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Russia's SKIF Synchrotron Announces Criteria for Selecting Future Research Teams

On August 31, Andrei Bukhtiyarov, Deputy Director of the Shared Use Center of the Siberian Circular Photon Source (SKIF) synchrotron, stated that the scientific innovation of research proposals will be one of the key criteria when selecting research teams for future experiments at SKIF. According to reports, the selection process will also focus on the clarity of research ideas and the feasibility of experimental plans. Since some experiments may not be feasible under existing or planned experimental station conditions, applications will first undergo technical review to confirm whether the experiments can be conducted within the facility's capabilities. The SKIF Shared Use Center has established a Scientific Committee to review applications submitted by research teams. The Center plans to...

2026-09-01

Japan Requests Hitachiomiya City in Ibaraki Prefecture to Conduct Literature Survey for High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on August 31 requested Hitachiomiya City in Ibaraki Prefecture to conduct a literature survey, as the first step in siting a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plant operations. If Hitachiomiya City agrees, it will become the fifth municipality in Japan to accept such a literature survey, and the second time the Japanese government has proactively requested a survey from a local government, following Minamitorishima in Ogasawara Village, Tokyo. On the same day, Takashi Kume, Vice Commissioner of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, visited the Hitachiomiya City government and submitted the survey request to Mayor Sadanori Suzuki. Suzuki stated that he personally takes a positive stance toward accepting the literature survey, and noted that the city faces issues such as rapid population decline and a weak local economy, adding that if the area has favorable geological conditions, participating in the national geological disposal policy would be of "significant importance." He said he would make a decision after hearing the views of the city assembly, with the matter possibly being discussed at the regular assembly meeting as early as September.

2026-09-01

Korea's Eugene MS Wins KRW 11.4 Billion Order for ITER Core Components

Korea's Eugene MS announced on August 31 that it has signed a contract with the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) to produce and supply the second batch of vacuum vessel port sealing flanges for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The contract is valued at approximately KRW 11.4 billion, equivalent to about 44% of Eugene MS's 2025 revenue of KRW 25.9 billion. The contract period runs through December 2030. Under the arrangement, the sealing flanges will be delivered to the ITER Organization in three batches, with final inspection and related procedures scheduled for completion by June 30, 2031. The ITER vacuum vessel port sealing flanges consist of large fasteners and other components...

2026-08-31

Japan nuclear waste, geological disposal, literature survey, Hitachiomiya City

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is in the final stages of coordination regarding the site selection process for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste, with plans to request Hitachiomiya City in Ibaraki Prefecture to conduct a literature survey. The literature survey is the first phase of Japan's screening process for selecting a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste generated from nuclear power generation. It primarily relies on existing literature and materials to assess whether candidate areas have safety concerns such as volcanoes and active faults. Hitachiomiya City is located in the northwestern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, bordering Tochigi Prefecture, with a population of slightly over 35,000. The city does not face the sea, with the Kuji River and Naka River flowing through its territory. Forests account for approximately 60% of the city's total area, and agriculture and manufacturing are the main industries. In recent years, the city has been promoting tourism and emerging industries leveraging the natural environment, while also facing challenges such as population decline, aging, and fiscal pressure.

2026-08-31

France's ITER research program may start before 2034

Scientific preparation work for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is currently about 7 months ahead of the original schedule, and the research program may start earlier than the previously set target of 2034. Anatoly Krasilnikov, Director of the ITER Project Center at Rosatom, revealed this progress during the Technoprom-2026 forum. Krasilnikov stated that the project team no longer uses the milestone term "first plasma," but has instead adjusted the objective to "start of the research program," with a target date of 2034. Based on the current progress, the work is 7 months ahead of schedule, and there is a possibility of achieving the goal ahead of time...

2026-08-28

Japan Completes Cryogenic Test of World's Largest Superconducting Toroidal Field Coil for ITER

Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and Toshiba Corporation announced on August 25 that they had successfully completed the first cryogenic current test of the world's largest superconducting toroidal field coil at the construction site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The test was conducted at an operating temperature of approximately minus 269 degrees Celsius, marking a critical technical milestone before ITER's commissioning. The superconducting toroidal field coil, also known as the TF coil, installed in the test facility is a key component of ITER's superconducting magnet system, used to generate the strong magnetic field required to confine plasma. During the test, the team cooled the coil from room temperature to cryogenic conditions, confirmed its transition to the superconducting state, and for the first time achieved stable conduction of 10,000 amperes of current while the coil was in the superconducting state.

2026-08-25

ITER vacuum vessel assembly in France progresses steadily, with five European sectors at different critical stages

The vacuum vessel assembly work for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in southern France is progressing steadily. As the core component of the ITER tokamak device, the vacuum vessel will contain the plasma confined by superconducting magnets, serving as the critical space where fusion reactions occur. This stainless steel ring-shaped structure weighs approximately 5,200 tonnes in total, measures 19.4 meters in diameter, and consists of nine sectors, five of which are manufactured by Europe. The European Fusion for Energy organization (F4E), together with the AMW consortium comprising Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse Electric Italy, and Walter Tosto Company, is responsible for the related manufacturing work.

