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IAEA Technical Meeting on Indicators for the Management of Disused Ionizing Radiation Sources

From 24 to 28 August 2026, a technical meeting was held at the IAEA headquarters, focusing on indicators for the status of disused ionizing radiation sources and their application in sustainable management. The meeting emphasized how these indicators can serve as measurement tools to support countries in the long-term, safe, and traceable management of disused radiation sources. The Ukrainian delegation participated in the meeting, including Oleksii Zhyvotenko, Head of the Department for Production and Technical Issues and Radioactive Material Management at the "Radon" Association of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as representatives of the central nuclear power plant management. During the meeting, the Ukrainian side delivered a presentation on the practical experience of integrating key IAEA indicators into Ukraine's national management system for disused ionizing radiation sources.

2026-08-28

UK Fusion Energy Company Files 50th Patent Application

UK Fusion Energy (UKFE) filed its 50th patent application this week, marking new progress in the UK's efforts to advance fusion energy commercialization and related intellectual property development. UKFE is a government-backed organization responsible for developing and protecting intellectual property arising from the STEP fusion prototype plant project and driving the transfer of related innovations to industry. Since 2025, the organization has filed 52 patent applications and published 108 technical disclosures and 2 patent applications. These achievements cover key technologies required for the construction of the STEP prototype facility, as well as some innovations applicable beyond the fusion energy sector. UKFE stated that the intellectual property portfolio reflects the breadth and pace of the project's R&D activities.

2026-08-28

U.S. NNSA and DTRA Remove High-Risk Cobalt-60 Radioactive Source from Guatemala

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced on August 27 that, in cooperation with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), it has removed a high-risk cobalt-60 radioactive source from a facility in Guatemala and transported the associated components to a secure storage location in the United States. This operation aims to reduce security risks associated with radioactive materials and prevent high-activity radioactive substances from being illegally acquired or misused. According to reports, cobalt-60 can be used in medical equipment for cancer treatment, but high-activity radioactive sources, if improperly managed, may pose radiological safety hazards. In May of this year, an NNSA Los Alamos National Laboratory team, in cooperation with relevant Guatemalan agencies, worked on a decommissioned U.S.-manufactured cobalt-60 teletherapy...

2026-08-28

Thor Medical Advances AlphaOne Commercial Production in H1, Completes First Customer Deliveries of Lead-212 Isotope

Thor Medical ASA, a supplier of high-purity isotopes to the radiopharmaceutical industry, announced its H1 2026 results on August 28. The company stated that its AlphaOne facility has completed mechanical construction on time and on budget and has entered commercial production, marking the start of a new phase focused on scaling output, increasing customer deliveries, and growing revenue. Thor Medical CEO Jasper Kurth said that with the completion of the first customer product deliveries from AlphaOne, the company has established a solid commercial foundation in a rapidly growing market, and the next step is to advance the execution plan around capacity expansion, customer deliveries, and revenue growth to support the development of next-generation precision cancer therapies...

2026-08-28

South Korea's Medical Radiation Examinations Exceed 430 Million Annually, with CT Scans Accounting for 67.1% of Radiation Dose

According to the "2025 National Medical Radiation Assessment Yearbook" released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on August 28, South Koreans underwent a total of 431.59 million medical radiation examinations last year, averaging 8.4 examinations per person. Over the past five years, the number of medical radiation examinations in South Korea has continued to rise, with last year's figure increasing by 4.6% year-on-year and 29.6% compared to 2021. The report shows that the collective radiation dose from medical radiation examinations in South Korea increased from 136,804.73 person-sieverts in 2021 to 167,659.18 person-sieverts last year, an increase of 22.6%. On a per capita basis, the radiation dose rose from 2.64 millisieverts to 3.24 millisieverts. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated that with advances in medical technology, an aging population, and growing demand for health checkups, the use of medical radiation examinations in public healthcare services continues to expand.

2026-08-28

U.S. Fusion Company Advances Deuterium-Helium-3 Fusion Testing

American Fusion Inc. on August 27 announced progress in ongoing testing of the Texatron Fusion Engine and released computational and experimental observations regarding the device's ability to achieve deuterium-helium-3 (D-³He) fusion conditions. The company stated that the test program is evaluating two Texatron configurations at approximately 500 kilowatts and 5 megawatts, with the core technical approach being proprietary pulsed magnetic compression. Texatron's R&D focus is on utilizing short-duration, high-intensity electromagnetic pulses to compress and heat plasma in extremely short timeframes, simultaneously creating the conditions required for fusion, including high temperature, high pressure, high density, and a certain confinement time. American Fusion Inc...

