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Chinese Research Team Develops Novel Adsorbent Material for Uranium Extraction from Seawater

On September 2, it was learned from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "QIBEBT") that the research team has recently made a series of advances in the field of uranium extraction materials from seawater. The team introduced discrete molecular topological design into porous organic cage systems for the first time, synthesizing the phosphate-functionalized material PhosCage, and further compounded it with aramid nanofibers to prepare composite aerogel microspheres AC-POC possessing high selectivity, high capacity, and anti-biofouling capability. The relevant results were published in the international academic journals Journal of Hazardous Materials and Separation and Purification Technology. The deep ocean harbors a vast uranium reservoir, but how to economically and efficiently extract uranium from it remains...

2026-09-03

DOE Officials Visit Fort St. Vrain Spent Fuel Storage Facility in Colorado

Tim Walsh, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM), recently visited the Fort St. Vrain spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Platteville in northern Colorado. The facility is managed by the DOE's Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) and its contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC). During the visit, Walsh inspected the storage facility and multiple supporting buildings to learn about the operational mission and historical background of the Fort St. Vrain facility. The facility currently stores spent nuclear fuel from the former Fort St. Vrain power station, which operated using gas-cooled reactor technology and was shut down in 1979...

2026-09-02

LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment Reports Anomalous Event in Dark Matter Search, More Data Needed for Verification

On September 1, the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter direct detection experiment released a new analysis result: researchers recorded a single-particle interaction event in the data whose characteristics could be interpreted as a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) signal, but the current evidence is insufficient to confirm a dark matter discovery. The LUX-ZEPLIN main detector is shown in a surface laboratory before being installed underground. (Matthew Kapust/Sanford Underground Research Facility) The LZ experiment involves approximately 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions, with the detector located nearly one mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA, and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National...

2026-09-02

Unit 4 of Japan's Genkai Nuclear Power Plant Receives 72 New Fuel Assemblies

Kyushu Electric Power Co. announced on September 1, 2026, that Unit 4 of the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant has completed the receipt of a batch of new fuel. The new fuel was processed and shipped by Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd., with transportation carried out from August 27 to September 1, 2026. According to Kyushu Electric Power, the new fuel delivered to Unit 4 of the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant consists of 72 fuel assemblies, transported in 36 shipping containers via both land and sea routes. Two control rod assemblies were also transported along with this batch of fuel. Fuel used in nuclear power plants...

2026-09-02

U.S. to Conduct Underwater Neutrino Detection Tests in Lake Superior and Vermilion Lake

From October 2026 to approximately April 2027, a team of researchers from U.S. universities and government agencies will conduct underwater neutrino tests in Lake Superior and Vermilion Lake. The project, named the Experimental Neutrino Detector (END), aims to validate a baseline detection system in natural water bodies to identify the NuMI neutrino beam produced by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and distinguish it from cosmic-ray backgrounds and other noise in shallow-water environments. END will place underwater neutrino detectors on the lakebed of Lake Superior where the Fermilab neutrino beamline passes through—near Two Harbors, Minnesota. The beamline will continue toward...

2026-09-02

Japan Approves Adjusted Tsunami Height Assessment for Genkai Nuclear Power Plant

At its regular meeting held on September 2, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) formally approved Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s assessment of the maximum potential tsunami height at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant site in Saga Prefecture. Under this adjustment, the maximum tsunami height on the northwest side of the Genkai plant site has been raised to 14 meters; previously, the maximum tsunami height on the north side of the site was 6 meters. The NRA determined that the ground surface on the northwest side of the Genkai plant site is covered by bedrock with an elevation of 16 meters, and therefore no additional disaster prevention measures are required even under the new tsunami height assessment. In July, the NRA had already approved the review report draft submitted by Kyushu Electric Power...

2026-09-02

Sejong City Requests National Support for Proton Cancer Therapy Center Budget

On September 2, 2026, the Democratic Party of Korea and Sejong City held their first budget policy consultation meeting at the Sejong City Government to discuss key agenda items and budget support for the city. At the meeting, Sejong City Mayor Cho Sang-ho requested the Democratic Party's attention to several issues, including securing national funding for the construction of a cancer proton therapy center, improving the general grant system for Sejong City, and promoting the passage of the Special Act on the Administrative Capital within the year. After the closed-door consultation, a relevant spokesperson stated in a briefing that the meeting proposed allocating 300 million KRW each in the next year's national budget for a feasibility study on the construction of the cancer proton therapy center and for the formulation of the basic plan for the National Central Bioresource Center.

2026-09-02

Hiconics Signs Contract for Main Helium Circulator Variable Frequency Drive Project at Xuwei Nuclear Heating and Power Generation Plant

Recently, Hiconics signed a contract for the main helium circulator variable frequency drive (VFD) project for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) at the Jiangsu Xuwei Nuclear Heating and Power Plant, and will supply multiple sets of HC2000W four-quadrant water-cooled high-voltage VFDs for the project. This marks the second application of Hiconics' VFD technology in drive scenarios for key equipment related to Generation IV nuclear power, following the HTGR demonstration project at Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant. The Jiangsu Xuwei Nuclear Heating and Power Generation Project is a comprehensive nuclear energy utilization project that adopts a coordinated operation model of "nuclear reactor – turbine generator unit – heating system," focusing primarily on industrial heating while also supplying electricity. Phase I of the project plans to construct two Hualong One pressurized water reactors and one HTR-PM600S high-temperature gas-cooled reactor...

