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Kazakhstan's National Nuclear Center Advances Full-Chain Nuclear Talent Development

On August 7, the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC RK) presented the status of its human resource development system in the field of atomic energy. Alua Mirzagazkyzy Kabdrakhova, scientific secretary of the center, stated that the modern nuclear energy industry is highly dependent on scientific research and engineering capabilities, and that talent development must begin with early career guidance and continue throughout higher education, research practice, and professional career development. According to the center's plan, nuclear talent development is first directed at secondary school students. The National Nuclear Center holds an annual summer school for young physicists and organizes student visits to research and technical facilities, helping high school students understand modern science,...

2026-08-09

Research Reactors Support Kazakhstan's Safe Nuclear Energy Development

Against the backdrop of growing demand for low-carbon electricity, nuclear energy is being regarded by many countries as a key energy option. Kazakhstan is also advancing its own nuclear energy development. Equally critical to the construction of nuclear power plants is the long-term research, testing, and validation of nuclear fuel, structural materials, reactor operating conditions, and safety systems. Research reactors and experimental facilities are precisely the core platforms undertaking such work. Unlike power reactors, which primarily target electricity generation, research reactors are closer to specialized nuclear science laboratories. Researchers can study the behavior of nuclear fuel and structural materials, simulate different reactor operating states, including off-normal conditions, test new technologies, and validate engineering solutions subsequently used in nuclear...

2026-08-09

Another access control irregularity at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station: exit gate fails to intercept unauthorized passage

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on August 7 that an irregularity related to access control occurred at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station. An operator improperly used his own ID card to allow a colleague who had left his ID card in the central control room to pass through the gate and exit. TEPCO stated that the access control system failed to display an error message at the time and was unable to prevent this unauthorized passage. According to disclosed information, the incident occurred during the exit process and involves management matters related to nuclear material protection. TEPCO has not yet publicly disclosed the specific date of the incident, the identities of the personnel involved, the detailed reasons why the system failed to trigger an alarm, or subsequent disciplinary actions and preventive measures. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa...

2026-08-08

Jiangsu's First uLinac HalosTx Integrated Ring-Gantry CT Linac Enters Clinical Use

On August 7, the first uLinac HalosTx integrated ring-gantry CT linear accelerator in Jiangsu Province was officially put into clinical use at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Changzhou Second People's Hospital). The system integrates a diagnostic-grade CT scanner and a ring-gantry accelerator on a single platform, shifting regional tumor radiotherapy from the traditional step-by-step positioning approach to a same-platform real-time model. Radiotherapy is one of the important modalities for cancer treatment. In the conventional split-system radiotherapy workflow, patients typically need to be transported between the CT room and the treatment room, and treatment plans are mostly formulated based on static images acquired beforehand. In cases such as tumor regression or changes in patient weight, previous images may not fully reflect the actual condition on the day of treatment...

2026-08-08

Rising Seawater Temperatures Prompt New Nuclear Safety Rules: TEPCO Sets Temporary Shutdown Criteria for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings announced on August 7 that it has established a set of self-determined criteria for evaluating whether to temporarily halt nuclear reactor operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, in response to rising seawater temperatures in the surrounding area. These criteria are not mandatory requirements directly imposed by external regulatory authorities, but rather proactive measures voluntarily implemented by TEPCO based on safe operational needs. According to the conditions announced by TEPCO, the company will consider temporarily shutting down the relevant nuclear facilities when the 7-day average seawater temperature in the waters surrounding the plant exceeds 31 degrees Celsius, when water temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius are observed, or when water temperatures above 33 degrees Celsius persist for 12 hours. These numerical thresholds indicate that seawater temperature has been incorporated as a key variable in nuclear power plant operational risk management.

