In Other News from World Nuclear News

In other news Australia's nuclear science and technology organisation ANSTO has confirmed that its ninth export of used nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing has been completed. The fuel from the OPAL multipurpose reactor was transported on 3-4 September from ANSTO’s Lucas Heights campus to Port Kembla where it was loaded onto a dedicated, nuclear category rated ship, purpose-built for nuclear shipments, for transfer to Orano’s reprocessing facility in Normandy, ANSTO said. Multiple agencies including NSW Police Force, NSW Ambulance, NSW Fire and Rescue, Port Authority of NSW, Transport for NSW, as well as federal agencies collaborated in the operation. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute announced it has developed an artificial intelligence agent to support nuclear reactor operation by applying agentic AI "for the first time in the world". KAERI said agentic AI is a new technology emerging from the advancement of generative AI. It differentiates itself from existing AI by enabling proactive strategy formulation and situational selection and application of appropriate functions and tools based on advanced reasoning capabilities. "While existing artificial intelligence was only able to perform simple tasks such as 'diagnose the current status' and 'operate the coolant pump', agentic AI can independently make judgments and continuously process complex instructions such as 'diagnose and report the current status, and if there is an abnormality, establish and implement a mitigation strategy'," KAERI said. Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj said that unit 2 of its Olkiluoto nuclear power plant has been operating at a reduced power level of 735 MW to reduce the risk of failure while the company sources a spare rotor for the generator. TVO said its refurbished spare rotor is expected to arrive at Olkiluoto in early 2026. As a result of conservative analyses, the power generation of the unit, which has a capacity of 890 MW, will continue at a lower power level of 735 MW until a completely new rotor is delivered to Olkiluoto. The completely new and technically improved rotor is expected to arrive at Olkiluoto by the 2027 annual outage. The US Department of Energy has announced USD134 million in funding for two programmes designed to secure US leadership in emerging fusion technologies and innovation. USD128 million under the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaborative has been awarded to seven teams that are focused on creating a fusion energy science and technology innovation ecosystem by forming virtual, centrally managed teams. USD6.1 million in funding for the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) programme goes to 20 projects selected by DOE that accelerate private-sector fusion energy development by reducing barriers to collaboration between businesses and national laboratories or universities. The UK's Rolls-Royce has signed memorandums of understanding with both Western and South Australian Governments that outline a commitment to collaborate on workforce development, skills training, and critical technologies to support the growing defence sectors in each state. Rolls-Royce said this marks "a significant step forward in Australian preparations for the AUKUS submarine programme, which will provide the nation with their first conventionally armed nuclear navy. It also highlights the unique nuclear expertise Rolls-Royce brings to the AUKUS agreement".