2026-09-02

Russian Academy of Sciences Reveals Mechanism of Microbial Bioremediation Reducing Actinide Content in Groundwater

September 1, 2026 news: Researchers from the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other institutions, studied the biogeochemical mechanisms affecting the distribution of actinides such as uranium, plutonium, and neptunium during bioremediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater. Radionuclide-contaminated groundwater is a significant environmental issue in areas associated with nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Long-lived actinides such as uranium, plutonium, and neptunium, once released into the environment, can migrate over considerable distances with groundwater. Bioremediation, which alters geochemical conditions by stimulating natural microbial processes in the subsurface environment, is considered a potential approach for remediating contaminated zones...

2026-09-02

CERN Finds Statistical Hints of Higgs Boson Pair Production

Physics teams at CERN have recently found statistical hints of Higgs boson pair production in data analysis from the Large Hadron Collider. Researchers analyzed millions of collision results over eight years at the collider, with the findings presented at the ICHEP conference and published as two preprints. The figure shows schematic diagrams of events involving the production of two Higgs bosons as observed by ATLAS (left) and CMS (right) CERN The Higgs boson was discovered in 2012, and since then physicists have continuously measured its interactions with other elementary particles to test the Standard Model's explanation of the origin of mass. However, the self-interaction of the Higgs boson has not yet been directly observed.

2026-09-02

AI-Enhanced MRI System Deployed at Utah Medical Center for Cardiac and Cancer Imaging

Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, has begun using a new magnetic resonance (MR) system for imaging cardiac and cancer patients. The facility stated that the GE HealthCare SIGNA Sprint Elite MR system was placed into service earlier this year, making it the first of its kind in Utah and the second in the United States. According to the hospital, the system integrates artificial intelligence software designed to reduce image noise and enhance scan clarity. The facility believes that clearer images will help clinicians assess cardiac tissue and cancer-related conditions, while also potentially reducing the time patients spend undergoing MR exams. Cardiac imaging is one of the system's key application areas.

2026-09-02

XENONnT Dark Matter Detector Captures Faintest Solar Neutrino Signal Ever Observed

September 1 news - The XENONnT dark matter detection experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy has achieved new progress. The XENON collaboration research team announced that the detector has captured low-energy solar neutrino collision signals never observed before, lowering the neutrino detection energy threshold to approximately 17 kiloelectron-volts (keV). The research team's analysis indicates that the probability of the signal being merely a statistical fluctuation is less than one in a million. Neutrinos are elementary particles with no electric charge and extremely small mass, which can be produced in processes such as nuclear fusion reactions in the solar core, supernova explosions, and nuclear fission in reactors. Due to the extremely weak interaction between neutrinos and matter, vast numbers of neutrinos can pass through the Earth, which also makes detection...

2026-09-02

Prostate cancer becomes most common cancer among men in South Korea, Lu-177 PSMA therapy reaches cumulative 200 procedures

Prostate cancer incidence in South Korea has continued to rise, making it the most common cancer among men in the country. Meanwhile, a novel nuclear medicine treatment for metastatic prostate cancer—Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radioligand therapy—is accumulating more clinical cases. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Uro-Oncology Center stated on September 1 that since performing South Korea's first Lu-177 PSMA treatment on November 2, 2020, the center had administered a cumulative total of 200 such treatments to 84 patients with metastatic prostate cancer as of the 21st of last month. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer refers to a state in which prostate cancer continues to progress despite androgen suppression therapy. As the disease advances, patients have fewer treatment options and a worse prognosis, making it essential to select appropriate treatment modalities and sequencing based on prior treatment history and physical condition.

2026-09-02

Carbon Nanotubes Can "Remember" Their Initial Structure, Isotope Labeling Reveals Dynamic Growth Process

A study released on September 1 shows that carbon nanotubes can maintain their initial atomic structure in dynamically changing growth environments. The research team used digital isotope labeling technology to encode the elongation process of individual carbon nanotubes as sequences of different carbon isotope compositions, and read their growth history through Raman spectroscopy, thereby tracking the structural stability of nanotubes under conditions of temperature variation and catalyst evolution. The properties of carbon nanotubes are highly dependent on their atomic arrangement. The same material may exhibit metallic or semiconducting characteristics due to structural differences, so structural uniformity has always been a key issue for the large-scale application of carbon nanotubes. In floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition and other industrial production routes, catalyst particles experience constantly changing temperatures and gas compositions within the reactor and may undergo irreversible enlargement. Previously, direct evidence was lacking on whether individual carbon nanotubes could maintain their initial structure under such complex conditions.

2026-09-02

Japanese Team Develops High-Temperature, High-Pressure Isotope Ratio Analysis Method for Tracing Halogenated Pollutants

Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan have collaboratively developed a customized high-temperature, high-pressure combustion interface for liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LC-IRMS), enabling carbon stable isotope ratio (δ¹³C) analysis of various halogenated organic compounds. The research findings were published online on August 2, 2026, and will appear in Volume 1421 of Analytica Chimica Acta, scheduled for release on November 1, 2026. Source of the new high-temperature, high-pressure LC-IRMS system: Professor Hiroto Kawashima, SIT, Japan. Halogenated organic compounds are widely present in disinfection byproducts, pesticides, refrigerants, and industrial chemicals, some of which exhibit persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Traditional environmental monitoring primarily relies on concentration measurements, which makes it difficult to directly provide information on pollutant sources and environmental transformation processes. δ¹³C analysis can offer clues for studying chemical sources, production processes, and environmental fate, but organic pollutants containing strong carbon—chlorine or carbon—fluorine bonds are difficult to fully oxidize under conventional LC-IRMS combustion conditions, limiting the application of this technique.

2026-09-02