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Bulgaria's Kozloduy NPP Reduces Power Output Due to Falling Danube River Levels

Bulgaria's Ministry of Energy stated that due to the sustained decline in the Danube River water level, Unit 5 of the Kozloduy NPP will reduce its power output by 120 megawatts starting August 21 to mitigate potential operational risks. The Ministry said in a statement that reducing reactor power is one of the measures to ensure the safe operation of the Kozloduy NPP, citing a sustained, abnormal, and rapid decline in the Danube River water level. The Danube River water level within Bulgaria is currently still on a downward trend. It is noted that this is the first time in the 52 years since the Kozloduy NPP was commissioned that its generating capacity has been reduced for such reasons. The plant uses Danube River water to cool the steam in the condensers of the conventional island, with water intake completed by dedicated pump stations located on the riverbank.

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

US LIS Technologies Initiates Site Preparation for Oak Ridge Laser Uranium Enrichment Project

LIS Technologies Inc. (LIST) announced on August 20 that it has initiated preliminary site preparation work on the "LIST Island" parcel at the Heritage Center of the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The 206-acre parcel is located within the former K-25 gaseous diffusion plant site. This phase of work includes environmental characterization, environmental assessment, and technical feasibility studies tailored to site conditions. These efforts will provide the preliminary basis for the company's planned commercial laser uranium enrichment headquarters and technology campus, LEU-3. Under current plans, the LEU-3 facility will host the company's FUEL project, namely the Future Uranium Enrichment by Laser project, and support its long-term operations and research...

2026-08-21

Takahama Town in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Plans to Give Prior Consent to Kansai Electric Power's Construction of Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facility

On August 19, Hisakatsu Nishijima, mayor of Takahama Town in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, stated that he would give prior consent to Kansai Electric Power Co.'s plan to construct a spent fuel dry storage facility, in accordance with the safety agreement signed with the company. Following Mihama Town, Takahama Town became the second municipality in Fukui Prefecture hosting nuclear power plants to express its intention to give prior consent to the plan. On the same day, Nishijima explained this decision to council members at a meeting of the town assembly held at the town office, noting that he had already obtained the assembly's understanding in advance. He said the town government made its judgment after confirming relevant issues item by item, including the specific arrangements for transporting spent fuel out of the prefecture...

2026-08-21

Kyushu Electric Power explains holding company transition to Kagoshima Prefecture; Sendai Nuclear Power Plant business to continue

On August 20, Kyushu Electric Power President Masaru Nishiyama and two others visited the Kagoshima Prefectural Government to explain to Governor Koichi Shiota the company's plan to transition to a holding company structure in October this year. Under the plan, Kyushu Electric Power will establish a new holding company, Kyuden Holdings, as the group's parent company to improve overall group management efficiency. Following the restructuring, relevant subsidiaries under Kyushu Electric Power will continue to undertake nuclear power operations, including the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. During the meeting, Governor Shiota specifically highlighted the dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel that Kyushu Electric Power plans to adopt at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant...

2026-08-21

Fire alarm triggered for sixth time in August at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station; fire department confirms no fire occurred

At approximately 3:54 a.m. on August 21, a fire alarm was triggered on the first floor of the access control building at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) stated that no open flames or smoke were found near the site; shortly after 5:00 a.m., the fire department confirmed that the alarm was not caused by a fire. Readings from radiation monitoring stations around the plant also showed no significant fluctuations. This was the sixth fire alarm at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station since the beginning of August. Previously, the maintenance building for Units 5 and 6 triggered a fire alarm on August 8; the emergency diesel generator room for the high-pressure core spray system of Unit 6 triggered a fire alarm on August 12; the main administration building triggered a fire alarm on August 13...

2026-08-21

South Korea Raises 2040 Electricity Demand Forecast, Increment Equivalent to 19 Large Nuclear Power Units

A forum on the formulation of South Korea's 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand was held in Seoul on August 20. The new round of electricity demand forecasts submitted at the meeting showed that by 2040, South Korea's annual maximum electricity demand is expected to reach 158.4 GW to 165.0 GW, an upward revision of 26.6 GW to 26.8 GW compared to the forecast proposed in April this year. Based on the 1.4 GW single-unit capacity of the AP1400 large nuclear power unit under construction in South Korea, the increment in electricity demand from this upward revision is equivalent to the electricity provided by approximately 19 large nuclear power units operating at full power. The previous April forecast for the 2040 annual maximum electricity demand was 131.8 GW to 138.2 GW. The new forecast reflects semiconductor industry clusters...

2026-08-21

Investigation Underway into Cause of External Power Supply Interruption at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

On August 20, Chernichuk, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, stated that the cause of the external power supply interruption at the plant is still under investigation, with relevant experts inspecting transmission lines to identify possible fault points. Chernichuk noted that the specific cause and location of the line damage remain unclear. Experts from the plant are conducting inspections along the lines to locate the fault; according to Ukrainian sources, their experts are also carrying out related inspection work. Earlier, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported that due to the interruption of the external power supply line, the plant switched to the backup power supply system on the morning of the 20th and activated diesel generators. The report also stated that the 330 kV high-voltage transmission line "Ferroalloy-1" was disconnected from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant due to damage...

2026-08-21

Grossi's Visit to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Postponed

Chernichuk, the head of Russia's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, stated that the visit by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Grossi to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been postponed, with a new date yet to be determined. Chernichuk noted that, to his understanding, the visit will be rescheduled for a later time, but the specific timing remains unclear. On August 18, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova stated that the Ukrainian side had affected Grossi's planned visit to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Energodar, originally scheduled for August 20-21. The trip was originally planned to coincide with the routine rotation of the IAEA expert team stationed at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant...

