Search Results

Namibia Accelerates Its Path to Nuclear Energy, Formally Appoints First Nuclear Commissioner

Recently, the Office of the Prime Minister of Namibia announced the formal appointment of John Titus, Director of the Energy Directorate in the Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy, as Namibia's Nuclear Commissioner, tasked with comprehensively coordinating all preparatory work for the country's nuclear energy development and leading the Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organization (NEPIO) Secretariat. It is understood that Namibian Prime Minister Titunga Ilya Ngurare also established the NEPIO Management Committee, aimed at providing high-level policy coordination and strategic oversight for the long-term nuclear power programme. The committee is composed of executive directors from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industrialisation, Mines and Energy, the Ministry of International Relations and...

2026-10-16

Akkuyu NPP in Türkiye Holds Full-Scale Joint Emergency Exercise: Cross-Departmental Live Drill Tested Ahead of First Unit Commissioning

The Akkuyu NPP, Türkiye's first nuclear power project, constructed by Rosatom, held a large-scale comprehensive emergency and firefighting tactical live exercise on October 12 at the Büyükeceli site in Mersin Province. The exercise aimed to comprehensively test the multi-agency coordinated response capabilities of nuclear power plant operating shift personnel, external technical support organizations, and Turkish local emergency rescue teams under extreme conditions, providing critical pre-commissioning safety justification for Unit 1 of the project as it formally enters the fuel-loading and commercial power generation phase. Rosatom Director General Alexey...

2026-10-14

Slovakia's Mochovce NPP Unit 4 First Grid Connection Delayed Due to Retest, Full Commercial Operation Expected Within the Year

Slovenské elektrárne announced on October 13 that due to the need to repeat a scheduled technical test, the grid synchronization and connection of Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4, originally scheduled for that day, will be postponed by several days. The commissioning start-up procedures for the unit are still progressing steadily, and the overall project remains on track to enter full commercial operation before the end of this year. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had previously stated that the grid connection ceremony was scheduled for Tuesday, and he had originally planned to personally attend the event at the nuclear power plant site. Slovenské elektrárne stated in its...

2026-10-14

Hydraulic pressure test of containment penetration protection sleeves for Haiyang Nuclear Power Unit 3 in China succeeds on first attempt

Recently, the hydraulic pressure test of the containment penetration protection sleeves for the main steam and main feedwater pipelines of Haiyang Nuclear Power Unit 3 of State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Shandong Nuclear Power was completed, with all four sleeves passing the test on the first attempt. The protection sleeves are an important part of the containment pressure boundary and can safeguard the bellows expansion joints under abnormal pipeline conditions. It is understood that this test was relatively difficult. The sleeves had long been embedded in the containment, the original pipelines could not be damaged, and the on-site space was narrow, making it impossible to install the tooling. To address these challenges, the production preparation project team innovatively adopted the process of "removing the original guard plate + welding flanges to build a pressure chamber," and joined forces with the design institute and equipment manufacturer to form a special team, conducting multiple simulation verifications and reviewing...

2026-10-12

Czech Škoda JS Wins First Polish Nuclear Energy Order, to Invest About CZK 300 Million in Modernizing MARIA Research Reactor

Pilsen-based Škoda JS a.s., part of the Czech ČEZ Group, has recently won its first commercial contract in the Polish market. The company will invest approximately CZK 300 million to carry out a comprehensive modernization of the MARIA research reactor, which belongs to the Polish National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) and is located in Otwock, near Warsaw. Škoda JS spokesperson Karel Samec confirmed the deal to the Czech News Agency (ČTK), saying the company hopes to use this as an opportunity to further expand into the Polish nuclear power market and to secure a role as a core equipment...

2026-10-12

Syrian Atomic Energy Commission Holds First Nuclear Energy Experts Forum to Promote Research Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy

The Syrian Atomic Energy Commission (SAEC) held the First Syrian Nuclear Energy Experts Forum on October 11 at its headquarters in Damascus, bringing together nuclear science scholars and professional technical personnel from inside and outside Syria, with the aim of deepening research collaboration and advancing academic efforts in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. The meeting was co-chaired by the current Chairman of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, Mudar al-Okla, and the Commission's first Director, Ibrahim Haddad, and was held at the Commission's Damascus headquarters in the capital. The Syrian Atomic Energy Commission's new...

2026-10-12

Unit 1 of Bangladesh's Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Achieves First Criticality, Realizing First Nuclear Fission Chain Reaction

Unit 1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant, officially initiated its first nuclear fission reaction on the afternoon of October 11, marking a breakthrough milestone for the country's first major nuclear energy project. Md Anwar Hossain, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Bangladesh, confirmed to the media that, after obtaining formal approval from the nuclear safety regulatory authority, the unit successfully initiated a self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction at approximately 3:34 p.m. that day. Hossain stated that the on-site commissioning team conducted the fission reaction startup operation at Unit 1 for the first time that day, and the entire startup process proceeded very smoothly...

2026-10-12

China National Nuclear Power Announces Power Generation Completion for the First Three Quarters of 2026

According to statistics from China National Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Company or China National Nuclear Power), as of September 30, 2026, the Company had 27 nuclear power units in operation under its controlling share, with an installed capacity of 26,212.0 MW; it had 22 units under construction and approved for future construction under its controlling share, with an installed capacity of 25,635.0 MW, bringing the total nuclear power installed capacity to 51,847.0 MW. The Company's renewable energy installed capacity in operation under its controlling share was 35,915.6 MW, including 11,191.1 MW of wind power and 24,724.5 MW of solar power, and it also controlled independent energy storage stations with 2,061.0 MW; the installed capacity under construction under its controlling share was 9,263.6 MW, including 3,906.2 MW of wind power and 5,357.4 MW of solar power. As of September 30, 2026, the Company...

