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Thor Medical Commences Commercial Supply with First Delivery of High-Purity Thorium-228 from AlphaOne

Thor Medical ASA announced on August 5 that it has completed the first customer delivery of high-purity thorium-228 (Th-228) from its AlphaOne production facility at the Herøya industrial park. This marks the first customer shipment following the facility's production start announced last week, and signifies AlphaOne's entry into the commercial supply phase. Thor Medical CEO Jasper Kurth stated that commercial production represents the beginning of the company's industrial-scale manufacturing, and the first customer delivery demonstrates the company's transition from capacity building to serving customers through its first industrial-scale facility. The company stated that as production capacity gradually ramps up, it will continue to meet the growing demand for high-purity isotopes in the targeted alpha therapy field...

2026-08-06

US Firm Standard Nuclear's Two New TRISO Fuel Plants to Enter Production by 2026, Expanding Independent US Capacity

US nuclear fuel manufacturer Standard Nuclear announced that "major construction is substantially complete" at its two TRISO fuel production facilities, SN-TN in Tennessee and SN-ID in Idaho, and that the US Department of Energy has approved the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for both plants. The two facilities share an identical design and are expected to sequentially commence commissioning and licensing before the end of 2026. Authorized under the DOE's "Fuel Line Pilot Program," each plant will initially produce up to 1 metric ton of uranium (MTU) per year of TRISO fuel, with a combined ramp-up target of 5 MTU/year in the long term, forming a tiered supply alongside the company's existing SN-0 facility (0.5 MTU/year) operating in Oak Ridge. Standard Nuclear describes itself as "the only independent TRISO fuel manufacturer in the US," having been restructured from the fuel business of Ultra Safe Nuclear following its bankruptcy in 2024 (with USNC's reactor business acquired by Nano Nuclear). Its operations cover power reactor fuel as well as space and defense radioisotope power sources. The company also participates in the DOE's Fuel Line Pilot and Surplus Plutonium Disposition programs, has been allocated HALEU by the DOE for fuel fabrication, and has established a joint-venture TRISO line at Framatome's NRC-licensed fuel facility in Richland, Washington.

2026-08-06

South Korea advances plan to produce medical isotopes using nuclear power plants, with lutetium-177 targeted for commercial production in 2031

South Korea is advancing plans to industrialize the production of radioisotopes using nuclear power plants, with the medical isotope lutetium-177 (Lu-177) designated as the first commercial target product. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power stated that it plans to prioritize the commercialization of Lu-177 production, with the potential to later expand the product range to include isotopes such as cobalt-60, tritium-3, and helium-3. Lu-177 is a therapeutic radioisotope widely used in the global radiopharmaceutical market, applicable in radiopharmaceuticals for diseases such as prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. Previously, South Korea relied entirely on imports for its Lu-177 supply. Due to its half-life of approximately 6.6 days, the entire process from production and transportation to drug preparation and patient administration...

2026-08-06

Japan's Plutonium Stockpile Expected to Remain at 44.4 Tons by End of 2025

Japan's Cabinet Office reported to the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) on August 5 that Japan's plutonium stockpile is expected to be 44.4 tons by the end of 2025, unchanged from the end of the previous year. By source, domestically sourced plutonium stockpile is expected to be 9.9 tons, while overseas-sourced plutonium stockpile is 34.5 tons. The overseas-sourced plutonium mainly comes from separated plutonium formed after Japan entrusted its spent fuel reprocessing operations to the United Kingdom and France. The report shows that in 2024, Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) processed 1.3 tons of plutonium stored in France into mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuel, namely MOX fuel, resulting in a decrease in overseas-sourced plutonium stockpile. Subsequently, this batch of MOX fuel was shipped to the Takahama Nuclear Power...

