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US Approves Funding for Final Phase of Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment, Accelerating Validation of Next-Generation Nuclear Energy Technology

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has formally approved cost-shared funding for the accelerated final phase of the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE). The funded project will focus on supporting the joint research and development efforts of Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and Core Power, aiming to deepen scientific understanding of liquid chloride salt fuel and molten salt reactor technology and to lay a solid foundation for the development of subsequent commercial reactors. It is understood that the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) is currently being conducted at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)'s Materials and Fuels Complex ...

2026-10-15

French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority Approves Exemption of ITER Vacuum Vessel from Fission Pressurized Equipment Regulation

The French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) has formally issued a regulatory ruling, approving the application by the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Organization to exclude the Vacuum Vessel, a core component of the ITER tokamak device, from the scope of regulation under the French and European Nuclear Pressure Equipment Directive (ESPN). This breakthrough ruling marks the beginning of key fusion reactor components breaking free from the regulatory framework derived from traditional fission reactors. Prior to this decision, the ITER Vacuum Vessel had long been classified as nuclear pressure equipment. This classification originated from the management practices of traditional light-water fission reactors, whose underlying logic presumes internal pressure as the primary engineering load on the structure. However...

2026-10-11

CNNC Southern Geological Exploration Center Holds the 2026 Quality Experience Feedback Exchange Meeting

In order to further implement the Group's key work deployments, strengthen the quality awareness of all staff, and improve quality management standards, the CNNC Southern Geological Exploration Center recently held the 2026 Quality Experience Feedback Exchange Meeting. Various departments shared excellent quality work practices based on their actual work, and conducted exchange discussions on typical quality issues, transformation of experience and achievements, and other topics. The meeting pointed out that quality management is a systematic task that concerns the long-term development of the Southern Center and the vital interests of employees. All employees must firmly establish quality awareness, adhere to the principles of "quality first" and zero tolerance for quality issues, improve the management system, strengthen process control, prevent various quality risks from the source, and promote the common development of the Center and its employees through high-quality results...

2026-10-09

The North China Regional Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment organized the 2026 North China Regional Radiation Safety Regulatory Experience Exchange Activity

In October 2026, the North China Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision Station of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (hereinafter referred to as the North China Supervision Station) officially organized the 2026 North China Regional Radiation Safety Regulatory Experience Exchange Activity in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, aiming to further deepen the cross-regional collaborative regulatory mechanism for nuclear and radiation safety. Relevant officials from the Nuclear Facility Safety Regulation Department and the Radiation Source Safety Regulation Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment made special trips to the site to provide guidance, conducted in-depth exchanges with frontline regulatory representatives from North China and surrounding key provinces, and put forward clear guidance on current and future regulatory directions. During the exchange activity, representatives from Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shandong...

2026-10-08

World's First Compact Fusion Energy Experimental Device BEST TF Coil Cases Delivered in Batch

On September 27, the completion and shipment ceremony for the batch components of the toroidal field (TF) coil cases of the world's first compact fusion energy experimental device—the Burning Experimental Fusion Test (BEST)—was held at the Deyang, Sichuan base of China National Machinery Industry Heavy Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (Sinomach Heavy Equipment). With this, all 8 BEST TF coil case batch components undertaken and developed by Sinomach Heavy Equipment have been fully manufactured and assembled, and successfully shipped for delivery. Song Yuntao, Party Secretary and Director of the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Han Xiaojun, Party Secretary and Chairman of Sinomach Heavy Equipment, delivered speeches at the ceremony respectively. Liu Zhihong, Deputy Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Institute of Plasma Physics and Deputy General Manager of Fusion New Energy (Anhui) Co., Ltd...

2026-09-28

First Light Fusion's Low-Cost Fusion Compression Technology Achieves Experimental Validation, Driving Source Cost Expected to Drop by an Order of Magnitude

UK commercial fusion innovator First Light Fusion has announced that its independently developed pulse power facility M3 (M3 pulse power facility) has successfully completed a series of proof-of-principle experiments, formally validating the core fuel compression physics mechanism of its proprietary fusion pathway FLARE (Fusion via Low-power Assembly and Rapid Excitation). The experiments confirmed that, relying on a precisely designed Multi-layered liner, fusion fuel can be effectively compressed to a high-density state using a driver with a more streamlined configuration and lower peak power. The core design logic of the FLARE technology pathway...

2026-09-24

Purdue University Completes the First Remote Real-Time Autonomous Power Control Experiment on a Nuclear Reactor in the United States, Building a Cross-State Digital Twin Closed Loop

Purdue University, in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has for the first time in the United States achieved remote, automatic, and real-time experimental regulation of nuclear reactor power. The demonstration validated a three-site control closed loop spanning Indiana, Idaho, and Virginia, providing a cutting-edge engineering paradigm for future centralized remote monitoring and automated scheduling of advanced reactors from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The experiment relied on Purdue University's 64-year-old Reactor Number One (Purdue University Reactor Num...

2026-09-24

Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering Completes Manufacture and Delivery of MBIR Fast Reactor Primary Coolant Circulation Pumps

The machine-building division of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation (Госкорпорация «Росатом» / Rosatom), Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (АО «ОКБМ Африкантов» / OKBM Afrikantov), has completed the manufacture and delivery of the primary coolant circulation pumps (Главные циркуляционные насосы, ГЦН) for the multi-purpose fast neutron research reactor (МБИР / MBIR). As core equipment of the reactor facility, these circulation pumps will be responsible for driving the coolant to circulate within the reactor core...