2026-08-28

China Unicom Yantai Branch and CNNC Shandong Build 5G Dedicated Network for Nuclear Power

Recently, the 5G dedicated network project jointly built by China Unicom Shandong Yantai Branch and CNNC Shandong was officially deployed and put into operation. Targeting the requirements of nuclear power scenarios for communication network security, reliability, and low latency, the project introduces technologies such as 5G dedicated networks, edge computing, artificial intelligence, and big data to promote the implementation of digital capabilities in nuclear power park construction and production support scenarios. CNNC Shandong, affiliated with China National Nuclear Corporation, undertakes tasks related to nuclear power unit power generation and grid connection. During project construction, China Unicom Shandong Yantai Branch, in collaboration with Huawei, adopted end-to-end domestically produced equipment, achieving independent controllability in both hardware and software, filling the gap in domestic 5G dedicated network construction in the nuclear power sector...

2026-08-28

Auburn University Installs 200 MeV Superconducting Proton Accelerator to Build First University-Led Space Electronics Radiation Testing Facility in the U.S.

Auburn University's Applied Research Institute has announced the installation of a new 200 MeV superconducting proton accelerator, advancing the construction of the nation's first university-led proton testing facility dedicated to space electronics qualification. The system, a RAD-FX-200 superconducting synchrocyclotron manufactured and installed by Mevion Medical Systems, serves as the core component of Auburn University's new radiation-hardening facility. According to reports, the facility will help address gaps in U.S. space qualification testing capacity, providing radiation testing services for microelectronics to government agencies, aerospace, and defense-related industries. Systems such as satellites, missile defense interceptors, spacecraft, and launch vehicles rely on microelectronics, which may be affected by proton radiation in orbital environments. A single radiation-induced failure can cause system loss, and such failures are typically difficult to repair once in orbit...

2026-08-28

Tianwan Nuclear Power Advances AI-Empowered Intelligent Upgrade of Maintenance Operations

In recent years, the maintenance domain of Tianwan Nuclear Power has relied on platforms such as Hezhi·Longling to address pain points in efficiency, quality, and management across the entire maintenance business chain, promoting the integration of artificial intelligence with nuclear power maintenance scenarios. To date, applications including personnel profiling, work order generation, compliance inspection, and auxiliary generation of electric actuator maintenance plans have achieved phased results, while projects such as the intelligent lifting command platform and marine tunnel cleaning robot are also under development. In personnel management, Tianwan Nuclear Power has established a seven-dimensional personnel capability scoring model, setting differentiated evaluation indicators for different maintenance positions to form position-based, data-driven personnel capability profiles. The system can integrate historical data, support multi-period data retention and trend comparison, and display personnel capability distribution through radar charts, bar charts, and trend graphs. After batch data import, the backend automatically completes normalization calculation, multi-dimensional scoring, and ranking, generating materials that include overall overview, position comparison, special analysis of responsibility performance, and improvement suggestions, providing a basis for training resource allocation, position matching, and differentiated management. To address the issues of time-consuming maintenance work order preparation and reliance on manual experience, the relevant team has developed an intelligent work order preparation assistant based on the Longhuitong intelligent agent platform, forming an application solution of "1 intelligent agent, 1 Skill capability, and 7 categories of professional knowledge bases." The system integrates the historical work order library, maintenance procedure library, equipment ledger library, risk and safety measure library, spare parts and tools library, personnel qualification library, and management procedure library. It can dynamically generate work package catalogs based on historical operation data and procedural requirements, automatically fill in work order business content, and output downloadable Excel work package drafts that can interface with the EPM system. In terms of maintenance quality control, Tianwan Nuclear Power has developed an AI intelligent agent for maintenance compliance inspection. Based on large language models and RAG retrieval-augmented generation technology, this agent can batch receive maintenance procedures, preventive maintenance program lists, and maintenance completion reports, automatically parse document content, and conduct semantic comparison. The system can check item by item the coverage of maintenance procedure implementation steps by the program, while also identifying issues in completion reports such as missing items, omissions, data anomalies, missing signatures, and logical contradictions. The structured inspection reports it outputs can be traced back to specific procedure steps or report entries, and provide rectification suggestions. Intelligent assistance is also being introduced into maintenance of key equipment. Given the large number of electric actuators in nuclear power plants, their complex models, and high maintenance requirements, Tianwan Nuclear Power has developed an auxiliary generation system for electric actuator maintenance plans. After engineering personnel input equipment information and fault descriptions, the system can call upon the electric actuator maintenance knowledge base, historical plans, and equipment data to automatically generate a draft maintenance plan, covering cause analysis, maintenance steps, technical key points, spare parts and tool preparation, and safety precautions. Verified by maintenance engineers, the relevant plans have basically met the conditions for on-site application and can save preparation time for emergency repairs. In addition to applications already deployed, Tianwan Nuclear Power is also advancing the construction of an intelligent lifting command platform. Given the high professionalism and numerous control links involved in crane lifting operations at nuclear power plants, the platform is planned to support both web and API interface usage, and to manage processes such as development, training, and online monitoring through AI models. According to the design, the platform can assist in lifting planning after inputting lifting object parameters and site conditions, recommending equipment and lifting point positions, and alerting to risks such as overload and collision. It can also generate lifting plans based on cargo information, provide handling steps, required materials, and contact person information for emergency situations, and be used for training question bank generation, operation record analysis, and rectification report output. Tianwan Nuclear Power stated that it will continue to expand AI application scenarios in the maintenance domain based on actual production needs, promote the digitalization and intelligent upgrade of maintenance operations, and strengthen network security management while advancing intelligent applications, providing support for the safe and stable operation of the units.

