Week 14 of 2023

Three nuclear energy innovation news!

💡 Three nuclear energy innovation news this week!

🧩 EDF establishes its NUWARD subsidiary (France). The Nuward small modular reactor is based on proven pressurized water reactor technology. Each power plant will consist out of two 170 MWe reactors. The aim is to achieve first nuclear concrete for a reference plant in France in 2030.

📜 A bipartisan group introduces the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act to the US Senate. It aims to support efforts to develop and deploy new nuclear technologies by measures such as regulatory support and facilitation of the repurposing of conventional energy sites.

🚀 The China National Space Administration succesfully completes the first in-orbit test of a Stirling thermoelectric converter. The Shenzou-15 mission crew performed the test aboard the chinese space station Tiangong-3. Stirling engines are essential components of space-based nuclear power - lightweight and relatively simple systems, with quick start-up cycles, minor vibrations, and low noise.

🎓 Paper of the week: "Discovery of New Isotope U-241 and Systematic High-Precision Atomic Mass Measurements of Neutron-Rich Pa-Pu Nuclei Produced via Multinucleon Transfer Reactions" https://tinyurl.com/yj9fbkuu