2026-08-06

SNPAS Completes Shipment of First Batch of Cabinets for PLS and DDS Systems of Lianjiang Nuclear Power Unit 2

Recently, witnessed by Zhanjiang Nuclear Power and Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), SNPAS successfully completed the delivery of the first batch of cabinets for the Plant Control System (PLS) and Data Display and Processing System (DDS) of Unit 2 of the Guangdong Lianjiang Nuclear Power Project Phase I, with the equipment having arrived at the project site smoothly. Sun Mingjun, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Zhanjiang Nuclear Power, Liu Xin, Deputy General Manager of SNPAS, and Zhou Xu, Deputy General Manager of the Procurement Center of SNERDI, attended the shipment ceremony. This shipment marks an important milestone in the execution of the instrumentation and control (I&C) system for Unit 2, signifying that the main I&C equipment has officially entered the stage of batch delivery and on-site installation preparation. The shipment of Unit 2 follows the mature experience of Unit 1 in...

2026-08-06

SNPAS Completes Shipment of First Batch of Cabinets for PLS and DDS Systems of Lianjiang Nuclear Power Unit 2

Recently, witnessed by Zhanjiang Nuclear Power and Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), SNPAS successfully completed the shipment and delivery of the first batch of cabinets for the Plant Control System (PLS) and Data Display and Processing System (DDS) of Unit 2 of the Phase I project of Guangdong Lianjiang Nuclear Power Project, with the equipment having arrived at the project site smoothly. Sun Mingjun, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Zhanjiang Nuclear Power, Liu Xin, Deputy General Manager of SNPAS, and Zhou Xu, Deputy General Manager of the Procurement Center of SNERDI, attended the shipment ceremony. This shipment marks an important milestone in the implementation of the instrumentation and control (I&C) system for Unit 2, signifying that the main I&C equipment has officially entered the phase of batch delivery and on-site installation preparation. The shipment of Unit 2 continues the...

2026-08-06

CNNC & CIR Co-sponsors Regional Nuclear Medicine Department Development Training Program (Ganzhou Session) and Ganzhou Cancer Hospital High-Quality Nuclear Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment Project Launched Simultaneously

Recently, the Regional Nuclear Medicine Department Development Training Program (Ganzhou Session) and the Ganzhou Cancer Hospital High-Quality Nuclear Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment Project were launched simultaneously at Ganzhou Cancer Hospital. An expert panel from the Nuclear Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, along with representatives from CNNC & CIR and Atom High-Tech, visited the hospital for research and exchange. More than 200 medical staff from medical institutions at various levels across Jiangxi Province attended the event. The launch ceremony was moderated by Yang Chuansheng, Director of the Nuclear Medicine Department at Ganzhou Cancer Hospital. Fu Wei, Deputy Director of the Ganzhou Municipal Health Commission; Wang Jing, Chair of the Nuclear Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; and Huang Xingwei, Party Secretary of Ganzhou Cancer Hospital, attended and delivered speeches. Wang Jing stated that nuclear medicine plays a vital supporting role in the precise diagnosis and treatment of major diseases such as cancer, and that promoting the standardized development of regional nuclear medicine at the city and county levels is conducive to channeling high-quality medical resources to the grassroots and enhancing primary healthcare service capabilities.

2026-08-06

Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 scheduled inspection completion date moved up to September 16

Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. announced on August 5 that the schedule for the 18th periodic utility inspection of Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 has been revised, with the inspection completion date moved up from September 17, 2026 to September 16, and the power generation resumption date moved up from August 19 to August 18. Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 is a boiling water reactor unit with a rated electrical output of 820 MW. The unit was shut down on February 9, 2026 and entered its 18th periodic utility inspection. The reason for this adjustment is that, during the reactor start-up preparation work, the procurement of the nitrogen gas source used to fill the reactor containment vessel was completed earlier than planned, allowing the related work to be advanced accordingly...

2026-08-05

Brazilian nuclear industry company starts fuel production for Angra 2's 22nd refueling

Brazilian Nuclear Industries (INB) has started production of nuclear fuel required for the 22nd refueling of Unit 2 at the Angra Nuclear Power Plant (Angra 2). On July 28, INB completed the assembly of the first fuel assembly at the Nuclear Fuel Factory (FCN) in Resende, Rio de Janeiro State; on July 30, the fuel assembly passed all established quality inspections in the production process and was certified. According to the plan, INB will manufacture a total of 52 fuel assemblies for this refueling. The assembly work is expected to be completed in December 2026 and delivered to Eletronuclear in March 2027. Recently, INB has made progress in several key stages of the nuclear fuel manufacturing chain. On July 28, approximately 240 tons of enriched...

