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BESSY II reveals early-stage copper oxidation: providing evidence for catalyst development and corrosion research on nuclear waste final disposal containers

Germany's BESSY II synchrotron facility has recently provided new experimental insights into the early-stage oxidation process of copper surfaces. The study shows that before the formation of pure copper oxides, copper and oxygen atoms first form complex surface superstructures, such as "29"CuₓO. The chemical state of such structures has long been debated, and the findings are of reference value for catalyst research as well as for corrosion protection studies of copper containers used for radioactive waste final disposal. Before the formation of pure copper oxide, complex superstructures composed of copper and oxygen atoms emerge—such as "29"CuxO. HZB In everyday environments, copper surfaces gradually lose their red metallic luster and form a greenish oxide layer. This layer structure can slow further corrosion over an extended period. Regarding the initial stages of this process, the core question researchers focus on is: to what extent are copper atoms actually oxidized once oxygen enters the copper surface. Since conventional spectroscopic methods struggle to clearly distinguish between pure copper and partially oxidized surfaces, such oxidation states have previously been difficult to determine directly.

2026-09-07

"Wukong" Detects "Super-Iron" Elements in Cosmic Rays, Achieving First High-Precision Cosmic Ray Nickel Energy Spectrum in the TeV Range

Recently, the DAMPE scientific team led by Academician Chang Jin of the University of Science and Technology of China made significant progress in direct observations of high-energy cosmic rays. Based on DAMPE on-orbit observation data, the scientific team obtained the differential flux spectrum of nickel nuclei from 10 GeV/n to 2 TeV/n. The results were published in the international academic journal *Physical Review Letters* under the title "Measurement of the Cosmic Ray Nickel Energy Spectrum from 10 GeV/n to 2 TeV/n with the DAMPE Space Mission." The origin of super-iron elements in cosmic rays has long been a challenge for the scientific community. It is generally believed that cosmic ray elements are primarily produced in nuclear fusion processes within stars, but since iron nuclei have the highest binding energy per nucleon, stellar fusion reactions typically struggle to proceed beyond elements near iron. Heavier elements than iron are generally attributed to different nucleosynthesis processes such as neutron capture. Because the abundance of super-iron elements is typically at least an order of magnitude lower than that of iron, measurements of super-iron elements in cosmic rays remain extremely scarce. Most experiments have only provided relative abundances of different elements; a few experiments have measured the differential flux spectrum of cosmic ray nickel, but with energy upper limits of only a few hundred GeV/n.

2026-09-07

Malaysia Expands Nuclear Radiation Mutation Breeding Applications to Bolster Food Security and Industrial Inspection

Malaysia's nuclear technology applications are extending from traditional fields such as medicine and industry further into agricultural production and food security. Dr. Sukri, Senior Director of Project Management at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, stated that through research and development using nuclear radiation mutation breeding technology, the agency has shortened the maturation period of cassava from the original 10 to 12 months down to 6 months. Sukri noted that this technological application helps reduce farmers' production costs, improve land use efficiency, and cultivate larger cassava varieties. In addition to cassava, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Department of Agriculture, has successfully developed two new rice varieties, NMR 151 and NMR 152. These new varieties feature higher yields and demonstrate strong resistance to diseases, extreme weather conditions such as prolonged drought, and flooding.

2026-09-07

South Korea Develops 3D Non-Contact Inspection System for High-Temperature Superconducting Wire

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) recently announced that a research team led by Ha Hong-su and Park In-sung at its Low-Temperature Device Research Center has developed a three-dimensional non-contact ultra-precision inspection system capable of continuously measuring the thickness and width of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wire. The institute stated that this is the world's first such inspection system for HTS wire. KERI researchers Ha Hong-su and Park In-sung pose with a high-temperature superconducting wire beside the 3D non-contact ultra-precision inspection system. [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute] HTS wire exhibits near-zero electrical resistance below a specific temperature, enabling high-current, low-loss transmission,...

