Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour
Orange bell pepper from Central Market = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 91 nanosieverts per hour
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Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 126 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 130 nanosieverts per hour
Iceberg lettuce from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 119 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 105 nanosieverts per hour
A team of researchers at CERN and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a radical solution that could transform how we manage spent nuclear fuel.
This new tech addresses a major problem with nuclear power. Spent nuclear fuel keeps piling up. Their study was published in Nature. It outlines how this approach could help generate clean energy for the future.
In a world increasingly looking for clean energy, nuclear power still holds major promise. However, it comes with one seriously sticky problem: radioactive waste that remains dangerous for thousands of years.
The innovation outlined in the new study is a high-tech system that utilizes powerful gamma rays, created at CERN’s Gamma Factory, to “transmute” long-lived radioactive waste into safer forms while also generating usable energy.
Nuclear fission is one of the most efficient and low-pollution power sources we have. It currently supplies about twenty-five percent of the world’s clean electricity.
But the leftover radioactive waste from the operation of nuclear reactors, particularly long-lived fission products (LLFPs), can remain dangerous for thousands of years. Safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel has become a growing challenge as nuclear power ramps up to meet clean energy goals.
The scientists are proposing a new system they call the Advanced Nuclear Energy System (ANES). It is powered by the Gamma Factory’s ultra-intense beams. These gamma rays generate a flood of neutrons that can trigger a reaction in LLFPs, transforming them into stable elements, a process called transmutation.
This reduces the long-term risk of radioactive waste and also produces thermal energy in the process.
The proposed ANES technology could generate up to five hundred megawatts of thermal power which is enough to supply its own energy needs and more. And because it doesn’t require separating isotopes beforehand, it is far more feasible than current alternatives.
What makes this discovery so revolutionary is its dual impact in handling nuclear waste. Over a twenty-year operation period, this system could reduce the effective half-life of dangerous isotopes from tens of thousands of years down to just one hundred years. That means significantly shorter cooling times and less risk for future generations.
The Gamma Factory’s photon-beam-driven system is more energy efficient than traditional proton-based methods, which require more power to operate. It still faces infrastructure and scaling challenges, but the potential is massive. This is especially true for countries looking to embrace nuclear power without inheriting a nuclear waste crisis.
This technology is still in the development stage, but the researchers are optimistic. When fully developed, this system could be deployed within a few decades, helping reduce the burden of nuclear waste while supporting clean energy production.
The problem of the storage and disposal of long lived dangerous spent nuclear fuel is one of the most important challenges of the use of nuclear power. There have been many suggestions of how to safely deal with the waste but none of them have been widely adopted.
This gamma-powered breakthrough reminds us: The cleaner future we’re dreaming of isn’t just wishful thinking, it’s already under construction.
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Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 80 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour
Green onion from Central Market = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 92 nanosieverts per hour
Paris-headquartered Newcleo reactor developer has received a favorable opinion from the council of the Aube Department region of eastern France to sell a piece of land in the Nogentais area, which could host the fast neutron reactor developer’s mixed-oxide fuel manufacturing facility.
Newcleo plans to invest in a mixed uranium/plutonium oxide (MOX) plant to produce fuel for its small modular lead-cooled fast reactors. The MOX fuel would be produced from nuclear materials recovered through the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. In June of 2022 the company announced it had contracted France’s Orano for feasibility studies on the possible establishment of a MOX production plant.
The Aube Department council has now agreed to sell land that it owns which is located in the municipalities of Pont-sur-Seine and Marnay-sur-Seine to Newcleo on which to construct the MOX plant.
Designed as a modular facility, the MOX plant is expected to scale its production capacity as required. The project would represent an initial investment of two hundred billion dollars. It could ultimately consist of three production lines. The first line, scheduled for 2030, would involve up to two thousand people during construction and generate eight hundred and fifty direct jobs. By 2040, an additional investment of three and three quarters billion dollars could enable the creation of two more lines, bringing the total number of direct jobs at the site to seventeen hundred.
In March, Newcleo announced it had acquired a site in Chusclan in the Gard department in southern France where it will build an R&D innovation and training center supporting the development of its future fuel manufacturing and assembly facility in France.
