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Kansai Electric Power Applies to Build Dry Cask Storage Facilities for Spent Fuel

Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) announced on August 31 that it has submitted an application to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) seeking approval for the design and construction plans of dry cask storage facilities for spent fuel at its Mihama and Takahama nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture. The company plans to begin construction in 2027 and aims to complete the facilities by 2029. This application covers the first-phase construction at the Mihama and Takahama nuclear power plants. KEPCO had previously planned to build a total of four dry cask storage facilities for spent fuel at three nuclear power plants within Fukui Prefecture, including the Mihama, Takahama, and Ohi nuclear power plants. Currently, the related project at the Ohi nuclear power plant and the second-phase construction at the Takahama nuclear power plant remain...

2026-09-01

Japan Requests Hitachiomiya City in Ibaraki Prefecture to Conduct Literature Survey for High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on August 31 requested Hitachiomiya City in Ibaraki Prefecture to conduct a literature survey, as the first step in siting a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plant operations. If Hitachiomiya City agrees, it will become the fifth municipality in Japan to accept such a literature survey, and the second time the Japanese government has proactively requested a survey from a local government, following Minamitorishima in Ogasawara Village, Tokyo. On the same day, Takashi Kume, Vice Commissioner of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, visited the Hitachiomiya City government and submitted the survey request to Mayor Sadanori Suzuki. Suzuki stated that he personally takes a positive stance toward accepting the literature survey, and noted that the city faces issues such as rapid population decline and a weak local economy, adding that if the area has favorable geological conditions, participating in the national geological disposal policy would be of "significant importance." He said he would make a decision after hearing the views of the city assembly, with the matter possibly being discussed at the regular assembly meeting as early as September.

2026-09-01

Multiple Units at Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant Go Live with Self-Developed EPM System

On August 31, the EPM system, a production management platform independently developed by China National Nuclear Power (CNNP), was officially launched at Units 3, 4, 7, and 8 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant. This launch marks a new stage of standardized management and control for Jiangsu Nuclear Power's production management, and also provides a practical example from Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant for CNNP's digital transformation. The EPM system is a new-generation nuclear power plant production management system independently developed by CNNP with fully independent intellectual property rights. Designed to meet the operational needs of nuclear power plant field operations, the system integrates business processes such as planning, operations, maintenance, equipment, and safety permits, unifies plant-wide work execution standards, and achieves closed-loop control across the entire production management chain. The system covers...

2026-09-01

Northeast Regional Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment Conducts Research on Radiation Risk Prevention and Control in the Scrap Metal Recycling and Smelting Industry

To strengthen radiation risk prevention and control across the entire chain of the scrap metal recycling and smelting industry and guide young cadres to conduct research and tackle challenges at the grassroots level, the Northeast Regional Office of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (hereinafter referred to as the Northeast Regional Office) recently conducted special research at scrap metal resource recycling and steel smelting enterprises as well as customs ports. This research comprehensively mapped out the sources of scrap metal recycling, supply destinations, and the current status of radioactive monitoring management in the processing and sorting stages; focused on verifying the effectiveness of radiation monitoring requirements implementation at steel smelting enterprises, and meticulously examined the monitoring point deployment and control measures at key stages such as raw material entry, production process connection, and product shipment; further clarified the import and export radioactive monitoring management procedures, coordination and linkage working mechanisms, and the response and handling of abnormal events; and conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions with relevant units on some issues identified during the research.

2026-09-01

CNNC Headway's 13C-Urea Synthesis Control Method Patent Wins China Patent Excellence Award

On August 28, the China National Intellectual Property Administration officially released the decision on the 26th China Patent Award, and CNNC Headway's invention patent "A 13C-Urea Synthesis Control Method" won the China Patent Excellence Award. This patented technology addresses key technical bottlenecks in the batch production of carbon [13C]-urea API, establishing a set of synthesis control methods that provide technical support for the large-scale and stable production of the relevant API. The application of this technology helps enhance the self-sufficiency capability of the domestic urea [13C] breath diagnostic industry chain. CNNC Headway has long been deeply engaged in the breath diagnostic field, with sustained investment in innovative R&D, quality control, clinical adaptation, and industry chain layout...

2026-09-01

Harbin Engineering University Establishes Research Institute for Spent Fuel Reprocessing and Advanced Materials

On August 31, the inauguration ceremony of the Research Institute for Spent Fuel Reprocessing and Advanced Materials at Harbin Engineering University was held at the university's Qihang Activity Center. More than 150 participants attended the meeting, including academicians and experts in the field of nuclear science and technology, representatives from industry and enterprises, peer institutions, and alumni. The newly established institute will address the needs of nuclear energy safety assurance and sustainable development by integrating the university's advantageous disciplinary resources in nuclear science, materials, and chemical engineering, focusing on breakthroughs in spent fuel reprocessing processes, advanced materials development, and related key core technologies, while promoting the coordinated development of basic research, technological breakthroughs, and commercialization of research outcomes. At the meeting, several attending experts noted that spent fuel reprocessing is a critical part of the nuclear f...

2026-09-01

US Antares Selected for DOE Nuclear Energy Launch Pad Program

Antares has been selected for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Launch Pad program. Led by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy and the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC), the program aims to advance nuclear technologies from concept to commercial deployment. This selection further expands Antares' business footprint in Texas. Previously, the company was selected to deliver a microreactor to Joint Base San Antonio under the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Nuclear Power Facilities program. Antares CEO and co-founder Jordan Bramble stated that the reactor pilot program has accelerated the company's growth and...