2026-10-11

World's First Nuclear Power Integration into Ultra-High Voltage Project Commissioned, Yantai-Weihai 1000 kV Project Opens Up the "Main Artery" for Nuclear Power Transmission from Jiaodong

On October 10, 2026, the Yantai-Weihai 1000 kV UHV project was officially completed and put into operation. This project is not only the first newly built UHV AC project commissioned during the national "15th Five-Year Plan" period, but also the world's first benchmark project to achieve direct integration of nuclear power into a UHV AC grid, marking the full completion of the ultra-large-scale baseload transmission corridor for the Jiaodong Peninsula nuclear power base. As the core cluster of Shandong's nuclear power development, the coastal areas of the Jiaodong Peninsula, including Yantai and Weihai, host the vast majority of Shandong's nuclear power units. With the advancement of major nuclear energy projects such as Haiyang Nuclear Power, the Yantai-Weihai region has rapidly transformed from a traditional power receiving end into a province-level strategic power sending end for nuclear energy and new energy, with the maximum surplus power transmission demand expected to exceed 30 million kilowatts by the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan"...

2026-10-11

Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor Achieves First Criticality, Fifth Reactor in U.S. Department of Energy Test Reactor Program Successfully Started

The Groves Isotope Test Reactor under Oklo, an advanced nuclear fission company in the United States, has officially achieved first criticality. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed that the reactor successfully reached criticality at 9:19 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday at the Groves site in Lockhart, Texas, becoming the fifth advanced test reactor to achieve criticality under the DOE's dedicated authorization and regulatory pathway. The Groves Isotope Test Reactor has a thermal power of 15 megawatts (MWt) and adopts an atmospheric-pressure water-cooled pool-type reactor design. It is led by Oklo Isotopes, a subsidiary of Oklo focused on medical and industrial isotope production...

2026-10-11

Russia Completes Qualification Tests of ITER First Wall Tungsten Lining, Advancing Development of Key Components for International Thermonuclear Fusion

The Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus (NIIEFA), a subsidiary of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, recently successfully completed the qualification testing phase of tungsten materials for the first wall lining of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This testing aimed to verify the feasibility of the selected technical solution. The expert team completed vacuum rapid brazing of the tungsten lining, robotic ultrasonic inspection, and rigorous thermal cycling tests, laying a solid foundation for subsequent mass production of key components. As the physical boundary between the scorching plasma and the main reactor equipment in a tokamak device, the first wall lining must protect the equipment from high-energy particle bombardment while...

2026-10-10

Poland Launches Procurement of Key Equipment for Its First Nuclear Power Plant

Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) announced on October 8, 2026, that it has formally commissioned Westinghouse Electric Company of the United States to initiate the ordering of Long-Lead Items (LLI) for Unit 1 of Poland's first nuclear power plant. The nuclear power project is located at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Choczewo, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland, and is planned to house 3 Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor units. Long-lead critical components typically encompass large heavy forgings and castings required for the reactor pressure vessel, steam turbine and generator, dedicated instrumentation and control software, and high-technical-difficulty structural components...

2026-10-09

Installation of First Steam Generator Begins at Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, Total Capacity to Reach 4,800 MW

Recently, the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) of Egypt issued a statement announcing that installation of the first steam generator for Unit 1 of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant has begun, coinciding with Egypt's celebration of the 53rd anniversary of the October War victory. This is part of the main equipment installation work for the reactor facility. It is understood that the steam generator is one of the main components of the VVER-1200 nuclear reactor system, serving as the thermal connection device between the primary loop and the secondary loop, transferring reactor heat to the secondary loop cooling water through the primary loop coolant while maintaining isolation between the two loops...

2026-10-09

China Becomes First to Achieve Operation of a Thorium-229 Nuclear Optical Clock, Bringing Quantum Precision Measurement into the Atomic Nucleus Scale

Recently, the team of Ding Shiqian, associate professor in the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University, published important results online in the international academic journal Nature, announcing the successful development of a thorium-229 nuclear optical clock and the achievement of its stable operation. This work was completed independently in the same period as that of a European team, making China the first internationally to achieve operation of a thorium-229 nuclear optical clock, marking the successful extension of the time measurement standard from electronic transitions to nuclear transitions. It is understood that a nuclear optical clock uses the internal transition of the thorium-229 atomic nucleus as a time-frequency reference. Ding Shiqian, one of the corresponding authors of the paper, introduced that the pendulum of an old-fashioned wall clock swings about once per second, whereas a nuclear optical clock uses the beat of the atomic nucleus as its "pendulum," with a beat frequency of up to about 2 quadrillion times per second. Because the size of the atomic nucleus is only a few tens of thousandths of the electron cloud outside the nucleus...

2026-10-08

Preparations Underway for First Nuclear Fuel Loading at San'ao Nuclear Power Project Unit 2

On October 7, it was learned from CGN Cangnan Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. that San'ao Nuclear Power Project Unit 2 is carrying out preparatory work before its first nuclear fuel loading. Once fuel loading is completed, the unit will enter the stage of nuclear commissioning of the primary system with nuclear fuel. During the National Day holiday, personnel at key positions of the San'ao Nuclear Power Project stayed at the front line to fully advance the pre-loading preparations. A relevant person in charge of the Fuel Management Section of the Technical Support Department of CGN Cangnan Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. stated that in order to ensure the high-quality completion of Unit 2's first fuel loading and core photography operations, the project working group strictly implemented relevant regulations and management requirements for nuclear material control, and coordinated the advancement of various pre-loading tasks including the submission of first loading information and the approval request for fuel assembly transfer.

2026-10-08