Nuclear

Lured by the prospect of nearly inexhaustible source of clean energy, scientists have been investigating nuclear fusion reactors for decades, but a new facility taking shape in southern France will provide them with their biggest proving ground yet.

Radiation is famously damaging to materials, but now engineers at MIT have been surprised to discover that radiation may actually help certain alloys to self-heal, extending their useful lifetime. This could help inform future power plant designs.

ORNL has developed a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core prototype, with the ultimate goal of creating an advanced, full-sized, 3D-printed reactor with integrated sensors and controls from fewer components by 2023.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded contracts to three companies to develop mobile nuclear microreactors for military applications under a Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) initiative called Project Pele.

A new study suggests that stainless steel may not be the best choice for containing high-level nuclear waste. By simulating long-term storage conditions, it was found that the storage materials interact with each other more than previously thought.

Rolls-Royce has announced that it plans to build, install, and operate up to 15 mini-nuclear reactors in Britain that can be mass-produced in factories and assembled on site, with the first set to go online in nine years.

A new technique developed by researchers at MIT uses shock waves to remove radioactive contaminants from nuclear reactor wastewater using a process called shock electrodialysis, allowing the cleansed water to be recylced.

The structure that will house one of the largest and most ambitious energy experiments in history is now complete, with engineers working on the ITER Tokamak Building swinging their last pylon into place in readiness for the reactor's assembly stage.

During and after nuclear bomb tests, levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 spiked in the atmosphere and in our bodies. Now, researchers have used that to carbon date our immune cells, helping solve a mystery about how our immune systems age.

The Netherlands' NRG has completed a major milestone irradiation test of molten nuclear fuel salts in its High Flux Reactor north of Amsterdam.

Calder Hall, the first nuclear reactor built for industrial-scale civilian power generation and connected to a national electrical grid, has been defueled.

For the daring tippler, scientists from the University of Portsmouth have distilled an artisan "radioactive-free" vodka, branded Atomik, made from ingredients from the Exclusion Zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor site.