2026-08-31

NMR Reveals Thermal Self-Organization in Resistive Switching of Organic Conductor by Japanese Team

A joint research team from Tokyo University of Science, the National Institute for Materials Science, and RIKEN in Japan recently used bulk-sensitive ¹H-NMR measurements to reveal the internal electronic state of the organic conductor (d7-DMe-DCNQI)2Cu during resistive switching. The study found that, in the switching state, the material does not form a uniform new electronic phase, but rather a coexistence of metallic and insulating phases within the material. Schematic of bulk-crystal ¹H-NMR measurements Resistive switching refers to the phenomenon in which a material's resistance changes significantly under an applied current or voltage, and has attracted attention in research on correlated electron systems, memory devices, and neuromorphic devices. Previous studies have mostly...

2026-08-31

Japanese Team Achieves Femtosecond Soft X-ray Hyperspectral Microscopy, Simultaneously Acquiring Spatial and Energy Information with Single Pulse

On August 21, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, RIKEN, and the University of Tokyo announced that a research team comprising Assistant Professor Yoko Takeo and Associate Professor Takashi Kimura from the Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Tokyo, Assistant Professor Satoru Egawa from the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, and Team Leader Makina Yabashi from the RIKEN SPring-8 Center, among others, successfully developed and implemented a femtosecond soft X-ray hyperspectral microscope. The findings were published on August 20 in the U.S. scientific journal *Optica*. This technology utilizes a single soft X-ray pulse from an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to simultaneously acquire soft X-ray spectra transmitted through different positions of a sample, enabling...

2026-08-31

Russian Research Team Proposes New Method for Measuring Proton and Deuteron Electric Dipole Moments in a Single Storage Ring

Physicists from several Russian research institutions have proposed a new method for searching for the electric dipole moments of protons and deuterons, potentially enabling the study of both particle types in a single storage ring. The participating institutions include the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, and the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The research was published in the journal *Nuclear Science and Technology* and was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation. The electric dipole moment reflects whether there is a tiny asymmetry between the internal charge distribution of a particle and its spin direction. According to Standard Model predictions, the electric dipole moments of the proton and deuteron are nonzero but extremely small, on the order of 10...

2026-08-31

U.S. Electron-Ion Collider ePIC Detector Completes First Batch of Lead Tungstate Crystal Procurement and Acceptance

The U.S. Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) project recently achieved its first long-lead procurement milestone: 1,069 custom lead tungstate crystals for the new ePIC detector have been delivered, tested, and accepted. These crystals will be used in the Electron Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EEEMCAL) to help precisely measure the energy of scattered electrons during collisions. The EIC is being built by the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The facility will circulate electron and ion beams in opposite directions, colliding them inside the ePIC detector. The ePIC detector records information about particles produced in the collisions, providing data for studying the fundamental constituents of visible matter...

2026-08-31

Japanese research team visualizes cellular metabolic changes during fracture healing using hyperpolarized MRI

August 21, 2026, Gifu Pharmaceutical University and Gifu University announced that a multi-institutional Japanese research team successfully visualized changes in the redox state of skeletal progenitor cells during fracture healing in living mice using hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging technology. The findings were published online on August 15, 2026, in the British academic journal *npj Imaging*. The study was led by Takuya Kubo, a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology at Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Professor Eiichi Hinoi, and related research teams at Gifu University, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Osaka University, the Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, and other institutions. After a fracture occurs, a tissue called a...

2026-08-31

German Team Achieves Ultrafast Shaping of Extreme Ultraviolet Pulses Using High-Density Helium Gas

August 20, 2026, the international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg announced that they have utilized atomic gas as a rapidly switchable time-varying lens to control the beam shape and spectrum of intense high-frequency laser pulses. This achievement is expected to provide a new pathway for the fine control of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray pulses, and may serve research directions such as improved spectroscopic methods, control of chemical reactions, and quantum computing. Extreme ultraviolet light can provide important tools for studying atomic-scale processes. With the development of free-electron lasers, researchers have been able to generate ultrashort, high-intensity XUV light pulses, but how to manipulate them like...

2026-08-31

Japan Plans to Include Hitachiomiya, Ibaraki Prefecture, in Nuclear Waste Disposal Site Selection Survey

According to sources familiar with the matter on August 31, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering conducting a preliminary survey in Hitachiomiya, Ibaraki Prefecture, to designate the city as one of the potential candidate sites for a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. The relevant plan is expected to be submitted to the Hitachiomiya municipal government. If the local government accepts the plan, Hitachiomiya will become the fifth location in Japan to undergo such a preliminary survey. The site selection process for Japan's high-level radioactive waste disposal facility involves multiple stages, and the entire screening process typically takes several years. The proposed preliminary survey is an early step to determine whether the area meets the conditions for further evaluation...

2026-08-31

Chonnam National University Hospital in Hwasun, South Korea, Adopts Deepnoid's Chest X-ray AI Interpretation Solution "M4CXR"

Deepnoid announced on August 31 that it has signed a supply contract with Chonnam National University Hospital in Hwasun, South Korea, to provide the hospital with its AI-based chest X-ray preliminary opinion generation solution, M4CXR. This contract is part of the "AI Medical System Support Project for Regional Responsible Medical Institutions" promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea. Chonnam National University Hospital in Hwasun plans to improve the work efficiency of medical staff in interpreting chest X-ray images and further enhance the quality of medical services through the introduction of M4CXR. A representative from the Hwasun branch of Chonnam National University Hospital stated that introducing a generative AI-based image interpretation support system is of great significance for improving the quality of public medical services...

2026-08-31