidiary, the Central Design and Technology Institute (JSC CPTI). The site is located in the village of Istiklol, Sughd Region, Republic of Tajikistan. The remediation is carried out under the intergovernmental agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan on cooperation in remediating areas affected by uranium mining and ore production, with the goal of improving the local environmental conditions and creating conditions for the future safe use of the area. Prior to the commencement of the work, JSC CPTI had completed remediation design and estimate documentation for two facilities in the Sughd Region,...

2026-09-02

Iran Still Denies IAEA Inspectors Access to Some Nuclear Facilities

A recent report shows that Iran has still not allowed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to access some of its nuclear facilities, including sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow that were previously damaged in airstrikes. The report states that the IAEA had previously detected over 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and nearly 8,600 kilograms of low-enriched uranium at these locations. Due to the current lack of sufficient information on the status and whereabouts of the relevant nuclear materials, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has expressed concerns over nuclear non-proliferation risks and called on Tehran to allow inspectors to access the facilities for verification as soon as possible. The report also mentions that inspectors...

2026-09-02

NuScale Completes First Manufacturing of Boron Carbide Pellets for SMR Safety Component in the U.S.

NuScale Power and MillenniTEK recently announced that they have successfully manufactured the first batch of boron carbide pellets for NuScale's passive emergency core cooling system (ECCS). This component will be used in NuScale's small modular reactor (SMR) technology and is one of the dedicated components in its reactor safety system. According to reports, in nuclear power plants employing NuScale technology, when the emergency core cooling system is activated, the boron carbide pellets dissolve into the reactor coolant, helping to control and maintain core reactivity at safe levels without operator intervention. This manufacturing effort is considered a key advancement in NuScale's preparation for commercial deployment, involving the validation of dedicated safety components and associated manufacturing processes.

2026-09-02

Lightbridge Multi-Zone Fuel Element Granted Japanese Patent, Covering Fuel Assemblies and 3D Printing Manufacturing Methods

Advanced nuclear fuel technology company Lightbridge Corporation recently announced that its Japanese patent application for a multi-zone fuel element has been granted by the Japan Patent Office. The patent covers the fuel element design, fuel assemblies incorporating the design, and methods of producing the element via additive manufacturing, i.e., 3D printing. According to the disclosure, the patent involves a fuel rod composed of three layers of different materials. The thickness of the three layers can vary along the length of the fuel rod, thereby regulating fuel performance at different positions in the reactor to enhance reactor operating performance and safety margins. In addition to the fuel rod itself, the patent also covers fuel assemblies for mounting these fuel rods.

2026-09-02

Japan's Tomari Nuclear Power Plant Plans New Low-Level Radioactive Waste Processing Facility

Hokkaido Electric Power Company (HEPCO) recently announced plans to construct a new low-level radioactive waste processing facility within the premises of the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in Hokkaido, Japan, to handle approximately 12,000 drums of low-level radioactive waste currently stored on site. According to HEPCO, the new facility will sort waste such as paper and metal, reduce its volume through fine shredding or compression, and then solidify it by pouring mortar into the waste drums. After processing, the waste will undergo radioactivity level testing before being transported to the disposal center in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture. Previously, the Tomari plant had stored this type of waste in 200-liter drums without further processing. The proposed facility will have an annual processing capacity of over 1,000 drums, feature a three-story structure, and cover a total floor area of approximately 4,600 square meters.

2026-09-02

Kansai Electric Power Applies to Build Dry Cask Storage Facilities for Spent Fuel

Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) announced on August 31 that it has submitted an application to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) seeking approval for the design and construction plans of dry cask storage facilities for spent fuel at its Mihama and Takahama nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture. The company plans to begin construction in 2027 and aims to complete the facilities by 2029. This application covers the first-phase construction at the Mihama and Takahama nuclear power plants. KEPCO had previously planned to build a total of four dry cask storage facilities for spent fuel at three nuclear power plants within Fukui Prefecture, including the Mihama, Takahama, and Ohi nuclear power plants. Currently, the related project at the Ohi nuclear power plant and the second-phase construction at the Takahama nuclear power plant remain...

2026-09-01

Japan's J-PARC Uses Negative Muon Non-Destructive Analysis to Reveal Gold-Rich Surface Structure of Nagoya Castle's Golden Shachi Scales

A joint research team comprising the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), the J-PARC Center, the Nagoya Castle Research Center, and the National Museum of Nature and Science, among others, used the negative muon beam at the J-PARC Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) to conduct non-destructive depth analysis on seven surviving scales of the golden shachi (ornamental dolphin-tiger fish) on Nagoya Castle's keep, confirming that five of the scales have a layered structure with high gold content within approximately 10 micrometers of the surface. The golden shachi on Nagoya Castle's keep was largely destroyed in the air raids of 1945, with some scales rescued and preserved to this day. Previously, researchers had examined these scales using X-ray fluorescence analysis, but the results showed that some scales with a bright golden appearance did not necessarily have a high average gold content.

2026-08-31

China's First Enterprise-Level Synchrotron Radiation Technology Application Research Platform Inaugurated in Shanghai

The Sinopec Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility Energy and Chemical Science Laboratory, invested by Sinopec and jointly built with the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and based on the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) major scientific infrastructure, was recently inaugurated in Shanghai Zhangjiang Science City. This laboratory is the first enterprise-level synchrotron radiation technology application research platform in China. According to reports, the laboratory consists of three beamline stations and auxiliary laboratories, and will provide technical support and services for basic scientific research conducted by Sinopec and public users, with a focus on oil and gas exploration and development, petroleum refining and chemical engineering, and new energy and new materials. Once the platform is completed, it will help enhance the enterprise's capabilities in forward-looking and fundamental research, and provide scientific research support for cultivating new quality productive forces in China's energy and chemical industry.

2026-08-29