Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire - Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry. Nuclear Activities
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Friday, October 17, 2025
In Other News 10-17-2025
In other news
PanTera, the joint venture of medical technology company and particle accelerator specialist IBA and the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK-CEN, has announced groundbreaking for its Actinium Production Centre at Mol. The APC will be a state-of-the-art facility for the production of actinium-225, a promising isotope for targeted alpha therapy in cancer treatment. The building is scheduled to become operational in 2028, with the first commercial supply of Ac-225 expected in 2029.
California-based nuclear startup company Deep Fission, which is proposing to place microreactors deep underground, announced it has signed Letters of Intent with data centres, co-developers, industrial parks, and strategic partners totalling 12.5 GW of power. The LOIs outline plans to pursue commercial deployment of Deep Fission’s SMRs. Deep Fission estimates its model could reduce overall costs by 70-80% compared with traditional nuclear plants, delivering an estimated levelised cost of electricity of 5-7 US cents per kWh.
China Science on X: "The world's first land-based commercial small modular reactor (SMR), Linglong One, successfully completed its cold performance test on Thursday in south China's Changjiang Li Autonomous County, laying a solid foundation for future fuel loading and commercial operation. After https://t.co/u0wnt78qpz" / X
Thursday, October 16, 2025
In Other News - 10-16-2025 Guest Post
In other news
UK-based classification society and professional advisory service Lloyd's Register has published Navigating Nuclear Energy in Maritime, a new guidance document providing the first roadmap for the safe and responsible use of nuclear technology in commercial shipping and offshore industries. The guidance, developed in partnership with Global Nuclear Security Partners and marine insurer NorthStandard, sets out the practical steps project teams must take - outlining regulatory, technical, operational and financial requirements for integrating nuclear technology, such as small modular reactors, into maritime assets. Lloyd's Register said its guidance builds on its industry-leading Fuel for Thought: Nuclear research programme and aims to fill a critical knowledge gap. "It brings together decades of classification, safety and compliance expertise with specialist nuclear insight to provide an evidence-based framework for project teams at every stage of development," it said.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced it has completed the development of a domestically produced electric motor for nuclear reactor coolant pumps and will begin applying it to domestic standard nuclear power plants starting next year. The reactor coolant pump motor circulates the coolant in the reactor system and transfers heat, making it a key component in nuclear power plant operation. KHNP has been pursuing domestic development of this pump motor in collaboration with HD Hyundai Electric. Following the successful development of a prototype last year, the company has now completed the development of the final domestically produced product, following performance verification and reliability testing. A total of 48 standard nuclear power plant reactor coolant pump motors are currently in operation. While previously reliant entirely on imports, this localisation is expected to result in import substitution worth KRW5.5 billion (USD4.2 million) per unit, according to KHNP.
California’s fusion energy industry has the potential to support more than 40,000 jobs and bring USD125 billion to the state economy, according to the Catalyzing CA’s Fusion Advantage: Roadmap to Commercialization report produced by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. "The presence of industry titans such as General Atomics and TAE Technologies, coupled with world-leading R&D institutes like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC San Diego’s fusion cluster, positions the state as one of the world’s most promising regions for fusion commercialisation," San Diego Regional EDC said. Currently, fusion energy accounts for about 4,700 jobs across California and generates USD1.4 billion in annual economic output.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that ongoing analyses are close to completion and indicate that Bełchatów is the most suitable site for a potential second nuclear plant, Polskie Radio reported. “If a decision is made on the location of another nuclear power plant in Poland, Bełchatów will be at the top of the list,” he said on Wednesday during a meeting with residents of Piotrków Trybunalski in central Poland.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi says he expects repairs to start soon to restore external power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been relying on emergency diesel generators for the past three weeks. He said repairs are needed on both sides of the frontline several kilometres from the plant itself. He said both sides have said they want repairs to go ahead when conditions allow. He said that IAEA experts at the plant have observed the emergency generators operating and said that radiation levels remain normal for the site, and there has been no increase in the temperatures within the coolant in the reactors of the used fuel pools.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
In other news - 10/15/2025
In other news
The final simulated fuel assembly was successfully loaded into the reactor core of unit 3 at the Xudabao nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning Province on 13 October, China National Nuclear Corporation announced. “This loading process not only comprehensively verified the commissioning results of the unit 3 refueling machine prior to the cold test, but also laid a solid foundation for subsequent cold functional testing and the first fuel loading,” CNNC said. Construction of two Russian-supplied VVER-1200 reactors as Xudabao units 3 and 4 began in July 2021 and May 2022, respectively.