2026-08-08

Canadian laboratory validates molten salt separation process with real spent fuel, extracting nearly 90% of plutonium in 24 hours

A chemical experiment in Canada involving real commercial reactor spent fuel has achieved noteworthy progress. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, in shielded hot cells at Chalk River, used irradiated spent fuel from CANDU reactors to validate the first phase of Moltex Energy's waste-to-stable-salt process. The experiment showed that within 24 hours, 89.4% of the plutonium was transferred into the molten salt; by 60 hours, this proportion rose to 94.3%. Meanwhile, the vast majority of uranium remained outside the salt phase, indicating that the process exhibits strong selectivity in separating target elements. This process, named WATSS, is not a plutonium purification route but rather a group separation technology. In addition to large quantities of uranium, spent fuel contains fission products as well as transuranic elements such as plutonium and americium, the latter being a significant source of long-term radiological risk. WATSS uses high-temperature chloride molten salt and specific reducing metals to convert transuranic oxides into salt-soluble forms, while most uranium oxides remain solid. In this experiment, researchers used niobium as the reducing metal; after 24 hours, only 0.05% of uranium entered the salt, dropping to 0.02% after 60 hours, demonstrating that it does not carry large amounts of uranium into the molten salt system.

2026-08-09

Three Los Angeles Companies Race in Portable Nuclear Power Sector

Southern California is emerging as a key testing ground for portable nuclear power technology. Three companies from the Los Angeles area—Valar Atomics in El Segundo, Antares Nuclear in Torrance, and Radiant Industries, also based in El Segundo—have joined federally backed pilot projects for portable nuclear power plants. These small-scale nuclear generating units are designed for rapid transport, deployment, and activation, with target scenarios including remote disaster zones, military bases, off-grid facilities, and even future deep-space missions. The reactors from Valar Atomics and Antares Nuclear achieved self-sustaining nuclear reactions before the July 4 government deadline, demonstrating their potential for rapid deployment...

2026-08-09

Russia's First Domestic 3D Scanner Helix Included in National Product Registry, Rosatom Completes Additive Manufacturing Technology Chain

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has included the first domestically produced 3D scanner, the RangeVision Helix, in the Unified Register of Russian Electronic Products and the confirmed register of Russian-made industrial products. The registration was carried out in accordance with Russian Government Resolutions No. 878 and No. 719. Thus, the Helix has become the first and currently the only 3D scanner in Russia to be included in the aforementioned national registers. The RangeVision Helix was developed and manufactured by RangeVision, an additive manufacturing partner of Rosatom. Since 2025, the company has become the only Russian 3D scanner manufacturer included in Rosatom's additive manufacturing ecosystem...

2026-08-08

Finland's Onkalo Repository to Be Commissioned, Experts Say 100,000-Year Safety Assessment Still Faces Uncertainties

Finland's Olkiluoto is about to commission the world's first permanent deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel — Onkalo. The facility is designed for long-term underground containment of spent fuel, with a design safety period of up to 100,000 years. There remains debate within the nuclear industry over whether such facilities can remain safe over such an immense timescale. Dmitry Pripachkin, head of the Department of Radiation Physics and Nuclear Technology Safety at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), stated that modern science does not yet possess tools capable of reliably predicting the state of such facilities after 100,000 years. Science can study the evolution of geological formations over long historical periods, but...

2026-08-09

Danube Water Level Temporarily Recovers, Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant May Continue Reduced-Power Operation

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on August 7 that due to rainfall in Austria, the Danube water level is expected to temporarily recover in the near term, which will help improve cooling conditions at the nuclear power plant, but the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, which supplies nearly half of Hungary's electricity, may still continue to operate at reduced power. In a social media video, Magyar said the current situation at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant remains very difficult. Affected by persistent high temperatures and historically low Danube water levels, the plant has been operating at approximately 10% output since last week. At a subsequent press conference, he stated that Hungary must find a solution for the operation of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, because "the Hungarian economy cannot function for months without the plant." Previously, the government had called on businesses and residents to reduce electricity consumption in the evening and dim the decorative lighting of historic buildings in Budapest to alleviate power supply pressure.

