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New advanced reactor designs and the fuels needed for them are presenting...
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New value from fusion neutrons Despite major breakthroughs, cost-effective energy from fusion reactors remains elusive. Nonetheless, commercial fusion is already here to stay. Greg Piefer, founder and CEO of...
The next step in molten salt reactor evolution Moltex Energy, the UK-based developer of molten salt nuclear technology, launched its subsidiary MoltexFLEX last autumn to work on its FLEX reactor – the latest application of...
Raising ambition on nuclear decomm Working in the nuclear sector is highly specialised and demands the utmost expertise and skill, but also presents opportunities for cross-sectoral learnings. As the industry gets set...
Water balance for new build nuclear Arrangements around water supplies and discharges are critical for the UK’s next planned EPR at Sizewell which is being built in Suffolk, an area described as water stressed.
Will 2023 be the year of energy metals? The energy transition has driven a boom in exploration for so-called ‘energy metals’ required for low-carbon power generation and newly commercial technologies such as batteries....
Waste disposal: Engineering the key nuclear challenge Scientists agree that geological disposal is the best solution when considering the very long-term storage of high activity nuclear waste materials but to develop such a...
Franco-British nuclear collaboration France and the UK stand alone in Western Europe with the scope of their highly ambitious civil nuclear programmes. If these goals are to be achieved the special relationship between...
Are SMRs on the cost curve? To win a place in a distributed, decarbonised energy industry and reduce costs SMRs have to be a familiar sight to investors and consumers. Are we getting there?
Fusion and fission need each other Fusion and fission may be seen as rivals but fusion technologies can learn a lot from their atom-splitting cousins. It’s not all one way either, collaboration may yet prove to be...
Plotting a path to supply chain resilience Growing concerns that a lack of supply chain resilience could curtail plans for nuclear new build is prompting action from multiple stakeholders, but the complexity of the global...
Will 2023 be the UK breakthrough year? The UK’s spring budget statement included some promises on nuclear development. Has the government done enough to make progress towards its targets?
Did nuclear win through in 2022? Embargoes on using Russian gas shifted the dial on energy prices and costs in 2022. Nuclear should have helped Europe weather the crisis but it was handicapped by continuing...
Nuclear energy disputes: What can India learn from global trends? As one of the world’s most active regions for nuclear development, India is pinning a lot of hope on nuclear power. How can the supply chain mitigate project risks within India’s...
The changing face of Canada’s nuclear industry In the decade since the global recession and Fukushima slammed the nuclear sector, Canada has made significant advances in its capabilities. But in an era of multiple technologies...
Finding a radioactive needle in a haystack Deployment of a modified radiation detector in the back of a car travelling at 70 kph was key to locating a radiation source lost on a 1400 km stretch of desert highway.
A store of value? The use of hydrogen as an energy vector could be enhanced by using depleted uranium as a hydrogen storage medium. The UK recently granted research funds to explore this option.
Swapping steam generators at Watts Bar Although Watts Bar is the most modern PWR in the US reactor fleet, owner-operators TVA decided to uprate the steam generator design and use more modern alloys resistant to...
Using AI to spearhead Gen IV reactor tech The vast complexities of molten salt reactors are being made simpler by a new machine learning model. Argonne National Laboratory scientists Jicheng Guo and Ganesh Sivaraman tell NEI...
Building skills and staying power for nuclear With the industry in an upswing, the challenge of recruiting skilled workers could prove to be a stumbling block for global nuclear ambitions. Ashley Samuelson tells NEI that...
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