At the same time, Newcleo is moving ahead with another strategic project in France: They are constructing a demonstration LFR-AS-30 reactor, with a power output of thirty megawatts, which it plans to site in Indre-et-Loire in the Chinon Vienne et Loire community of municipalities in western France. This demonstration reactor would offer, in addition to electricity generation, advanced research services and the production of medical isotopes. The company continues administrative procedures in close cooperation with local elected officials, aiming for commissioning by 2031.
Newcleo said it plans to submit construction authorization applications for both the MOX fuel facility and the demonstration reactor by the end of 2026.- Newcleo describes these two projects as describes as interdependent.
Stefano Buono is the Newcleo founder and CEO. He said, “France has all the assets to develop a true circular economy in nuclear energy, serving national and European energy sovereignty and industrial competitiveness. By setting up our future fuel manufacturing facility in the Aube, we would demonstrate that fourth-generation nuclear can transform what is today considered waste – spent fuel from other reactors – into a strategic resource for Europe. Our project illustrates our deep belief: through innovation and close collaboration between public and private stakeholders, France can become the leader of an innovative and export-oriented European nuclear sector.”
The U.S. has been working on the construction of a MOX facility at the Savannah River Site for decades. A contract termination notice was issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in 2018. In March of this year, the NNSA issued a contract expiration order to extend the construction termination date issued in 2018.t
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Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 52 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 95 nanosieverts per hour
Ginger root from Central Market = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control has given permission for the restart of Unit 3 at the Tihange nuclear power plant following a maintenance outage in preparation for the unit’s operation for a further ten years.
Belgium’s federal law of the 31st of January 2003 required the phase-out of the use of nuclear power for electricity generation in the country. Under that policy, Doel Reactor 1 was originally scheduled to be taken out of service on its 40th anniversary which was the 15th of February 2015. However, the law was amended in 2013 and 2015 to provide for Doel Reactor 1 to remain operational for an additional ten years. Doel Reactor 3 was closed in September 2022 and Tihange Reactor 2 at the end of January 2023. Reactor 1 of the Tihange plant is set to shut in October this year, with Doel Reactor 2 following in December.
The country’s last two reactors – Doel Reactor 4 and Tihange Reactor 3 – were scheduled to close in November 2025. However, following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 the government and Electrabel began negotiating the feasibility and terms for the operation of the reactors for a further ten years, to 2035, with a final agreement reached in December, with a balanced risk allocation.
For the continued operation of Doel Reactor 4 and Tihange Reactor 3, Electrabel had to submit an extensive LTO (Long Term Operation) report with safety studies and an action plan to further increase the safety of the youngest reactors. This file was submitted in December 2024 for both reactors.
Tihange Reactor 3 was taken offline on the 5th of April for a so-called “LTO overhaul” – an extensive inspection and maintenance period with a view to safe long-term operation of the reactor.
After a thorough analysis, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) and its technical subsidiary Bel V have determined that the reactor meets the conditions for a safe restart. Tihange Reactor 3 will be restarted in the coming days.
FANC said, “In recent years, intensive consultations have already taken place between FANC and Electrabel, which means that the proposed action plan has already largely met the expectations of FANC.”
In the first half of 2025, FANC conducted a thorough analysis of the LTO files for Tihange Reactor 3 and Doel Reactor 4 and provided the results to Electrabel in June. FANC requested a number of additional adjustments to the action plan. These including additional studies, clarification of certain action points and accelerated implementation of a number of planned actions. The action plan for Tihange Reactor 3 has now been completed and approved in this way.
FANC noted that during the LTO overhaul, a portion of the action plan was already implemented (for example, testing, inspections and preventive replacement of obsolete components). The remaining measures in the action plan will be finished within a period of three years, by September 2028 at the latest. FANC and Bel V will continue to monitor implementation.
Doel Reactor 4 was taken offline on the 30th of June for its LTO overhaul. As with Tihange Reactor 3, its restart requires approval of the action plan, and a positive assessment of the actions carried out. The restart of Doel Reactor 4 is scheduled for the1st of November at the latest.
In May of this year, Belgium’s federal parliament voted to repeal the 2003 law for the phase-out of nuclear power and banning the construction of new nuclear generating capacity.
FANC has called for “clarity to be provided in the course of this legislative term on a possible extension of the operation of Doel Reactor 4 and Tihange Reactor 3 after 2035. This will allow the necessary safety analyses and preparatory steps to be started in good time.”
