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Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 scheduled inspection completion date moved up to September 16

Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. announced on August 5 that the schedule for the 18th periodic utility inspection of Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 has been revised, with the inspection completion date moved up from September 17, 2026 to September 16, and the power generation resumption date moved up from August 19 to August 18. Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 is a boiling water reactor unit with a rated electrical output of 820 MW. The unit was shut down on February 9, 2026 and entered its 18th periodic utility inspection. The reason for this adjustment is that, during the reactor start-up preparation work, the procurement of the nitrogen gas source used to fill the reactor containment vessel was completed earlier than planned, allowing the related work to be advanced accordingly...

2026-08-05

Brazilian nuclear industry company starts fuel production for Angra 2's 22nd refueling

Brazilian Nuclear Industries (INB) has started production of nuclear fuel required for the 22nd refueling of Unit 2 at the Angra Nuclear Power Plant (Angra 2). On July 28, INB completed the assembly of the first fuel assembly at the Nuclear Fuel Factory (FCN) in Resende, Rio de Janeiro State; on July 30, the fuel assembly passed all established quality inspections in the production process and was certified. According to the plan, INB will manufacture a total of 52 fuel assemblies for this refueling. The assembly work is expected to be completed in December 2026 and delivered to Eletronuclear in March 2027. Recently, INB has made progress in several key stages of the nuclear fuel manufacturing chain. On July 28, approximately 240 tons of enriched...

2026-08-05

US Oak Ridge National Laboratory Advances New Process to Boost Californium-252 Production

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), under the US Department of Energy, is advancing a new Californium-252 (Cf-252) separation process to address growing market demand. The laboratory stated that this process, developed over nearly a decade of research, is expected to shorten the Cf-252 production cycle by about one week, significantly improving processing efficiency without altering product quality. Californium-252 is a neutron-emitting radioisotope used in nuclear reactor startup, fuel testing for new reactors, as well as in oil well logging, coal analysis, port security, fuel rod scanners, and instrument calibration. ORNL noted that it is the only producer of Cf-252 in the Western world...

2026-08-05

TRISO-X Expands Oak Ridge Nuclear Fuel Campus with Approximately 70 Additional Acres

TRISO-X, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Energy, Inc., announced on August 4 that it has acquired approximately 70 acres of land near its commercial nuclear fuel campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to support the continued construction and long-term expansion of its fuel manufacturing facility. Following the acquisition, TRISO-X's total campus footprint in the area has expanded to approximately 180 acres. The land acquisition was announced at a meeting of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board. The newly acquired land comprises two separate parcels and will provide additional space for utility access, equipment staging, fuel storage, and future...

2026-08-05

Fuel assembly replacement launched at Unit 2 of Beznau Nuclear Power Plant

Swiss energy company Axpo launched fuel assembly replacement work at Unit 2 of the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant (KKB) on August 4, with the related outage expected to last approximately two weeks. As planned, plant technicians will replace 20 of the 121 fuel assemblies in the reactor core during the outage, while also carrying out routine inspections and system tests. More than 560 employees of the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant will be involved in the related work, supported by approximately 150 external experts on site. The fuel assembly replacement and related operations are supervised by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). Previously, the relevant units at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant had been shut down due to elevated water temperatures in the Aare River. According to available information,...

2026-08-05

Japan Nuclear Security System Introduces SmartHR to Advance Centralized HR Data Management

On August 5, SmartHR Inc. announced that Japan Nuclear Security System Co., Ltd. has adopted its back-office system SmartHR for personnel and organizational management, to promote paperless HR operations and centralized employee information management. Japan Nuclear Security System, headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, provides comprehensive security services for nuclear-related facilities, particularly nuclear power plants, through a combination of mechanical security and personnel security. One of the direct reasons for introducing the new system is that the company's existing HR system has ceased support, necessitating the selection of a replacement. Previously, ...

2026-08-05

KHNP and Aboitiz Power Sign MOU on Nuclear Power Cooperation

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced on August 5 that it recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on nuclear power business cooperation with Aboitiz Power Corporation, a major private energy company in the Philippines, at its headquarters in Gyeongju, Korea. The two parties will strengthen cooperation around the development of nuclear power projects in the Philippines, advancing the exchange of nuclear technology information and preliminary studies for new nuclear power plant construction. At the signing ceremony, Choi Il-kyung, Head of Business Operations at KHNP, and Carlos Ramon Aboitiz, Head of Corporate Support at Aboitiz Power, signed the document on behalf of their respective companies. Also present at the ceremony were Danel Aboitiz, President of Aboitiz Power, and Philippine Energy Secretary Sharon...

2026-08-05

South Korea Launches Emergency Safety Inspection of Nuclear Facilities Amid Heatwave

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of South Korea announced on August 5 that, due to the ongoing nationwide heatwave, it will conduct an emergency inspection of the safety status and emergency response preparedness of nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants. The inspection was conducted via video conference, with participation from personnel of the NSSC's six regional offices, safety regulatory agencies, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). The inspection focused on the potential impact of rising seawater temperatures used for cooling nuclear power plants. The NSSC verified the performance of relevant measuring instruments and heat exchangers, and examined KHNP's on-site emergency response status and handling procedures. The design temperature limits for seawater intake at South Korea's nuclear power plants range from 31 to 36.1 degrees Celsius. Due to climate change, the risk of high seawater temperatures is gradually emerging. In 2024, seawater temperatures in the waters off all South Korean nuclear power plants, except for the area around Shin-Hanul Units 1 and 2, reached record highs.

