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Canada Approves Power Uprate for Bruce A and B Nuclear Power Plants

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced on August 24 that it has decided to amend the licensing basis for the Bruce A and B nuclear power plants, approving an increase in the intermediate power operating levels of the two plants. The Bruce A and B nuclear power plants are located in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, and are operated by Bruce Power. Under the revised licensing basis, Bruce Power may increase the maximum operating power of the Bruce A plant to 95.5% of full power and the Bruce B plant to 96% of full power. Previously, the Bruce A plant was authorized to operate at a maximum power of...

2026-08-26

TU Delft participates in innovative projects on compact reactors and molten salt reactors

The MOOI Kernenergie nuclear funding programme, operated by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), has recently selected four innovative projects to support research and development in reactor and fuel cycle technologies, radioactive waste storage, and geological disposal solutions. TU Delft is involved in three of these projects, with researchers from its Reactor Institute participating in the MARLIN and PRONTO projects. The MARLIN project focuses on compact modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) for industrial, maritime, and offshore applications. Based on measurement data and models, the project consortium will develop and validate a reactor prototype capable of simultaneously providing electricity and high-temperature process heat, with a focus on industrial clusters as well as maritime and offshore scenarios.

2026-08-26

South Korea Develops AI Model for Prioritizing Post-Earthquake Inspections at Nuclear Facilities

A joint research team from the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has developed a deep learning model that can assist nuclear facilities in rapidly identifying priority inspection areas after an earthquake. The model uses seismic wave signals collected from a single seismometer to predict in real time the vibration responses at multiple locations within a nuclear power plant and quantitatively ranks potential risks. The research was jointly conducted by the team of Jae-Beom Lee, senior researcher at KRISS, and Young-Ju Lee, professor at UNIST. The researchers stated that this technology can, without installing sensors at every critical location...

2026-08-26

Yeongdeok County Launches Naming Contest for New Nuclear Power Plant

Yeongdeok County in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, is holding a naming contest for a new nuclear power plant to be built in the region. The county announced on August 26 that the contest is open to Yeongdeok County residents and will run for two weeks from the 27th of this month to the 10th of next month. The county stated that proposed names should carry symbolic meaning, reflecting both the plant's role as a power generation facility and the county's future development vision, as well as residents' expectations for regional growth. Final judging and awards for all entries will be completed in October. In July, the candidate site for the new nuclear power plant in Yeongdeok County was confirmed, and the county subsequently signed a cooperation agreement with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). The naming contest is seen as part of the project's preparatory work, which also includes job training for future energy strategy projects and screening of new projects.

2026-08-26

South Korean 3D-Printed Nuclear Power Plant Component Operates Continuously for 18 Months

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced on August 26 that a nuclear power plant component manufactured using 3D printing technology has been in continuous operation for 18 months on a reactor unit. This marks the first time South Korea has completed long-term operational validation of a 3D-printed nuclear power plant component in actual service. The component is a multi-blade impeller used to cool the generator circuit breaker of a nuclear power plant. Traditional impellers typically consist of multiple blades mounted on a fixed plate, and the connection points between the fixed plate and blades are at risk of damage during long-term operation. KHNP completed the development of this impeller in 2024, switching to 3D printing to manufacture an integrated one-piece structure, thereby reducing weak connection points and improving component durability. Before being put into service, this 3D-printed impeller underwent...

2026-08-26

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Loses External Power for Six Days

On August 25 local time, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) stated that it had lost external power since August 20 and had been relying on backup diesel generators to meet on-site electricity demand for six consecutive days. The plant's existing fuel reserves can still ensure operation, but difficulties in fuel resupply have not yet significantly eased. Yevgeniya Yashina, head of communications at ZNPP, stated that plant staff are monitoring nuclear safety parameters and the operation of backup diesel generator units around the clock. She noted that fuel transportation still faces difficulties due to shelling on roads leading to the plant; to improve the efficiency of existing reserve utilization, the plant has optimized the operation of diesel generators...

2026-08-26

Egypt and Rosatom Consult on Expanding Nuclear Energy Cooperation

Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Mostafa Esmat, stated that Egypt will hold regular consultations with Russia's Rosatom on cooperation in nuclear energy and related fields, with meetings potentially taking place in either Egypt or Russia. Esmat said he would maintain regular meetings with Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev to exchange updates on the construction and commissioning progress of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant project and discuss directions for expanding cooperation. Currently, both sides are studying the addition of new units at the El Dabaa nuclear power plant, the construction of seawater desalination facilities, and the expansion of other areas of cooperation...