2026-09-24

Balakovo NPP in Russia Conducts Steam Generator O&M Experience Exchange and Technical Support

Recently, at the Balakovo NPP in Saratov Oblast, Russia, a peer support mission focused on steam generator (Steam Generators / Парогенераторы) O&M technology and experience was successfully held. This event was a routine technical exchange organized by the WANO Moscow Centre (WANO-MC / ВАО АЭС-МЦ), aimed at bringing together industry expertise from multiple parties to further enhance the safety and reliability of nuclear power unit operation. The team participating in this support mission was composed of technical backbone personnel from multiple industry organizations and nuclear power plants, including the World Association of Nuclear...

2026-09-24

South Korea Deeply Integrates 50 Years of Nuclear Power Design Experience with Artificial Intelligence

KEPCO E&C has deeply integrated its 50 years of accumulated technology and data in the nuclear power design field with artificial intelligence (AI), and its digital transformation strategy is being comprehensively accelerated. At the 2026 National Contribution Awards ceremony, KEPCO E&C received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award in the AI innovation category. This award aims to recognize the company's outstanding achievements in organically combining nuclear power design experience with technical materials and successfully applying them to business innovation and safety management technology R&D in the power generation and energy sectors. Among the most notable achievements is NEXA, an autonomous generative AI platform developed specifically for power plant design. The platform ensures...

2026-09-20

Unit 2 of Japan's Shimane Nuclear Power Plant Completes Periodic Inspection and Resumes Commercial Operation After About 7 Months

The Chugoku Electric Power Company (Japanese: 中国電力株式会社), a large integrated electric power company responsible for supplying electricity to 5 prefectures in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, Japan, announced on September 16 that Unit 2 of the Shimane Nuclear Power Plant has successfully completed the periodic inspection that began in February this year and officially resumed commercial operation on the 16th, returning to power supply after about 7 months. According to Chugoku Electric Power's estimate, in the overall power source mix, nuclear power generation will account for about 15% of the company's total power generation for this fiscal year, and this level of generation is expected to meet about 60% of the electricity demand of the two San'in prefectures. In addition, since Unit 2 of the Shimane Nuclear Power Plant has reached 37 years since it began commercial operation, Chugoku Electric Power also collected, during this periodic inspection, data used as the basis for assessing the "special inspection" required for future extended operation beyond the standard service period (exceeding the 40-year operating limit).

2026-09-17

Paris, France workshop explores ATHENA thermal-hydraulics nuclear safety research cooperation framework

On September 10-11, 2026, dozens of researchers, experts and related professionals gathered in Paris, France to participate in the workshop on building the ATHENA framework, discussing collaborative mechanisms for thermal-hydraulics nuclear safety research. ATHENA stands for Advanced Thermal-Hydraulics Experiments for Nuclear Analysis and Safety Applications, and aims to establish a more coordinated and more sustainable thermal-hydraulics research framework. Participants believed that clarifying the framework's flexibility, applicable boundaries and advantages requires strengthened communication among all relevant parties to ensure that different research needs are...

2026-09-13

CGN's 33 in-operation nuclear power units achieve RMB-denominated pricing and settlement for operational period insurance

On September 10, the "CGN In-Service Nuclear Power Plant Operational Period Insurance Project Co-Insurance Agreement" was signed in Shenzhen. The agreement achieves RMB-denominated pricing and settlement for major types of nuclear power plant operational period insurance, changing the convention of China's nuclear insurance market's over thirty years of primarily relying on foreign currency transactions. Nuclear insurance is an important type of insurance for ensuring the safe and stable operation of nuclear power units. Due to the enormous insured amount of a single policy, it typically requires joint underwriting by hundreds of insurance companies both domestically and internationally, and is regarded by the insurance industry as one of the most special and complex types of insurance. Since China's first nuclear power plant operational insurance policy——the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant operational insurance policy——was issued in 1993, China's nuclear power industry has long followed mature foreign models...

2026-09-11

Russia's SKIF Synchrotron Considers Building Enterprise-Funded Experimental Stations

The Siberian Circular Photon Source (SKIF) synchrotron project in Russia is considering the construction of enterprise-funded experimental stations. Andrei Bukhtiyarov, Deputy Director of the SKIF Shared Use Center, stated that this idea is expected to advance after the first-phase experimental stations are put into operation and their operational capabilities are verified. According to reports, construction of the SKIF synchrotron was completed in June 2026. Once the facility becomes operational, it will help researchers obtain high-precision data on the internal structure and behavior of materials. The first phase of the SKIF project, located near Novosibirsk, plans a total of 7 experimental stations, all scheduled to become operational by August 2027, when research teams can begin conducting relevant experiments. Bukhtiyarov...

2026-09-09

Vietnam's Petrovietnam and Korea Electric Power Corporation Advance Cooperation on Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Project

On September 7, 2026, Vietnam's National Industry and Energy Group (Petrovietnam) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) are accelerating cooperation in nuclear power research and development. On September 8, a delegation led by Petrovietnam General Director Le Manh Cuong held a working meeting in Seoul, South Korea with a delegation led by KEPCO Chairman and CEO Kim Dong-cheol, with both sides focusing on the implementation of the cooperation agreement in the nuclear power sector. Le Manh Cuong stated that Vietnam is taking measures to create conditions for the implementation of nuclear power projects. Previously, Petrovietnam and KEPCO signed a cooperation agreement witnessed by high-level leaders of both countries, demonstrating that nuclear power has become a key area of Vietnam-Korea cooperation...

2026-09-09