Search Results

IAEA Study: Five-Star Rating System Can Improve CT Imaging Safety and Reduce Unnecessary Radiation Exposure

A new study led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, shows that a five-star rating system can help hospitals optimize image quality, reduce radiation dose, and decrease unnecessary patient radiation exposure in computed tomography (CT) examinations. The study has been published in the European Journal of Radiology. CT imaging uses X-rays to obtain detailed images of internal body structures and is an important tool in diagnosing a wide range of diseases. The study notes that CT image quality is closely related to radiation dose—higher doses typically reduce image noise and improve clarity, but do not always yield additional diagnostic value. How to minimize radiation exposure while ensuring diagnostic accuracy is key to optimizing CT examination protocols.

2026-08-26

South Korean Lawmaker Proposes Designating SMRs as National Strategic Technology

Kim Jung-jae, a lawmaker from South Korea's People Power Party, recently proposed an amendment to the Special Tax Limitation Act, calling for small modular reactors (SMRs) to be included in the category of national strategic technologies, thereby supporting related R&D, talent development, and facility investment through tax credits. Kim believes that SMRs are a next-generation nuclear technology that balances carbon neutrality goals with stable energy supply. As global technological and industrial competition in the SMR market intensifies, South Korea needs to further improve its institutional foundation to promote the development of the related industry. According to the proposal's explanation, the commercialization and export competitiveness of SMRs depend not only on R&D outcomes but also on the facility level of the manufacturing supply chain, workforce capabilities, and international quality standards and certification...

2026-08-26

South Korea's Gijang County and KHNP Discuss Communication Issues with Residents near Kori Nuclear Power Plant

Gijang County, Busan, South Korea, said on August 25 that it held talks with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) that day on pending issues related to the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, focusing on resident communication, allocation of co-prosperity support funds, dry cask storage facilities for spent fuel, and the small modular reactor project. According to Gijang County, KHNP President Kim Hoe-cheon visited the Gijang County government that day and met with County Governor Woo Sung-bin. Since taking office on March 18, Kim Hoe-cheon has been visiting nuclear power plant sites to understand local concerns, and this visit to Gijang County, the site of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, is part of that ongoing communication effort...

2026-08-26

U.S. Submits Civil Nuclear Agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress for Review

U.S. government officials said on August 25 that President Donald Trump has submitted a proposed civil nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress for review. The agreement, reached in July this year, includes provisions allowing U.S. companies to export civil nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. Under the relevant procedures, Congress will have 90 session days to review the agreement. Two congressional sources said the agreement has been submitted to congressional leadership and is expected to be referred to relevant committees for consideration. If Congress raises no objections within the specified period, the agreement will enter into effect; if Congress rejects the agreement, Trump may still exercise his veto power, and Congress would need a two-thirds majority to override the presidential veto...

2026-08-26

Netherlands advances front-end engineering design for two new nuclear power plants

The Netherlands Nuclear Organization (NEO NL) has awarded contracts to Électricité de France (EDF) and Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse) to conduct design studies for two proposed new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. The work is seen as the next step in the construction preparation phase, with both companies set to launch the first phase of studies after the summer. These design studies, internationally referred to as Front-End Engineering Design Phase 1 (FEED 1), will be implemented in two stages. The first stage, FEED 1a, is independent of specific plant site selection, allowing work to proceed while the Dutch government advances its siting process...

2026-08-26

Canada Approves Power Uprate for Bruce A and B Nuclear Power Plants

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced on August 24 that it has decided to amend the licensing basis for the Bruce A and B nuclear power plants, approving an increase in the intermediate power operating levels of the two plants. The Bruce A and B nuclear power plants are located in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, and are operated by Bruce Power. Under the revised licensing basis, Bruce Power may increase the maximum operating power of the Bruce A plant to 95.5% of full power and the Bruce B plant to 96% of full power. Previously, the Bruce A plant was authorized to operate at a maximum power of...

2026-08-26

TU Delft participates in innovative projects on compact reactors and molten salt reactors

The MOOI Kernenergie nuclear funding programme, operated by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), has recently selected four innovative projects to support research and development in reactor and fuel cycle technologies, radioactive waste storage, and geological disposal solutions. TU Delft is involved in three of these projects, with researchers from its Reactor Institute participating in the MARLIN and PRONTO projects. The MARLIN project focuses on compact modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) for industrial, maritime, and offshore applications. Based on measurement data and models, the project consortium will develop and validate a reactor prototype capable of simultaneously providing electricity and high-temperature process heat, with a focus on industrial clusters as well as maritime and offshore scenarios.

2026-08-26

South Korea Develops AI Model for Prioritizing Post-Earthquake Inspections at Nuclear Facilities

A joint research team from the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has developed a deep learning model that can assist nuclear facilities in rapidly identifying priority inspection areas after an earthquake. The model uses seismic wave signals collected from a single seismometer to predict in real time the vibration responses at multiple locations within a nuclear power plant and quantitatively ranks potential risks. The research was jointly conducted by the team of Jae-Beom Lee, senior researcher at KRISS, and Young-Ju Lee, professor at UNIST. The researchers stated that this technology can, without installing sensors at every critical location...