2026-08-05

Colorado State University produces first ultracold neutral plasma with electron temperature below 1 kelvin

Researchers at Colorado State University have, for the first time, produced an ultracold neutral plasma by combining laser cooling techniques with strong magnetic fields. Measurements show that the electron temperature in this plasma is less than 1 kelvin above absolute zero, making it one of the lowest electron temperatures ever measured in a plasma. The research was published in Physics of Plasmas. The new method proposed in the paper helps test plasma theories under more controllable experimental conditions and improve computational models of plasma behavior in extreme environments. The researchers believe this achievement could contribute to future fusion energy...

2026-08-05

UC Santa Barbara and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Collaborate to Accelerate Fusion Plasma Simulations with AI

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are launching a new collaboration to bring artificial intelligence into extreme plasma simulations, accelerating critical computations in nuclear fusion and high-energy-density physics research. Neel Sankaran (left), a doctoral student of UCSB Professor Haewon Jeong, poses with LLNL scientist Min Sang Cho (right). The project is led by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Barbara...

2026-08-05

Zhang Yiming, Chairman of HTA: Tackling the "Last Mile" of Nuclear Pharmacy Network Delivery to Bring Domestic Radiopharmaceuticals to Patients in Western and County-Level Regions

On July 28, the 2026 Radiopharmaceutical Innovation and Development Conference was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Zhang Yiming, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of HTA, told reporters that the company is restructuring its short half-life radiopharmaceutical delivery system through "regional layout + standardized logistics + grassroots empowerment," striving to ensure that cancer patients in western and county-level regions can access domestically produced radiopharmaceuticals within the drug's effective half-life window. Currently, multi-dimensional policy dividends are being continuously released, and China's radiopharmaceutical industry is entering a critical window of opportunity. Alpha nuclide drugs represent the future direction of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Zhang Yiming introduced that HTA has already made early arrangements for drug research in this field, jointly conducting research on actinium-225 labeled...

2026-08-05

Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress visit Hefei to inspect fusion device and innovation industry development

On August 4, a delegation of Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress conducted an inspection and research visit in Hefei, Anhui Province. The itinerary included visits to the Hefei Innovation Museum, the Memorial Hall of the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign, and the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to learn about the local layout of scientific and technological innovation, the construction of major scientific facilities, and the development of the nuclear fusion industry. At the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the delegation visited the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) nuclear fusion device. Often referred to as the "artificial sun," this device serves as an important scientific research platform for Hefei in advancing the cluster development of major scientific facilities and the growth of the nuclear fusion-related industry. The delegation also received briefings on the construction of the Hefei Future Science City and the layout of related industries. Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress...

2026-08-05

University of Science and Technology of China Plans to Establish a Micro-Major in "Magnetic Confinement Controlled Nuclear Fusion"

On the afternoon of July 28, the expert review meeting for the establishment of the micro-major in Magnetic Confinement Controlled Nuclear Fusion at the University of Science and Technology of China was held at the university's Lishi College. Seven experts from Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Hefei University of Technology, Anhui University, and fusion energy enterprises formed the review committee to deliberate on the micro-major construction plan. Following inquiries and discussions, the expert group unanimously agreed to establish the micro-major. The meeting was hosted by Lishi College of USTC. Zhu Dongjie, Executive Vice Dean of Lishi College, attended the meeting, while Professor Xie Jinlin, Vice Dean of the School of Nuclear Science and Technology, and Associate Professor Liu Adi, Teaching Director of the Department of Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering, participated in the presentation and defense. ...

2026-08-05

Putin Signs Decree Posthumously Awarding "Order of Courage" to Chief Engineer of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a decree posthumously awarding the Order of Courage to Alexander Yakovlev, chief engineer of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, who was killed in an attack, in recognition of his bravery demonstrated in the line of duty. According to previously released information, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on July 15 stating that a service vehicle of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was attacked by a drone that day, and Yakovlev was killed in the attack. The statement said the attack posed a threat to the safe operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the larger nuclear power facilities in Europe, and its operational safety has long drawn external attention...

2026-08-05

Hongyanhe Nuclear Power's Cold Source Management Experience Featured on WANO Official Website

Recently, the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) published a feature report on its official website titled "Operational Excellence in Action: Hongyanhe transforms its Cold Source Resilience," introducing Hongyanhe Company's practical progress in ensuring cold source water intake to nuclear power peers worldwide. Cold source safety is a critical component of the nuclear defense-in-depth system. Coastal nuclear power plants generally pay close attention to the impact of seasonal marine organism accumulation on plant water intake safety, a natural environmental challenge commonly faced by coastal nuclear power plants globally. As the first nuclear power plant in Northeast China...

2026-08-05