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NRC Plans to Develop Advanced Oversight Process for New Reactors

Recently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) revealed that it is actively considering tailoring an Advanced Reactor Oversight Process (AROP) for new nuclear power and advanced reactor projects, aiming to systematically draw on the mature oversight experience gained from approximately 25 years of continuous operation of the existing fleet of nuclear power plants. As the long-standing core of regulation, the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) is primarily used for inspection and safety assessment of the operating reactor fleet. With the emergence of a large number of new nuclear energy projects in the future that are fundamentally different from traditional unit designs, the NRC has recently held a series of public meetings to comprehensively introduce the AROP ...

2026-11-09

ITER Organization Successfully Completes Half-Current Test of Toroidal Field Magnet

Recently, the magnet cold test facility of the ITER Organization successfully completed the cryogenic cold test of the second Toroidal Field (TF) coil. The heavy superconducting coil, numbered 17, was cooled to an extreme environment of 4K (minus 269 degrees Celsius) and then successfully energized to 34 kiloamperes (kA), reaching half of its 68kA rated operating current. The coil was then officially removed from the test bench and transferred to the assembly process of the main tokamak device. As a standard unit of the ITER toroidal field magnet system, a single D-shaped TF coil is approximately 17 meters tall, about 9 meters wide, and weighs 330 tonnes, with windings made of advanced niobium-tin...

2026-11-09

Floating Molten Salt Reactor Approaches Licensing Readiness: What New Issues Must Be Addressed When Putting Nuclear Power on a Barge

Coastal industrial parks need stable power, but onshore land, cooling conditions, and construction resources may not be easy to coordinate. Placing power generation facilities on floating platforms and having them centrally manufactured by shipyards has therefore become a deployment approach explored by some nuclear companies. It may change the construction location, but it will not detach the reactor from site, regulatory, and long-term operational responsibilities. Information published on November 3 shows that Denmark's Saltfoss is preparing to engage in pre-application communication with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and plans to submit a regulatory communication plan in the first quarter of 2027. The company hopes to establish a licensing pathway for offshore molten salt reactor platforms. What has been disclosed so far is preparatory work and corporate goals, and should not be understood as having obtained...

2026-11-07

Environmental impact assessment for operation of two units at China's Xudapu Nuclear Power Plant enters pre-approval public notice

Recently, the ecological environmental impact report for the operation phase of Units 3 and 4 of the Xudapu Nuclear Power Plant in Liaoning has entered the pre-approval public notice stage, making the environmental protection arrangements related to unit operation available to the public. The project is located in Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province, and is being constructed by CNNC Liaoning Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd. undertaking the environmental impact assessment work. This public notice focuses on the environmental impacts and supporting protection measures during the operation of the two units. The two units adopt VVER-1200 technology, with each unit having an electrical power of 1,274.38 MW, totaling approximately 2,548.76 MW. The total project investment is 52.35 billion yuan, of which environmental protection investment is approximately 1.46 billion yuan, accounting for 2.79% of the total project investment. The related investment is used to configure...

2026-11-07

Environmental Impact Assessment for Site Selection of Haiyang Xin'an Nuclear Power Project in China Enters Pre-Approval Public Notice

Recently, the Environmental Impact Report for the Site Selection Phase of Units 1 and 2 of the Shandong Haiyang Xin'an Nuclear Power Project has entered the pre-approval public notice period. The project is located in Haiyang City, Shandong Province, and is being constructed by CNNC (Shandong) Second Nuclear Energy Co., Ltd. It plans to adopt two Hualong One Version 2.0 pressurized water reactor nuclear power units with a single-unit capacity of 1,220 megawatts, with a planned total installed capacity of 2,440 megawatts. This public notice centers on the environmental impact assessment at the site selection phase, disclosing the project overview, environmental protection measures, and public participation. The total project investment is approximately 44.5 billion yuan, of which environmental protection facility investment is approximately 1.236 billion yuan, accounting for 2.77% of the total investment. Environmental protection arrangements cover both construction and operation phases: during construction, measures such as water spraying for dust suppression...