2026-08-26

Japan's Mihama Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 Receives Preliminary Approval for Operation Plan Beyond 50 Years

On August 25, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave preliminary approval to Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) for the long-term facility management plan for Unit 3 of the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant. Located in Mihama Town, Fukui Prefecture, the unit will mark its 50th anniversary of commercial operation on December 1. In May of this year, the metal top cover of the high-pressure turbine at Mihama Unit 3 suffered damage, resulting in steam leakage. At the NRA meeting held that day, KEPCO explained that the cause of the incident was believed to be thinning of the inner wall of the top cover due to steam flow. The company stated that this phenomenon falls under previously anticipated aging and degradation management for turbine equipment, and that the existing plan already includes corresponding management measures. Visual inspection and other examination methods were also deemed applicable, thus no revision to the long-term facility management plan was required.

2026-08-26

US Pacific Fusion Breaks Ground on $1 Billion Fusion Facility in New Mexico

On August 25, local time, Pacific Fusion launched construction of a research and manufacturing campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The project involves an investment of approximately $1 billion and will be used to build the company's fusion demonstration system, with goals including achieving net facility gain and producing high-yield fusion energy pulses. The campus is located in the Mesa del Sol area of Albuquerque. According to Pacific Fusion's plan, the demonstration system aims to achieve net energy gain at the facility level by 2030, meaning the fusion device outputs more energy than the total energy initially stored in the equipment. The company stated that if this goal is achieved, it will mark a significant technological milestone in the commercialization of fusion energy...

2026-08-26

Westinghouse eVinci Microreactor Completes Zero-Power Criticality Testing

Westinghouse Electric Company announced on August 25 that its eVinci microreactor has completed zero-power criticality testing, validating relevant models and key assumptions in the core design. The test was completed at 10:39 a.m. Pacific Time on August 24, 2026, at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The center is operated under the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The test was conducted by Westinghouse Electric in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Zero-power criticality is typically used to verify that a reactor core can achieve a self-sustaining chain fission state at extremely low power levels, serving as a critical step in reactor physics testing and design validation...

2026-08-26

US NuScale Deploys Nuclear-Specific AI to Advance Small Modular Reactor Projects

NuScale Power Corporation announced on August 25 that it is deploying nuclear-specific artificial intelligence tools to support its engineering and knowledge management efforts, accelerating the development of its advanced small modular reactor projects. The initiative combines NuScale's technical expertise in advanced reactors, Nuclearn's AtomAssist nuclear AI platform, and NPX's experience in nuclear project delivery and AI implementation, aiming to establish specialized tools tailored for nuclear scenarios that help engineering teams retrieve, understand, and apply critical technical information more efficiently. As advanced...

2026-08-26

Thermo Fisher Scientific Launches First Orbitrap Mass Spectrometers for Isotope Ratio Analysis

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently launched the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Isora mass spectrometer and Orbitrap Isora Pro mass spectrometer in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The company stated that these are its first Orbitrap instruments equipped with a dedicated isotope ratio analysis mode. The two mass spectrometers launched this time will form an integrated workflow together with the Thermo Scientific Vanquish Duo ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system and the new Isotope Discoverer software, providing molecular-level isotope ratio analysis capabilities to laboratories and researchers worldwide. Isotope ratio analysis can help researchers determine the source of compounds and their formation processes by measuring natural variations in isotopes within samples, helping...

2026-08-26

NuCube Energy and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Launch Microreactor R&D Collaboration

NuCube Energy, Inc. announced on August 25 that it has initiated research and development activities under an agreement signed with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). The two parties will conduct research on the NuCube reactor design, focusing on advancing data identification, modeling, and analysis efforts to support the validation of its microreactor technology. Under this R&D program, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will validate existing experimental data and benchmark computational models used to predict heat pipe performance in high-temperature environments exceeding 900 degrees Celsius. The qualified experimental data provided by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will be used to expand the NuCube computational mo...

2026-08-26

Molecular Partners Advances DLL3 Radiopharmaceutical MP0712 to Higher Dose Cohort

Swiss clinical-stage biotechnology company Molecular Partners AG recently announced its business progress and financial results for the first half of 2026. The company stated that its DLL3-targeting radioactive DARPin therapy MP0712 has advanced to the second therapeutic dose level in a U.S. multicenter Phase 1/2a clinical study, and patient enrollment for the new dose cohort is currently underway. MP0712 is a radiopharmaceutical targeting the tumor-associated antigen DLL3, carrying a therapeutic alpha-emitting radionuclide lead-212 (Pb-212) payload, co-developed by Molecular Partners and Orano Med, primarily for small cell lung cancer and other neuroendocrine tumors. According to the company's disclosure, the first dose cohort of MP0712...

2026-08-26

FSG to Provide Electrical and Control Systems Support for Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor Project

American Facility Solutions Group, LLC (FSG) announced on August 25 that it will support Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor project, providing electrical, instrumentation, control, testing, and verification-related work. According to reports, the Groves Isotope Test Reactor achieved first criticality on August 5, 2026, reaching a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The reactor is the fifth reactor to achieve this milestone among projects authorized under the U.S. Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program, and the first to reach criticality on private land under the program. The low-power test reactor is designed to lay the foundation for domestic commercial isotope production...

2026-08-26