2026-08-08

Italian Neutrino Telescope Undersea Network Captures Fin Whale Songs

August 5 news, after months of silence, fin whale songs have once again been recorded in the southern Ionian Sea. This observation was jointly completed by multiple experiments connected to the underwater infrastructure of the Southern National Laboratory of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (LNS-INFN), involving three projects: ITINERIS, LOWNOISER, and VONGOLA. The related work was carried out with the participation of LNS-INFN and the Sicilian Center for Nuclear Physics and Structure of Matter (CSFNSM). The detection occurred in late winter. At that time, the eastern Mediterranean region was affected by strong anthropogenic noise from a long-term geophysical survey of offshore oil and gas resources, and only weeks had passed since the transit of Hurricane Harry. Researchers identified fin whale signals amid the complex acoustic background...

2026-08-09

Laser spectroscopy reveals for the first time the precise nuclear shape of fermium-255, offering new clues in the search for superheavy elements

An international research team has, for the first time, precisely determined the nuclear structure of the actinide fermium-255, confirming that its nucleus exhibits a pronounced prolate deformation, similar to a rugby ball. The study, published in *Physical Review Letters*, was conducted in collaboration with 18 institutions, including Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany, the Helmholtz Institute Mainz, and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The findings not only correct several unreasonable nuclear property values in previous standard data tables but also provide crucial experimental validation for modern nuclear theory models. Fermium is a synthetic heavy element that does not exist in nature. Fermium-255 contains 100 protons and 155 neutrons, making its experimental production extremely challenging. The research team...

2026-08-08

Eagle Nuclear Energy Advances 47-Hole Pre-Feasibility Drilling at Aurora Uranium Project

Against the backdrop of rebuilding a domestic U.S. uranium supply chain, newly listed Eagle Nuclear Energy Corp. has entered the industry spotlight with what it claims to be the largest conventional measured+indicated uranium resource in the country. Its flagship Aurora uranium project, located on the Oregon-Nevada border, contains 32.75 million pounds of indicated resources and 4.98 million pounds of inferred resources under S-K 1300 standards. The company has submitted permit applications for a pre-feasibility drilling program comprising 47 holes totaling approximately 27,000 feet, with work slated to begin upon federal and state approvals and pre-feasibility study completion targeted for the second half of 2027. On the technical front, the company recently added Yukuskokon Professional Services and expanded its collaboration with BBA USA and SLR I...

2026-08-08

Fluor's Q2 New Orders Surge to $6.1 Billion, Nuclear Fuel Enrichment Projects Boost Backlog to $26.9 Billion

U.S. engineering and construction giant Fluor demonstrated a clear acceleration in order intake in the second quarter of 2026, with new project awards reaching $6.1 billion, significantly higher than the $1.8 billion recorded in the same period last year. Among these, nuclear fuel enrichment projects emerged as a key highlight, driving the company's ending backlog to $26.9 billion. The rapid expansion in order volume indicates that customer demand for its engineering, procurement, and construction capabilities is recovering, and also reflects the tangible results of converting earlier front-end design and project development work. In terms of contract structure, 89% of Fluor's new orders this quarter were reimbursable contracts, while reimbursable contracts also accounted for 85% of total backlog, up from 80% in the same period last year....

2026-08-09

JINR delegation participates in the 51st Vietnam Conference on Theoretical Physics

From August 3 to 6, the 51st Vietnam Conference on Theoretical Physics (VCTP-51) was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam. A delegation of researchers from the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and the Laboratory of Information Technologies of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research attended the conference, engaging in exchanges with more than 170 scholars from Vietnam, Germany, India, China, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and other countries and regions. The conference topics covered multiple frontier directions in theoretical physics, including high-energy physics, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, and cosmology, as well as interdisciplinary research areas such as physics beyond the Standard Model, molecular physics, quantum optics and quantum information, biomaterials, and biomolecules. The broad agenda...

2026-08-08