2026-11-07

Swiss Study Assesses Role of New Nuclear Power in Winter Supply Security

A recently highlighted Swiss energy system study evaluates new nuclear power as an option for long-term electricity supply and low-carbon transition. The study, commissioned by the Swiss Foundation for Technology Assessment (TA-SWISS), shows that under conditions such as timely commissioning, affordable costs and secured financing, new nuclear power plants can increase domestic low-carbon electricity supply, reduce import dependence, and complement renewable energy, grid and storage development. The study sets out three scenarios—open market, self-sufficiency and continuation of existing trends—to compare the impact of nuclear power on the energy system under different development pathways. In the open market scenario, without building new nuclear power plants, net electricity imports in the winter half-year in the longer term would be...

2026-11-06

Spain Successfully Develops AI Early Warning System for Algae at Nuclear Power Plants

Recently, Spanish energy services group GDES and the Asociación Nuclear Ascó-Vandellós II (ANAV) jointly announced that the two parties have successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based early warning system named iAlgae. The system is designed to monitor in real time the accumulation of planktonic vegetation and algae at the cooling water intake of nuclear power plants, marking an important breakthrough in O&M technology for nuclear facilities to cope with natural environmental interference. For power generation facilities that use natural surface water for cooling, the accumulation of algae and planktonic vegetation at water intakes is a common natural challenge. iAlgae ...

2026-11-06

U.S. Society Publishes Research Progress on Interpretation of Brain Amyloid Imaging

Recently, SNMMI released information on a real-world interpretation study of amyloid PET. The study compared interpretations of nearly 1,500 scan images by routine clinicians and expert panels, providing support for the application of this nuclear medicine examination in daily clinical practice. The study used data from the IDEAS project, selecting approximately 500 scan images for each of three imaging agents, which were visually interpreted by the corresponding expert panels; the majority opinions of the expert panels were then compared with the interpretation results of local clinicians. The results showed that the interpretation concordance rate was 86.6% for positive scans and 91.5% for negative scans; no significant differences in concordance were observed among different imaging agents, suggesting that image interpretation in routine clinical settings has relatively...

2026-11-04

Steel Containment Vessel Second Ring of Guangdong Lianjiang Nuclear Power Unit 2 Hoisted into Place

Recently, the second ring of the steel containment vessel (CV) for Guangdong Lianjiang Nuclear Power Unit 2, manufactured by State Nuclear Equipment, was successfully hoisted into place, creating favorable conditions for subsequent main construction of the nuclear island. It is reported that the second ring of the steel containment vessel hoisted this time is assembled from four layers of curved steel plates, with an overall height of approximately 16 meters, an inner diameter of nearly 40 meters, and a total hoisting weight of up to 1,124 tons. Throughout the assembly and hoisting process, the project team fully drew on the engineering and construction experience of Unit 1, strengthened on-site coordination and quality control, and ensured that the entire hoisting process was safe, smooth, and precisely positioned. The Lianjiang Nuclear Power Project, as a key batch construction project independently built by China based on CAP1000 third-generation nuclear power technology...

2026-11-04

ITER Successfully Completes Half-Rated Current Test of Toroidal Field Coil #17

Recently, ITER's D-shaped superconducting toroidal field coil #17, weighing approximately 330 tonnes, was successfully energized to 34 kA (half of its 68 kA rated operating current) in the Magnet Cold Test Facility and has been smoothly transported out of the facility, ready to enter the tokamak assembly phase. It is reported that during the test, the magnet was cooled to a superconducting operating temperature of 4 K (minus 269 degrees Celsius). ITER Chief Mechanical Engineer Adrien Dedecker stated that reaching 34 kA and verifying that its actual performance is consistent with model predictions is not only a key step in magnet testing, but also accumulated valuable operational experience for subsequent integrated commissioning. The team used this opportunity to fully compare and confirm the coil structural deformation data under electromagnetic loads.