2026-08-21

Construction of the conventional island raft foundation slab for Unit 2 of Zhejiang Jinqimen Nuclear Power Plant completed

At 3:36 on August 20, the raft foundation slab pouring for the conventional island of Unit 2 at Zhejiang Jinqimen Nuclear Power Plant was successfully completed. With the final batch of concrete precisely placed into the formwork, the main structure construction of the conventional island for this unit was officially initiated. The concrete supply for this pouring operation was provided by CNNC Concrete Xiangshan Branch. The operation lasted 29 hours and 20 minutes, with a cumulative supply of over 4,000 cubic meters of concrete, achieving continuous and stable material delivery. The maximum pouring thickness at this section was 3 meters, with a height difference of 7 meters at the variable cross-section locations, and the structural design service life is 60 years. The project features large-volume, high-intensity construction characteristics, compounded by the rainy climate conditions on site, imposing stringent requirements on concrete supply continuity, delivery stability, and temperature control precision.

2026-08-21

SuperMag New Energy Achieves Milestone Progress in Development of 25 T-Class High-Temperature Superconducting Toroidal Field Model Magnet

Recently, SuperMag New Energy has achieved two milestone progresses in the development of its 25 T-class high-temperature superconducting toroidal field model magnet: following the completion of R&D and testing of the first panel-type high-temperature superconducting single pancake coil, the company has initiated batch manufacturing of panel-type single pancake coils; meanwhile, the self-developed 24 cm² low-resistance detachable joint has completed prototype fabrication and performance testing in the liquid nitrogen temperature range, with an equivalent joint resistance of approximately 33 nΩ. These two progresses correspond to two critical aspects: stable manufacturing of single pancake coils and low-loss interconnection of multiple units. The project has advanced from the single-component process validation stage toward multi-pancake manufacturing and model magnet system integration. The single pancake coil is not an ordinary component in the model magnet, but rather a fundamental unit integrating conductor, panel structure, insulation, electrical connection, and testing interfaces. Each single pancake requires independent manufacturing and inspection, and also serves as the foundation for subsequent multi-pancake stacking, magnet excitation, and cryogenic operation.

2026-08-21

Aomori Prefecture in Japan to Apply as Candidate Site for Nuclear Fusion Power Generation Demonstration Facility

On August 19, Soichiro Miyashita, Governor of Aomori Prefecture, stated that the prefecture will apply as a candidate site for a nuclear fusion power generation demonstration facility once relevant preparatory work is completed. Starlight Engine, a Japanese nuclear fusion startup, is currently soliciting candidate sites from prefectures and government-designated cities, with plans to conduct field surveys of promising candidates as early as this autumn. Starlight Engine plans to finalize the construction site by 2028, launch the FAST nuclear fusion power generation demonstration project in 2035, and conduct power generation demonstrations in 2038. The application deadline for site selection is October. Aomori Prefecture stated that it will consult with Rokkasho Village and, after preparing the application documents, formally submit the application.

2026-08-20

Automatic Radiation Environment Monitoring Station in Mianyang, Sichuan Put into Trial Operation, with Core Equipment and Systems Achieving Domestic Localization

Recently, the automatic radiation environment monitoring station located within the Nuclear Medical Health Industrial Park of the China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City was officially put into trial operation. As the first automatic radiation environment monitoring station in Sichuan Province to fully achieve domestic localization of core equipment and systems, it will provide radiation environment safety assurance for the development of the nuclear medical industry in the park through 24-hour uninterrupted automatic monitoring capabilities. At the automatic radiation environment monitoring station, operational data from equipment such as environmental γ dose rate monitors are updated in real time on monitoring screens. Compared with the previous approach that relied on manual on-site sampling and batch laboratory analysis, the automatic station enables continuous monitoring, reducing the time required to produce monitoring results from several days to the same day, thereby improving...

2026-08-20

Berkeley Lab Leads Development of Portable Active-Source Muon Imager

The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Ideon Technologies have received funding from the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to jointly develop a field-deployable active-source muon imaging technology through the Reliable Ore Characterization Using Cornerstone Sensing Technologies (ROCKS) program. The three-year project aims to enhance the detection and characterization of underground critical mineral resources. Image credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Muons are subatomic particles with strong penetrating capability. Previously, Ideon Technologies has used passive muons produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere for ore body imaging in the mining sector, mapping mineral deposits and analyzing subsurface structures. However, passive muons primarily arrive from above, limiting detection angles; additionally, the natural flux is low—approximately one per square centimeter per minute—and imaging often requires days, weeks, or even months.

2026-08-20

Korean Research Team Reveals Mechanism Behind Neutron Irradiation-Induced Reliability Degradation in Ferroelectric AI Semiconductors

Jeonbuk National University announced on the 20th that a research team led by Professor Bae Hak-yeol from the Department of Electronic Engineering at its College of Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Kim Tae-wan's team at Seoul National University and Q-Beam Solution, a startup affiliated with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, conducted a joint study analyzing the causes of performance degradation in next-generation ferroelectric memory and neuromorphic semiconductor devices under neutron irradiation. The findings have been published in the latest issue of ACS Applied Electronic Materials. Ferroelectric semiconductors, which can maintain their polarization state even after power is disconnected, are considered a key candidate for next-generation non-volatile memory and neuromorphic computing devices. Neuromorphic computing aims to simultaneously implement both memory and computation within a single device...

2026-08-20