2026-08-05

US Oak Ridge National Laboratory Advances New Process to Boost Californium-252 Production

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), under the US Department of Energy, is advancing a new Californium-252 (Cf-252) separation process to address growing market demand. The laboratory stated that this process, developed over nearly a decade of research, is expected to shorten the Cf-252 production cycle by about one week, significantly improving processing efficiency without altering product quality. Californium-252 is a neutron-emitting radioisotope used in nuclear reactor startup, fuel testing for new reactors, as well as in oil well logging, coal analysis, port security, fuel rod scanners, and instrument calibration. ORNL noted that it is the only producer of Cf-252 in the Western world...

2026-08-05

Fuel assembly replacement launched at Unit 2 of Beznau Nuclear Power Plant

Swiss energy company Axpo launched fuel assembly replacement work at Unit 2 of the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant (KKB) on August 4, with the related outage expected to last approximately two weeks. As planned, plant technicians will replace 20 of the 121 fuel assemblies in the reactor core during the outage, while also carrying out routine inspections and system tests. More than 560 employees of the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant will be involved in the related work, supported by approximately 150 external experts on site. The fuel assembly replacement and related operations are supervised by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). Previously, the relevant units at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant had been shut down due to elevated water temperatures in the Aare River. According to available information,...

2026-08-05

Vietnam to Develop 88 National Standards and 6 National Regulations Supporting Nuclear Power and Atomic Energy Applications from 2026–2030

Vietnam will develop standards and regulations for nuclear power development to support the construction of future nuclear power plants and advancements in atomic energy applications. To align with this goal, the country plans to establish 88 national standards and 6 national regulations during the period from 2026 to 2030, covering key areas such as nuclear power plant safety, radiation safety, environmental monitoring, and related equipment. These standards will reference existing practical experience from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and will be periodically reviewed and adjusted based on project progress and actual management needs. The development of these standards is carried out in four phases, each with clearly defined focal objectives...

2026-08-05

Students from 23 countries travel to the North Pole aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 Years of Victory"

The seventh "Knowledge Icebreaker" science and education expedition departed from Murmansk toward the North Pole, organized by Rosatom to coincide with the Year of National Unity in Russia. At the solemn departure ceremony, Captain Ruslan Sasov of the nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 Years of Victory" gave the order to set sail, with the vessel following the route Murmansk—North Pole—Franz Josef Land—Murmansk. The expedition team includes primary and secondary school students and vocational school students from eight federal districts of Russia, as well as their peers from 22 countries around the world. Those selected include winners of Russian and international open competitions, participants in the "Rosatom Youth"...

2026-08-05

U.S. and Paraguay Sign Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano signed a strategic civil nuclear energy cooperation memorandum of understanding in Washington on August 4. According to relevant information, the two sides signed what is commonly referred to as the "123 Agreement," which establishes the basic framework for bilateral cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy. The 123 Agreement originates from Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, passed in 1954. This provision authorizes the United States to transfer civil nuclear technology for energy or scientific purposes to partner countries under specific conditions. As a prerequisite, the recipient country must comply with International Atomic Energy...

2026-08-05

Russia Plans to Complete Domestic MRI Scanner Development by 2027

On August 1, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated that Russia should complete the development of a domestically produced MRI scanner by 2027. Mishustin learned about the relevant progress during his visit to the Consultative Diagnostic Center in the Republic of Tyva. While inspecting the MRI equipment installed at the center, he asked Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko about the development of domestic devices. Murashko stated that the research and development work is being carried out by Rosatom, and noted that the device is expected to be completed next year. Mishustin then expressed hope that Russia would have its own domestically developed MRI scanner next year. If the device is completed as planned, it will be used in the field of medical imaging diagnostics.

2026-08-05