2026-11-04

America's First "Large Reactor in a Chemical Plant" Clears the Hurdle: X-energy Xe-100 Ushers in the Conclusion of Safety Review and a Key Springboard to Commercialization

In the global race to industrialize advanced nuclear energy technologies, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor is reaching a milestone. In late October 2026, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) formally issued the Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER) for the construction permit application of the Long Mott Generating Station, proposed to be built at Dow Chemical's Seadrift site along the Texas Gulf Coast. This means that the Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, developed by X-energy with an installed capacity of 320 megawatts electric, has successfully passed the most central safety examination at the U.S. nuclear regulatory level, clearing...

2026-11-03

Russia's InterPolyaris Company Successfully Develops New Filter for Nuclear-Powered Icebreakers

Recently, the International Polyaris (InterPolyaris) company, located in Novovoronezh, successfully completed the manufacture and test preparation of a new type of mechanical filter specially designed for nuclear energy facilities and nuclear-powered icebreakers. It is reported that the new mechanical filter adopts a compact two-stage sealed architecture and is mainly deployed at the condensate and feedwater system nodes of turbine units, as well as in the makeup water and water treatment systems of reactor installations, for efficiently removing mechanical impurities from process media and ensuring high-standard water quality cleanliness requirements for nuclear power systems. The equipment consists of two independent sealed housings with built-in metal filter elements, connected in the middle by upper and lower three-way ball valves. By adjusting the upper valve...

2026-11-03

The "Chain-Building" Lessons from Europe's Fusion Supply Chain: An Industrial Paradigm Leap from "Building Devices" to "Nurturing Chains"

When examining the global race toward commercializing controlled nuclear fusion, external attention is often drawn to record-breaking plasma temperatures, confinement times, and device scales. However, as the industry gradually enters the deep waters of transitioning from physics experiments to engineering construction, what ultimately determines whether parties can cross the commercialization chasm is often no longer merely theoretical breakthroughs in the laboratory, but rather the thickness of the industrial supply chain hidden behind the spotlight. Recently, Europe's "Fusion for Energy" organization (F4E, Fusion for Energy) officially released the research report "Building Europe's Fusion Supply Chain: 2007–2026." This report, which systematically reviews nearly two decades of construction history, discloses that through more than €7 billion...

2026-11-02

Russia proposes optical laser monitoring method for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing

Recently, a research team from Sechenov University in Russia, together with the Proryv Project and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Inorganic Materials (VNIINM), published latest results in the journal Applied Spectroscopy, proposing a non-contact optical method for continuous monitoring of the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing process. It is reported that in the liquid-liquid extraction process of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, traditional laboratory analysis has problems such as long sampling time and increased risk of radioactive waste. The research team introduced Raman Spectroscopy to monitor the state of extractants such as tributyl phosphate in the organic phase, measuring a median error of about 1%; meanwhile, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was used to determine the concentration of metal elements in the aqueous phase, with an average error controlled at 4%–8%, achieving near-real-time synchronous monitoring of the two-phase streams.

2026-11-02

Doosan Enerbility of South Korea to Manufacture Pressure Vessel for NuScale Small Modular Reactor

Recently, U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) developer NuScale Power and South Korea's Doosan Enerbility formally signed a component manufacturing contract at the Changwon headquarters, under which Doosan will manufacture core components including the upper reactor pressure vessel for the NuScale Power Module (NPM). It is reported that, according to the contract requirements, Doosan Enerbility will manufacture the upper reactor coolant system and pressure vessel components at its Changwon reactor production base. The two parties have been cooperating since 2019, and this signing marks the comprehensive upgrade of their cooperation from material preparation to the actual manufacturing stage of reactor components for commercial deployment, providing NuScale with reliable equipment delivery assurance...

2026-10-31