EnCore Energy of the USA has announced new uranium discoveries made in areas in or near existing wellfields. These discoveries have been made as a result of a major ongoing re-analysis of thousands of historic drill holes from across the Alta Mesa in-situ recovery - also known as in-situ leach - uranium project in South Texas that began in April. "This more granular and detailed evaluation has identified uranium mineralised roll fronts in at least three areas to date," enCore said. "Follow up drilling by enCore has delineated these new roll fronts with drilling continuing to determine the extents of each." One of these new roll fronts has progressed such that it has now advanced to permitting as Wellfield 3 Extension. Mineralised roll fronts have also been found overlying the past productive mineralisation in Wellfield 4 with at least two new roll fronts discovered to date.
The shielded area retrievals project at the Berkeley nuclear power plant in south-west England has reached a major milestone in its mission to safely manage intermediate level waste, Nuclear Restoration Services, a subsidiary of the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced. The team has successfully disposed of the first half of the isocans - aluminium containers holding legacy waste from post irradiation experimentation - using bespoke components designed by mechanical systems engineer, James Lamb. His innovation saved time and money while keeping the solution compatible with legacy equipment, NRS said. With six Type VI ductile cast iron container's and three MOSAIK boxes filled, the team is now preparing to tackle the next phase of waste retrieval.
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
In Other News October 14, 2025
In other news
EDF has increased its estimate of nuclear power generation in France for 2025. Initially estimated between 350-370 TWh, it is now estimated between 365-375 TWh. The estimate of nuclear power generation in France for 2026 and 2027 remains unchanged at 350-370 TWh. EDF said: "This higher nuclear power generation estimate is based on improved management of outages thanks to the ‘START 2025’ action plan implemented since 2019 aimed at improving the operational efficiency of the maintenance programme." The company noted it is "committed to ensuring a production capacity of over 400 TWh per year".
An inter-ministerial government committee has recommended opening India's nuclear power sector to up to 49% foreign direct investment, as well as proposing changes to civil liability rules to protect plant operators and cap supplier liability, according to the Economic Times. It has also made recommendations including allowing government-licensed activities related to nuclear fuel handling. The committee, co-chaired by PS Karthigeyan, joint secretary at the Department of Atomic Energy, and Ajay Talegaonkar, member of the Central Electricity Authority, includes representatives from the Department of Atomic Energy, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, NTPC, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and the power ministry.
A Chinese research team has developed a data-driven control system for tokamak plasmas that could bring sustainable fusion energy a step closer to reality, according to a paper published in Communications Physics, CGTN reported. Fusion energy’s biggest challenge is keeping the plasma stable and precisely shaped long enough for fusion reactions to produce more energy than they consume. To address this, researchers from the Southwestern Institute of Physics, working with Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Lab, built a high-fidelity, data-driven model trained entirely on historical experimental data from the Huanliu-3 tokamak - China's most advanced magnetic confinement fusion device. The model is able to accurately predict the evolution of key plasma parameters, such as current and shape, over time, while avoiding the accumulation of errors common in traditional simulations.
The excavation of the nuclear island foundation pit has been completed for unit 2 at the Bailong nuclear power plant in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, State Power Investment Corp announced. Since the excavation work was launched on 28 September, a total volume of about 66,000 cubic metres of earth were removed to form the pit. "By fully incorporating feedback from the unit 1 nuclear island excavation, systematically reviewing prerequisites and optimising construction techniques, the project completed the construction of the excavation retaining structure’s cast-in-place piles and crown beams on schedule, laying a solid foundation for the smooth progress of the unit 2 nuclear island excavation," SPIC said.
US uranium company Ur-Energy has announced that John Cash is to retire as its CEO on 12 December, and is to be succeeded by Matthew Gili, who is currently the company's president. Cash, who has been CEO since 2022, will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and said he plans to form a non-profit with the objective of exposing young adults to opportunities in science and the nuclear industry. "For the nuclear industry to respond to growing demand and realise its full potential, we must attract and retain a qualified workforce across the entire fuel cycle," Cash said. Ur-Energy is the operator of the Lost Creek uranium facility in south-central Wyoming.