Search Results

NEA Hosts Workshop on Regulatory Approaches for Non-Electric Applications of Nuclear Energy

Recently, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) successfully held a workshop on regulatory approaches for non-electric applications of nuclear energy in Vantaa, Finland. The meeting aimed to promote in-depth exchanges among stakeholders on the safety regulation of non-electric fields such as nuclear district heating, industrial process heat supply, and hydrogen production. It is reported that the workshop was hosted by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and organized by the NEA Working Group on New Technologies (WGNT), bringing together approximately 50 representatives from nuclear regulatory bodies, industry, and academia from 17 countries and international organizations. The meeting conducted in-depth discussions around four core themes: first, organizational models and outsourcing management; second, the interface between nuclear and conventional facilities and safety interdependencies...

2026-10-29

Ethiopian Prime Minister Announces Launch of Nuclear Power Program, Plans to Build Two Reactors

Recently, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali stated during an inspection visit to the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission that developing nuclear energy is the next chapter in Ethiopia's pursuit of technological progress and economic transformation, and that the country will be committed to converting its abundant natural resources into tangible drivers of prosperity. It is reported that Ethiopia plans to build two nuclear reactors with a unit capacity of 1,200 megawatts each. Abiy Ahmed Ali pointed out that although nuclear power requires high initial investment and a construction period of at least ten years, its high stability and high output characteristics, which are unaffected by seasonal fluctuations, offer irreplaceable and significant advantages over hydropower and solar energy...

2026-10-29

Hyundai Engineering of South Korea Partners with Two U.S. SMR Developers

Recently, Hyundai Engineering of South Korea announced the signing of memoranda of understanding with U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) developers NANO Nuclear Energy and ARC Clean Technology, marking a comprehensive push into the global small modular reactor and Generation IV advanced nuclear reactor markets. Under the cooperation framework with NANO Nuclear, Hyundai Engineering will integrate its comprehensive capabilities in engineering design, procurement, construction (EPC), supply chain management, and modular construction to jointly advance the KRONOS reactor energy system project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The reactor is a 45...

2026-10-29

Sandia Laboratory to Unveil Major Next-Generation Nuclear Technology Initiative

Recently, Sandia National Laboratories announced that Brandon Williams, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 30 to attend a press conference together with laboratory management. It is understood that the press conference will formally announce a new strategic initiative aimed at deepening collaboration between Sandia National Laboratories and relevant research institutions and regional partners, and accelerating...

2026-10-29

South Korea Officially Approved for 10-Year Life Extension of Kori Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4

Recently, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) officially received approval from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) to extend the operating life of Units 3 and 4 of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant near Busan by 10 years. It is reported that both units are Westinghouse pressurized water reactors with a single-unit power output of 1025 MW, and their original 40-year design lifetimes expired in September 2024 and August 2025, respectively, during which both had been in shutdown status. Under this license, Kori Unit 3 may operate until September 2034, and Unit 4 until August 2035...

2026-10-28

China's Largest Fusion Power Supply System Simulation Platform Begins Trial Operation

Recently, China's largest hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform for power supply systems in the fusion field has officially entered trial operation and passed final acceptance, with its comprehensive performance reaching the leading level among comparable international platforms. This marks that China has established a complete technology chain from algorithm research and development for fusion power supply systems, hardware-in-the-loop simulation verification, to the implementation of complete equipment sets. It is reported that the platform was developed by China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd. under CNNC, relying on a fully independent real-time simulation architecture. Under operating conditions where the number of model switches exceeds 10,000, the core solving step can reach as high as 0.8 microseconds. The performance parameters of the full-chain software and hardware all meet the preset design indicators at high standards, and core technologies are fully independently controlled. The platform's commissioning...

2026-10-28

From Aerospace to the "Artificial Sun": Deconstructing the Extreme Manufacturing Breakthrough of China's Fusion Industry Chain

In the grand narrative of controlled nuclear fusion, public attention is often drawn to plasma temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees, the massive scale of tokamaks, and the ultimate vision of unlimited clean energy. However, in the shadows beyond the spotlight of fundamental physics, what determines whether humanity can truly tame nuclear fusion has never been merely theoretical breakthroughs in laboratories, but rather the extreme manufacturing foundation hidden within micron-level machining precision, ultra-high vacuum sealing, and extreme material irradiation. As global commercial fusion startups struggle in Western capital markets due to high capital burn rates and supply chain fractures, the Fusion Science and Technology Innovation City—located within the Science City of Chengdu Tianfu New Area, with a core planned area of...

2026-10-28

CNNC and CSCEC Consortium Wins Major Zhuanghe Nuclear Power Marine Engineering Contract

Recently, the public announcement of the winning candidates for the marine engineering works of Phase I of the Liaoning Zhuanghe Nuclear Power Plant Project was officially released. The consortium composed of China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co., Ltd. and CSCEC Port and Waterway Engineering Bureau Group Co., Ltd. successfully secured the top position with a bid price of 1,356,800,300 yuan, becoming the first winning candidate. It is reported that this marine engineering works, as one of the key contract packages of the nuclear power project, covers core construction contents including the water intake open channel, plant area revetment, heavy-lift wharf, marine outfall drainage works, and temporary construction cofferdam. The maximum bid price for the project is approximately 1.484 billion yuan, with construction planned to commence on January 31, 2027, and a total construction period of 1,034 days. Upon completion, it will fully satisfy the nuclear power plant's cooling water intake and discharge, heavy equipment transportation, and plant area wave and flood protection requirements.

