Irradiated lead test rods containing Westinghouse's EnCore advanced fuel technology have arrived at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory where they will undergo a year of testing to support regulatory licensing efforts. The fuel is being developed under the DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an industry-led effort looking to commercialise new fuels within the decade.

Fusion energy developer Helion Energy has broken ground on a new facility in Everett, Washington, which will house its seventh generation fusion prototype, known as Polaris. Construction of the facility, which will also produce helium-3 fuel, is expected to be completed in early-2022. Meanwhile, General Fusion and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories are to collaborate on the development of tritium extraction techniques for use in commercial fusion power plants.

Russia's Rosatom has launched construction works for a research reactor facility in Bolivia, which is part of a nuclear technology research and development centre in the city of El Alto. A ceremony held yesterday to mark the pouring of first concrete was attended by Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora and Rosatom First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business Kirill Komarov.

Three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system for deep space missions have been selected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy. The reactor will be a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilise high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.

The European Commission has adopted the Euratom Work Programme 2021-2022, implementing the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025, which complements Horizon Europe. The Work Programme outlines the objectives and specific topic areas that will receive EUR300 million (USD355 million) in funding.

A new technology using drones is set to be deployed for the remote monitoring of radiation measurements at former uranium mining and processing areas in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with gamma spectrometers have been developed by a German consortium in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and EDF have announced their plans to cooperate on nuclear energy R&D under a new Memorandum of Understanding, which includes exploring the production of 'green hydrogen' powered by nuclear energy.
 

Oklo Inc has announced a USD2 million cost-share award from the US Department of Energy supported by the Technology Commercialisation Fund. Oklo is matching USD1 million in funds in a public-private partnership with the DOE and Argonne National Laboratory. The TCF project will enable the commercialisation of advanced fuel recycling capabilities by utilising electrorefining technology.

The UK must develop advanced nuclear fuels and fuel cycle technologies in order to meet its clean energy ambitions, according to a new series of roadmaps released by the National Nuclear Laboratory. The roadmaps, it says, will enable UK policy makers and industry to plan for the future of nuclear in delivering net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group of the Netherlands will conduct a programme of irradiation tests on Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation's proprietary Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated fuel at the High Flux Reactor in Petten. The aim of the tests is to demonstrate the safety of the fuel for the 20-year lifespan of the USNC's Micro Modular Reactor.

Fusion energy developer Helion Energy said yesterday it has become the first private company to announce exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius in its sixth fusion generator prototype, Trenta. It also announced its Trenta prototype recently finished a 16-month testing campaign, completing almost 10,000 high-power pulses.

Construction of the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory has begun near Jiuquan City in China's Gansu province, the China Atomic Energy Authority has announced. The laboratory - which will be situated in granite up to 560 metres below ground level in the Gobi desert - will be used to test the suitability of the area for the long-term storage of the high-level radioactive waste.