We round up the recent news and updates from the world of Nuclear.
Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy, from BBC News: “European scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclear fusion – the energy process that powers the stars. The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.”
France’s Macron to detail nuclear energy roadmap this week, from Reuters: “French President Emmanuel Macron will announce later this week the number of new nuclear reactors France will build and how the country will pay for it, his finance minister said.
Macron said in November that France would build its first new nuclear reactors in decades to reduce its dependence on foreign countries for energy. He gave no details at the time, but his government has been expected to announce the construction of up to six new pressurised-water reactors.”
China and Argentina sign nuclear project deal, from World Nuclear News: “Nucleoeléctrica Argentina and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) have signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the development of the Atucha 3 nuclear power plant.”
Regulators finish design assessment of new nuclear power station, from Gov.uk: “The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency have confirmed that the UK Hualong Pressurised Water Reactor (UK HPR1000) is suitable for construction in the UK, subject to the necessary licensing, planning permission and environmental permits, following completion of their in-depth assessment of the nuclear reactor design. The UK HPR1000 is based on the Hualong One power plant, designed by China General Nuclear Group (CGN).”
Marvel Fusion’s nuclear technology gets thumbs up, from Power Engineering International: “Marvel Fusion, which was founded by European venture capitalists and scientists Moritz von der Linden, Dr Karl-Georg Schlesinger, Dr Georg Korn and Dr Pasha Shabalin, is pursuing the concept of laser driven fusion utilising ultrafast lasers and nanostructured fuel. The concept – quite different from the heated deuterium-tritium plasma approach of e.g. the European ITER project – draws on 2018 Nobel physics prize winners Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou’s development of ‘chirped pulse amplification’ as a technique for amplifying the power of a laser pulse by several orders of magnitude to over 10PW.”