2026-09-07

Qinshan Nuclear Power Completes Overhaul Validation of Grille Cleaning Robotic Arm

The grille cleaning robotic arm, an integrated system of UAV-based intelligent inspection and robotic arm automatic cleaning independently developed by the Mechanical Team of the Fourth Maintenance Division at Qinshan Nuclear Power, recently completed on-site validation during the Unit 2 312 overhaul at Qinshan Phase II. Designed for seawater system intake grille cleaning scenarios, this equipment transforms the original manual operation requiring entry into deep wells into an unmanned operation conducted under ground-based remote monitoring. The intake grille serves as a critical barrier for the cooling water system of a nuclear power plant, and its unobstructed condition is directly related to the stable operation of the unit. In traditional cleaning methods, workers were required to enter narrow shafts more than twenty meters underground to perform inspection and cleaning in confined spaces, which involved high labor intensity, low efficiency, and safety risks such as falls from height...

2026-09-03

Carbon Nanotubes Can "Remember" Their Initial Structure, Isotope Labeling Reveals Dynamic Growth Process

A study released on September 1 shows that carbon nanotubes can maintain their initial atomic structure in dynamically changing growth environments. The research team used digital isotope labeling technology to encode the elongation process of individual carbon nanotubes as sequences of different carbon isotope compositions, and read their growth history through Raman spectroscopy, thereby tracking the structural stability of nanotubes under conditions of temperature variation and catalyst evolution. The properties of carbon nanotubes are highly dependent on their atomic arrangement. The same material may exhibit metallic or semiconducting characteristics due to structural differences, so structural uniformity has always been a key issue for the large-scale application of carbon nanotubes. In floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition and other industrial production routes, catalyst particles experience constantly changing temperatures and gas compositions within the reactor and may undergo irreversible enlargement. Previously, direct evidence was lacking on whether individual carbon nanotubes could maintain their initial structure under such complex conditions.

2026-09-02

Japanese Team Develops High-Temperature, High-Pressure Isotope Ratio Analysis Method for Tracing Halogenated Pollutants

Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan have collaboratively developed a customized high-temperature, high-pressure combustion interface for liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LC-IRMS), enabling carbon stable isotope ratio (δ¹³C) analysis of various halogenated organic compounds. The research findings were published online on August 2, 2026, and will appear in Volume 1421 of Analytica Chimica Acta, scheduled for release on November 1, 2026. Source of the new high-temperature, high-pressure LC-IRMS system: Professor Hiroto Kawashima, SIT, Japan. Halogenated organic compounds are widely present in disinfection byproducts, pesticides, refrigerants, and industrial chemicals, some of which exhibit persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Traditional environmental monitoring primarily relies on concentration measurements, which makes it difficult to directly provide information on pollutant sources and environmental transformation processes. δ¹³C analysis can offer clues for studying chemical sources, production processes, and environmental fate, but organic pollutants containing strong carbon—chlorine or carbon—fluorine bonds are difficult to fully oxidize under conventional LC-IRMS combustion conditions, limiting the application of this technique.

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

GE HealthCare's Photonova Spectra Photon-Counting CT Receives CE Mark, to Be Commercialized in Countries Recognizing CE Marking

On August 31, GE HealthCare announced that its advanced photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) system, Photonova Spectra, has received CE marking. The system utilizes GE HealthCare's proprietary Deep Silicon™ detector technology. This certification will expand the system's availability in countries and regions that recognize the CE mark and pave the way for its clinical use. According to reports, Photonova Spectra is designed to address the growing patient volumes and increasing diagnostic complexity faced by healthcare institutions today, aiming to provide clinicians with clearer and more timely imaging information. Leveraging deep silicon detector technology, the system can acquire spectral and spatial imaging information in each scan...