2026-08-21

General Fusion Announces Business Update: LM26 Plasma Heated to Approximately 0.72 keV

General Fusion released a business update on August 18, disclosing its latest progress in fusion energy technology validation, commercial partnerships, and financing arrangements. The company went public on Nasdaq in July 2026 under the ticker symbol GFUZ. General Fusion stated that it entered the public market with approximately $150 million in cash following the completion of its business combination with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III. The funds include net transaction proceeds from private placement and trust capital, and are planned to support the Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) project and drive the completion of multiple...

2026-08-19

Investigation into Automatic Shutdown of Unit 3 at Japan's Ohi Nuclear Power Plant: Damage Found in Exciter Rotating Rectifier

Kansai Electric Power reported on August 19 that Unit 3 of the Ohi Nuclear Power Plant experienced an automatic generator trip triggered by a generator loss-of-field alarm at 23:56 on August 8, followed by an automatic reactor shutdown. At the time of the event, the unit was operating stably at rated thermal power. The company stated that the event caused no radiological impact on the environment. The loss-of-field alarm is used to indicate an abnormal state in the magnetic field generated inside the generator. Following the incident, Kansai Electric conducted on-site inspections of equipment related to generator magnetic field establishment, including the generator, exciter, and automatic voltage regulator (AVR). Among these, the exciter is used to establish the magnetic field for the generator...

2026-08-19

Chinese Team Achieves Full Technical Chain Integration in Wall Treatment for the World's Largest "Artificial Sun"

Recently, the team from the Southwestern Institute of Physics under the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has made significant progress in the wall treatment technology of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER): not only successfully passing the Delta Final Design Review (Delta FDR) for the supplementary design of the Glow Discharge Cleaning (GDC) system permanent electrode project, but also, leading and jointly with CNI23, winning the bid and signing contracts in France for the design and manufacture of the boronization system and the X-ray Crystal Spectrometer (XRCS) gas supply system. This marks a new expansion of the Chinese team's core technology in ITER wall treatment, extending the scope from the original glow discharge cleaning to boronization wall treatment, achieving a full technical chain from impurity removal to surface pre-treatment...

2026-08-15

ITER Tokamak Advances Assembly in France, Fusion Experiment Targets 150 Million Degree Celsius Plasma

The ITER tokamak being assembled in southern France is one of the most closely watched large-scale experimental devices in global nuclear fusion research. The machine weighs approximately 23,000 tonnes in total and adopts a donut-shaped toroidal structure, using strong magnetic fields to confine high-temperature plasma, with the goal of replicating on Earth the conditions for fusion reactions that occur inside stars. Its plasma volume is approximately 830 cubic meters, far exceeding previous tokamak devices, and it is therefore expected to validate the key physics and engineering technologies required for future commercial fusion reactors. ITER adopts the toroidal tokamak structure because charged particles can move along toroidal paths under strong magnetic fields, thereby minimizing direct contact with the device's inner walls...

2026-08-14

Fusion for Energy completes full delivery of ITER cryopump distribution system

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will operate in an ultra-high vacuum environment. To prevent contamination inside the device, a set of cryopumps supplied by Europe will extract gas particles and alternate operation before and after plasma discharges, maintaining the vacuum vessel pressure at approximately one millionth of Earth's atmospheric pressure. The core of cryopump operation lies in the extremely low-temperature environment. Its internal panels will be cooled to 4 K, approximately minus 269 degrees Celsius, close to absolute zero, to capture gas particles; they are then warmed to release and expel the particles. To precisely control this process, Europe is also supplying ITER with the Front-End Cryopump Distribution System (FECDS), which delivers helium at specific doses and temperatures to the cryopumps...

2026-08-12

Kazakhstan's National Nuclear Center Advances Material Testing Research for Future Reactors

On August 11, the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan presented its progress in research on structural materials for advanced reactors. Yerzhan Ernatuly Sapataev, head of the Radiation Materials Science Laboratory at the center's Institute of Atomic Energy, stated that the development of next-generation reactors and fusion technologies has imposed higher requirements on structural materials in terms of high-temperature resistance, radiation tolerance, and corrosion resistance, and that material reliability will directly determine the safety and service life of future nuclear energy systems. Materials inside future reactors typically need to...

2026-08-12

Korea Fusion Energy Institute Launches Design and Manufacturing of ITER Tritium Storage and Supply Vessels

The Korea Fusion Energy Institute (KFE) announced on August 12 at its headquarters in Daejeon that it has signed a contract with a consortium comprising Iljin Power and Aizen Core to undertake the design and manufacturing of the tritium storage and supply vessels for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). ITER is currently the world's largest fusion experimental device, being jointly constructed by seven parties—Korea, the United States, the European Union, Japan, China, Russia, and India—in Cadarache, southern France. Under the procurement agreement signed between KFE and the ITER Organization in March 2025, Korea...

2026-08-12

MIT Research Proposes Framework for Assessing Economic Viability of Fusion Power Plants

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have recently proposed an assessment framework aimed at addressing the core question that fusion energy must confront in transitioning from scientific feasibility to commercial profitability: how can a fusion power plant achieve economic viability in the energy market? The related open-access paper, titled "Criteria for the Economic Viability of Fusion Power Plants," has been published online in the Journal of Fusion Energy. The paper is authored by Dennis Whyte, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, and Andrew W. Lo, Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management, with contributions from researchers at Rutherford Energy Ventures and the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

2026-08-10