2026-08-26

Japan's Mihama Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 Receives Preliminary Approval for Operation Plan Beyond 50 Years

On August 25, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave preliminary approval to Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) for the long-term facility management plan for Unit 3 of the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant. Located in Mihama Town, Fukui Prefecture, the unit will mark its 50th anniversary of commercial operation on December 1. In May of this year, the metal top cover of the high-pressure turbine at Mihama Unit 3 suffered damage, resulting in steam leakage. At the NRA meeting held that day, KEPCO explained that the cause of the incident was believed to be thinning of the inner wall of the top cover due to steam flow. The company stated that this phenomenon falls under previously anticipated aging and degradation management for turbine equipment, and that the existing plan already includes corresponding management measures. Visual inspection and other examination methods were also deemed applicable, thus no revision to the long-term facility management plan was required.

2026-08-26

Westinghouse eVinci Microreactor Completes Zero-Power Criticality Testing

Westinghouse Electric Company announced on August 25 that its eVinci microreactor has completed zero-power criticality testing, validating relevant models and key assumptions in the core design. The test was completed at 10:39 a.m. Pacific Time on August 24, 2026, at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The center is operated under the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The test was conducted by Westinghouse Electric in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Zero-power criticality is typically used to verify that a reactor core can achieve a self-sustaining chain fission state at extremely low power levels, serving as a critical step in reactor physics testing and design validation...

2026-08-26

US NuScale Deploys Nuclear-Specific AI to Advance Small Modular Reactor Projects

NuScale Power Corporation announced on August 25 that it is deploying nuclear-specific artificial intelligence tools to support its engineering and knowledge management efforts, accelerating the development of its advanced small modular reactor projects. The initiative combines NuScale's technical expertise in advanced reactors, Nuclearn's AtomAssist nuclear AI platform, and NPX's experience in nuclear project delivery and AI implementation, aiming to establish specialized tools tailored for nuclear scenarios that help engineering teams retrieve, understand, and apply critical technical information more efficiently. As advanced...

2026-08-26

Thermo Fisher Scientific Launches First Orbitrap Mass Spectrometers for Isotope Ratio Analysis

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently launched the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Isora mass spectrometer and Orbitrap Isora Pro mass spectrometer in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The company stated that these are its first Orbitrap instruments equipped with a dedicated isotope ratio analysis mode. The two mass spectrometers launched this time will form an integrated workflow together with the Thermo Scientific Vanquish Duo ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system and the new Isotope Discoverer software, providing molecular-level isotope ratio analysis capabilities to laboratories and researchers worldwide. Isotope ratio analysis can help researchers determine the source of compounds and their formation processes by measuring natural variations in isotopes within samples, helping...

2026-08-26

NuCube Energy and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Launch Microreactor R&D Collaboration

NuCube Energy, Inc. announced on August 25 that it has initiated research and development activities under an agreement signed with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). The two parties will conduct research on the NuCube reactor design, focusing on advancing data identification, modeling, and analysis efforts to support the validation of its microreactor technology. Under this R&D program, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will validate existing experimental data and benchmark computational models used to predict heat pipe performance in high-temperature environments exceeding 900 degrees Celsius. The qualified experimental data provided by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will be used to expand the NuCube computational mo...

2026-08-26

FSG to Provide Electrical and Control Systems Support for Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor Project

American Facility Solutions Group, LLC (FSG) announced on August 25 that it will support Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor project, providing electrical, instrumentation, control, testing, and verification-related work. According to reports, the Groves Isotope Test Reactor achieved first criticality on August 5, 2026, reaching a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The reactor is the fifth reactor to achieve this milestone among projects authorized under the U.S. Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program, and the first to reach criticality on private land under the program. The low-power test reactor is designed to lay the foundation for domestic commercial isotope production...

2026-08-26

South Korea's Ulju County Seeks to Streamline Procedures for Support Projects Around Nuclear Power Plants

Ulju County, Ulsan Metropolitan City, South Korea, announced on August 26 that it will propose simplifying the procedures for implementing support projects in areas around power plants at the administrative meeting of local governments hosting nuclear power plants to be held next month, and will push for institutional adjustments to expand the scope of support for electricity bill subsidy projects. According to the Enforcement Decree of South Korea's Act on Support for Areas Around Power Plants, basic support projects for areas around power plants include profit-generating projects, public and social welfare projects, education projects, resident welfare support projects, investment attraction support projects, electricity bill subsidy projects, and other support projects. The first institutional improvement proposal put forward by Ulju County this time is to simplify the procedures for using basic support funds generated during the construction of small-capacity power plants.

2026-08-26