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CERN Injector Complex Enters Final Beam Run Phase Before LS3

The CERN accelerator complex is entering its final operational phase before the third Long Shutdown (LS3). With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) having already entered LS3, the injector complex and associated facilities will continue high-intensity beam operations until 6:00 a.m. on Monday, August 31, after which the operations team will hand over control to the LS3 coordination team, marking the formal transition of the entire accelerator complex into the shutdown maintenance phase. August 19, 2026, page one of the SPS. The third run of the injector complex is drawing to a close. (Image: CERN) During the final week-plus of operations, CERN will continue delivering proton and ion beams to physics experiments.

2026-08-21

Russia Plans to Build New Tokamak Device Using Reactor Technologies

Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, recently stated at a nuclear energy development conference that Rosatom is collaborating with the Kurchatov National Research Centre to build a new tokamak device using reactor technologies. Likhachev said that fusion energy technology is one of the key directions for Russia's nuclear energy development. Currently, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China are all advancing related projects, and technological competition in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion continues to intensify. Russia hopes to use this project to maintain its technological leadership in this knowledge-intensive nuclear energy sector.

2026-08-21

Large Hadron Collider experiments reveal neon nucleus may be bowling-pin shaped

A recent experimental result from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN suggests that the internal structure of the neon-20 nucleus may not be approximately spherical as commonly depicted in traditional textbooks, but rather closer to a "bowling pin" shape. This finding provides new experimental clues for studying deformation of light atomic nuclei and collective behavior in high-energy nuclear collisions. Atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, determining the elemental identity of atoms and carrying most of their mass. Although nuclei are often simplistically depicted as spherical, nuclear physics research has shown that some nuclei exhibit pronounced non-spherical deformation, such as the pear-shaped nuclei mentioned in previous studies. Accurately understanding these shapes helps physicists...

2026-08-21

US FRIB Experiment Reveals Magnetic Origin of Anomalous Low-Energy Gamma-Ray Enhancement

According to an August 21 announcement from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a new study led by the U.S. Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) with participation from researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other institutions has provided a new experimental explanation for the long-standing low-energy enhancement phenomenon in nuclear physics. The findings were published in the journal Nature. An experiment at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has yielded new results, answering a fundamental question about nuclear structure. (Image: FRIB) Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. When an excited nucleus loses energy during radioactive decay and transitions to a lower, more stable energy level, it emits gamma rays. Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered that certain nuclei emit anomalously large numbers of low-energy gamma rays, but this phenomenon does not occur in all nuclei, and its occurrence conditions have been difficult to predict reliably in theory.

2026-08-21

U.S. University Develops Laser De-icing Technology for Nuclear Power Plant Safety System Maintenance

An engineering team at the University of South Florida has developed a customized laser de-icing technology to address the issue of ice basket adhesion in the maintenance of critical safety systems at nuclear power plants. After four years of research, design, and testing, the technology has completed field testing at two nuclear power plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Developed jointly by Ahmed Vaselbehagh, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of South Florida, and postdoctoral researcher Ty Hagan, the technology is primarily aimed at ice condenser systems used in certain nuclear power plants in the United States, Japan, and Finland...

2026-08-21

U.S. SYNOPTICS Produces Large-Size Yb:YLF Crystal for Inertial Confinement Fusion Laser Systems

On August 19, SYNOPTICS, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, announced that it had successfully grown and harvested a large-size ytterbium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride crystal, namely a Yb:YLF crystal ingot. The crystal measures approximately 127 millimeters at its widest point, with a diameter three times the industry standard. SYNOPTICS stated that as laser engineering continues to expand toward higher efficiency and higher power, the demand for gain media with larger apertures and larger dimensions continues to grow. The Yb:YLF crystal produced this time is approximately 20% larger than the largest crystal the company had previously grown, and approximately 50% larger than the company's conventional product size. Kevin Stevens, General Manager of SYNOPTICS, stated that yttrium lithium fluoride is a commonly used host material for laser-active rare-earth ions, and scaling up the growth of YLF crystals will help laser engineers continue to raise the upper limit of achievable laser output power. He said that such materials are of significant importance for applications including directed energy, inertial confinement fusion, and industrial laser systems. Stevens also stated that Yb:YLF crystals can be used in applications requiring reduced thermal lensing effects and enhanced pulsed energy storage capability, while also leveraging their natural birefringent host to achieve polarization characteristics. According to information recently released by SYNOPTICS, some of the crystals will be used in the high-energy laser system at the German Electron Synchrotron Research Center (DESY) to support its inertial confinement fusion energy research. The company is currently studying the feasibility of further scaling up the size of Yb:YLF crystals, and plans to extend the relevant processes to other rare-earth-ion-doped YLF crystals, including holmium, thulium, and neodymium doping systems.

2026-08-21

South Korea Amends Nuclear Safety Act to Clarify Safety Responsibilities of Nuclear Facility Operators

The National Assembly of South Korea passed a partial amendment to the Nuclear Safety Act at its 438th special session on August 20, marking the first time that nuclear-related business operators' primary responsibility for nuclear facility safety has been explicitly established at the legal level. This move signifies that South Korea's nuclear safety management system will further transition from a licensing and regulation-centered approach to a responsibility system aligned with the safety principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The amendment was proposed by South Korean lawmaker Oh Se-hee. Prior to the revision, South Korea's Nuclear Safety Act primarily established safety standards and regulatory procedures around reactor construction and operating licenses, nuclear material use, and radioactive waste management facility operations, but lacked...