2026-08-28

Multiple African countries push nuclear power projects from planning to financing and construction

According to the nuclear energy special report in the recently released "Nuclear Industry Insights, Fourth Quarter 2026," more than a dozen African countries are attempting to advance nuclear power from policy concepts to financeable, constructible project stages. The report notes that rising demand for reliable, low-carbon baseload power is an important backdrop for nuclear energy's return to Africa's energy strategy discussions. Currently, two of Africa's more advanced nuclear projects have reached new milestones. The reactor pressure vessel for Unit 2 of Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant was installed on July 9, 2026. Previously, Unit 1 completed a similar installation in November 2025. El Dabaa is Egypt's first nuclear power plant, planned with 4 units and a total installed capacity of 4...

2026-08-28

Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant Releases Annual Environmental Report

Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant recently presented its annual environmental report to local residents in the city of Kurchatov. This year's presentation adopted a cycling event format for the first time, with participants including local residents, city Duma deputies, and relevant personnel, held in the area of Warm Coast Park. The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is part of Rosenergoatom, the power generation division operator of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom. The plant stated that the event route was specially designed to allow participants to learn about environmental protection data during the ride and directly observe the environmental conditions in the area surrounding the plant. Kursk...

2026-08-28

Russian Thorium-Based Radiopharmaceuticals Expected Within 1-2 Years

On August 27, Igor Korobko, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Department of Medical and Scientific Development in Healthcare of the Russian Ministry of Health, stated at the Technoprom Forum held in Novosibirsk that thorium-based drugs for precision radionuclide therapy of tumors are expected to become available in Russia within the next 1 to 2 years. Korobko noted that tumor treatment still requires support from more available isotopes. For example, when patients develop resistance to actinium-related therapies, clinical practice necessitates the use of different isotopes for treatment. He stated that Russia is advancing the development of related therapies domestically and expects to have thorium-based drugs within the next year or two. Currently, actinium-225 is considered one of the more promising radionuclides...

2026-08-28

Russia Plans to Complete Development of First Domestic Proton Beam Therapy Cyclotron by 2027

Russian scientists plan to complete the development of the country's first domestically produced proton beam therapy cyclotron by 2027, with commissioning to begin in the same year. This progress was announced by Sergey Gertzog, CEO of the Russian National Institute of Electronics and Atomic Energy (NIIEFA), at the recent Technoprom forum held in Novosibirsk. A proton beam therapy cyclotron is a type of charged particle accelerator that uses magnetic and electric fields to accelerate protons to high-energy states, reaching speeds of one-half to two-thirds the speed of light. The accelerated proton beam can target cancerous tumor areas with relative precision for oncological treatment. According to the schedule outlined in Gertzog's report...

2026-08-28

Russia Advances Radiopharmaceutical Development, Plans to Expand into Diagnostics and Treatment of Heart Disease and Other Conditions

Rosatom is developing radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease, and rheumatic conditions, further expanding the application of radionuclide technology in medicine. During the 13th International Technology Development Forum Technoprom-2026 held in Novosibirsk, Sergei Surov, Director of the Department of Radionuclide Products and Nuclear Medicine at Rosatom's Science Division, stated that the company is advancing the development of these drugs. Radiopharmaceuticals typically contain radioactive isotopes, i.e., radionuclides, and are currently used in medicine primarily for the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. Surov noted that the new development directions mean...

2026-08-28

First Seven Experimental Stations of Russia's SKIF Synchrotron Planned for Commissioning in Summer 2027

The first seven scientific experimental stations at the Siberian Circular Photon Source (SKIF) shared center, located near Novosibirsk, Russia, are planned to begin beam testing in August 2027. According to the center's relevant official, all experimental station equipment has been fully installed, and experts are currently conducting commissioning work. Construction of the SKIF synchrotron was completed in June 2026. Once the project becomes operational, it will utilize synchrotron radiation to help researchers observe the internal structure of matter, obtaining high-precision data on material structure and behavior, which can serve fundamental research and related industrial R&D. As planned, the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences will launch beam operation in the main storage ring in September...

2026-08-28