2026-09-01

Japan's Mihama Nuclear Power Station Unit 3 Plans Grid Connection on September 15

Kansai Electric Power announced on September 1, 2026, that work related to the periodic inspection of Unit 3 at Japan's Mihama Nuclear Power Station is progressing as planned. Based on the progress of the inspection and the status of corrective measures for the steam leakage issue in the high-pressure turbine, the unit is scheduled to be connected to the grid on September 15. Unit 3 of Mihama Nuclear Power Station is a pressurized water reactor unit with a rated electrical output of 826 MW and a rated thermal output of 2,440 MW. On May 8 this year, the unit underwent a manual reactor shutdown after steam leakage was confirmed in the high-pressure turbine. From June 16, the unit entered its 29th periodic inspection. Kansai Electric Power stated that, in response to the steam leakage in the high-pressure turbine, the upper cylinder sealing cover has been replaced based on the results of the cause investigation, and multiple measures such as the development of relevant guidelines are being advanced.

2026-09-01

Russia's Leningrad Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker Electrical Distribution Equipment Passes Inspection

The Nuclear-Powered Vessels Division of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) has recently completed an inspection of the new electrical distribution equipment for the Project 22220 universal nuclear-powered icebreaker Leningrad. The inspected equipment includes shore power distribution panels and low-voltage distribution panels, manufactured by Novaya ERA company of St. Petersburg. The Leningrad is currently under construction at the Baltic Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). The inspection was carried out by RS survey engineers upon the enterprise's application. The inspection results confirmed that the relevant equipment meets the requirements of current Russian regulations, and the manufacturer has been issued the corresponding registration certificates. The shore power distribution panel is used for...

2026-09-01

Russia Says Prospects Broad for Cooperation with Iran on Large and Small Nuclear Power Plants

Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia's Rosatom, recently stated that the company sees significant room for cooperation with Iran in nuclear power construction, covering both large gigawatt-scale nuclear power units and small nuclear power plants. Likhachev said that Rosatom and Iran have broad prospects in expanding the construction of large nuclear power units and advancing small plant projects. Currently, Rosatom is already involved in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant project. Unit 1 of the Bushehr plant was put into operation in 2013. The second phase of the plant, covering Units 2 and...

2026-09-01

Japanese Team Achieves Femtosecond Soft X-ray Hyperspectral Microscopy, Simultaneously Acquiring Spatial and Energy Information with Single Pulse

On August 21, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, RIKEN, and the University of Tokyo announced that a research team comprising Assistant Professor Yoko Takeo and Associate Professor Takashi Kimura from the Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Tokyo, Assistant Professor Satoru Egawa from the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, and Team Leader Makina Yabashi from the RIKEN SPring-8 Center, among others, successfully developed and implemented a femtosecond soft X-ray hyperspectral microscope. The findings were published on August 20 in the U.S. scientific journal *Optica*. This technology utilizes a single soft X-ray pulse from an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to simultaneously acquire soft X-ray spectra transmitted through different positions of a sample, enabling...

2026-08-31

Japanese team achieves high-precision mass measurements of argon isotopes, revealing variations in the strength of the new magic number N=32

An international collaborative research team comprising RIKEN and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), among others, conducted high-precision mass measurements of short-lived argon isotopes far from the line of nuclear stability, using the superconducting RI beam generation and separation device BigRIPS at the RI Beam Factory (RIBF) of RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, as well as the CRISMASS system, a stationary slow radioactive isotope precision mass spectrometer jointly developed by the two institutions. The research team directly measured the mass of argon-50 (^50Ar, 18 protons, 32 neutrons) for the first time, and improved the mass measurement precision of argon-49 (^49Ar) by approximately 250-fold compared to previous measurements, providing insights into the energy of the two-neutron shell gap near the new magic number N=32. The results have been...

2026-08-31

Japanese Nuclear Regulator Inspects Horonobe Geological Disposal Research Facility for High-Level Radioactive Waste

On August 28, Shinya Nagasaki and other members of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) inspected an underground research facility in Horonobe Town, Japan. The facility, operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), conducts technical research on deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste involves encapsulating the waste and burying it deep underground, achieving long-term isolation through engineered and natural geological barriers. During the inspection, Nagasaki and his delegation examined test facilities used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of iron containers. The tests simulate the environment of containers holding heat-generating radioactive waste after being buried underground...

2026-08-30