2026-08-21

Organizational Diagnostic Assessment Completed at Russia's Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant

Russia's Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant has recently completed an organizational diagnostic assessment under a support mission of the WANO Moscow Centre. The assessment was carried out by a team of eight experts from the WANO Moscow Centre, Rosenergoatom, Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant, and Atomflot, among other organizations. Organizational diagnostics is a type of assessment that WANO has been conducting in recent years, focusing not on a single topic but on a comprehensive review of the plant from the organizational and operational perspective. The assessment covered areas including employee...

2026-08-21

22 Atmospheric Radiation Automatic Monitoring Stations in Shaanxi Operate Stably, with National-Controlled Stations Achieving 99.9% Data Acquisition Rate

In recent years, Shaanxi Province has continuously strengthened the construction of its radiation environmental monitoring network. The 22 atmospheric radiation automatic monitoring stations across the province, including 12 national-controlled stations and 10 provincial-controlled stations, have maintained stable operation. These stations utilize high-pressure ionization chambers, ultra-high-flow aerosol samplers, gamma spectrometers, and other equipment to conduct continuous monitoring of atmospheric instantaneous gamma dose rates, aerosol samples, and gamma radionuclides. Relevant data are transmitted in real time to the system platform of the Shaanxi Provincial Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision Station. According to reports, Shaanxi has gradually established an automatic station operation and maintenance management system featuring strong organization, closed-loop responsibility, funding guarantees, standardized procedures, and digital-intelligent empowerment. In 2023, the 5-minute data acquisition rate of Shaanxi's 12 national-controlled stations reached 99.9%, ranking third nationwide.

2026-08-21

Norroy Bioscience's 68Ga-NYM096 Receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track Designations

China-based Norroy Bioscience announced on August 19 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designations to its radiopharmaceutical imaging agent 68Ga-NYM096. The agent is a PET imaging tracer targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), intended for imaging clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). According to the company, 68Ga-NYM096 is being developed as a non-invasive PET imaging tool to characterize renal masses detected by CT or MRI and to help distinguish clear cell renal cell carcinoma from other non-ccRCC renal lesions. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the most common subtype of renal cell carcinoma...

2026-08-21

US Inertia Fusion Fuel Preparation Time Significantly Reduced

US fusion startup Inertia Enterprises said it has made progress in inertial fusion energy fuel preparation in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), reducing the time required for the critical step of forming a cryogenic deuterium-tritium fuel layer from potentially several days in the past to tens of minutes. The company said this achievement completes a key task in the first phase of its commercial fusion power plant development goals. The fundamental approach of inertial fusion energy involves using high-energy lasers to compress and heat small targets containing deuterium-tritium fuel, bringing the fuel to ignition conditions and releasing energy. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has already...

2026-08-21

Two US Companies Partner to Bring AI to Nuclear Power Plant Simulation Training

Nuclearn, a US artificial intelligence solutions company, and GSE Solutions, a supplier of high-fidelity simulation and operator training systems for nuclear power plants, announced a strategic partnership on August 20. The two companies will combine Nuclearn's AI capabilities with GSE Solutions' nuclear power plant simulator technology for applications such as plant simulation, operator training, and engineering analysis. According to information released by the two companies, the collaboration will proceed along two tracks. GSE Solutions plans to integrate Nuclearn's AI features into its simulator products, providing training instructors with tools such as natural language scenario development, automatic performance summaries after training scenarios, adaptive quiz and assessment generation, and plant-specific physics explanations during training...

2026-08-21

U.S. Apollo Atomics Secures $31 Million in Funding to Advance Commercialization of Compact Pressurized Water Reactor

U.S.-based Apollo Atomics recently announced the completion of a $31 million seed funding round to advance the commercialization of its next-generation compact pressurized water reactor. Incubated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and backed by Y Combinator, the company plans to shift the reactor from the traditional one-off large-scale construction model to a factory-manufactured, scalable product. The round was led by FCVC, with participation from Y Combinator, Telesoft Partners, Alumni Ventures, Robinhood Ventures, Nucleation Capital, Pelion VC, and Duke Capital Partners. The company stated that the proceeds will be used to...

2026-08-21

South Korea Approves License Amendment for Gyeongju Low- and Intermediate-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of South Korea announced on August 21 that it held its 12th meeting of 2026 in written form on August 20, reviewing and approving the license amendment for the construction and operation of the near-surface disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste operated by the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD). The near-surface disposal facility is located in Munmu-daewang-myeon, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is the second-phase project of the Gyeongju low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Near-surface disposal refers to the disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste in near-surface facilities, rather than in deep underground caverns. The facility completed its pre-operational inspection in March this year. This license amendment is primarily intended to update the safety analysis report...

2026-08-21

US Standard Nuclear and Radiant Sign TRISO Fuel Supply Agreement

Standard Nuclear announced on August 20 that it has signed a binding TRISO nuclear fuel supply agreement with Radiant Industries, Inc. of the United States. Under the agreement, Radiant will receive a multi-ton supply of TRISO fuel, with deliveries continuing through 2031, to support its microreactor deployment plans. Standard Nuclear, headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, states that it is currently the only company in the United States with an industrial-scale TRISO fuel manufacturing facility. The agreement is aimed at Radiant's Kaleidos microreactor currently under development. The reactor has a power output of 1 megawatt and is designed to be transportable...

2026-08-21