2026-10-28

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping Completes Inspection of Key Transformers for Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker

Recently, the Nuclear Ship Branch of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) successfully completed the technical inspection of the ТРСЗП-6000/10-ОМ4 three-phase dry-type power transformer intended for the Project 22220 universal nuclear-powered icebreaker Stalingrad. It is reported that the inspection was led by Alexander Mamontov, Chief Engineer Surveyor of the RS Nuclear Ship Branch, and the equipment was manufactured locally by the St. Petersburg-based Electro-Physics company. The transformer has a rated power of 6000 kVA and a rated voltage of 10.5 kV,...

2026-10-28

South Korea Expects Tripling of Demand for Nuclear Design Personnel by 2034

Recently, the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Seoul National University and KEPCO E&C jointly released a report titled "Human Resource Enhancement Plan to Boost Nuclear Power Plant Export Competitiveness," warning that with the revival of nuclear power at home and abroad, South Korea will simultaneously construct 15 nuclear power plants domestically and overseas by 2034, at which point demand for design personnel will surge to 4,171, facing a severe talent gap of up to 2,771. It is reported that the root cause of South Korea's nuclear design talent crisis lies in the brain drain and shrinkage of academic foundations caused by the previous nuclear phase-out policy. Data from the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea show that the number of domestic nuclear design personnel has plummeted from 2,486 in 2016 to 20...

2026-10-28

Gigawatt-Scale Computing Meets Megawatt-Scale Fission: Examining the Underlying Assets and Geopolitical Restructuring Behind Asia-Pacific's Nuclear Renaissance

As human civilization enters the "century of electricity," large AI models and hyperscale data center clusters are devouring power grids at an astonishing pace. When intermittent renewable energy cannot satisfy the stringent demand of high-load data centers for absolutely stable baseload power, nuclear energy—long marginalized or viewed with caution in the Asia-Pacific region—is now experiencing an unprecedented rational return. According to the Asia-Pacific energy observations published by Ben Carrozzi, a partner at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, data center electricity demand in Southeast Asia is projected to surge fourfold between 2025 and 2035, rising from 2.6 gigawatts (G...

2026-10-28

US Plans $15 Billion Nuclear Reactor Manufacturing Hub in Oak Ridge

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and several nuclear energy companies jointly announced that they will invest a total of $15 billion to build a nationwide advanced nuclear reactor development and equipment manufacturing center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is reported that the project is primarily driven and supported by private capital and is expected to create approximately 10,000 high-paying technical jobs locally over the next five years. The plan aims to completely reshape Oak Ridge's nuclear energy industrial landscape by shutting down legacy gaseous diffusion facilities and building new advanced nuclear fuel fabrication plants, uranium enrichment facilities, and modular reactor production lines, establishing a reactor manufacturing supply...

2026-10-28

Norway Funds Research and Development of Microreactors for Marine Nuclear Propulsion

Recently, the Research Council of Norway announced an early-stage grant of US$2 million to the Marine Nuclear Power Systems (MarNuPS) project to support the integration and testing of maritime nuclear propulsion technology. It is reported that the project is led by the Norwegian subsidiary of Emerald Nuclear, a U.S. microreactor startup, with a total first-phase research budget of approximately US$15 million. Emerald's GEM microreactor concept uses tristructural isotropic (TRISO) high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, has a refueling cycle of 5 to 15 years, and plans to adopt a "reactor leasing" rather than direct sales...

2026-10-28

UK Public Accounts Committee Assesses Financial Risks of Sizewell C Project

Recently, the UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a report warning that the government's planned Sizewell C nuclear reactor project in Suffolk is a bad deal for taxpayers and consumers, with total construction costs potentially soaring to between £40.5 billion and £47.7 billion, exposing the public to extremely high risk of cost overruns. It is understood that under the currently approved financing structure, the UK government holds a 44.9% stake, Électricité de France (EDF) holds 12.5%, and the remaining shares are held by private investors including Centrica (15%), La Caisse (20%) and Amber Infrastructure (7.6%).

2026-10-28

First Small Modular Reactor in Uzbekistan Scheduled to Complete Base Slab Concrete Pouring by End of 2026

Recently, Rosatom announced that the concrete pouring of the foundation base slab for the first 55 MW small modular reactor (SMR) building of the Jizzakh nuclear power project in Uzbekistan is progressing steadily and is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2026. It is reported that 25 large construction machinery and equipment have been deployed at the project site, concentrating efforts on the continuous pouring of the reactor building foundation base slab. As Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant, the project adopts Rosatom's land-based small modular reactor design developed based on RITM-200N technology, marking a solid step forward for Uzbekistan in advancing its national energy transition and...

2026-10-27