Week 20 of 2024

Three nuclear energy innovation news!

💻 A team of researchers led by the University of Washington successfully uses a hybrid quantum computing scheme to simulate the scattering of two neutrons. Scattering requires Monte Carlo simulations or other statistical approaches. As the mass of the colliding nuclei grows, the required computational resources become enormous. This type of phenomena, however, is particularly well suited for quantum computers.

⛽ Oak Ridge National Laboratory started examining several new fuel rods developed by GE Vernova's Global Nuclear Fuel to have a higher burn-up. These had previously been irradiated for six years in a commercial nuclear power plant. Simultaneously, a partial-length rod sample of Lightbridge Corporation's new fuel was produced a Idaho National Laboratory. It uses an alloy of depleted uranium and zirconium and is designed to have an extended operational life in existing reactors.

☀ The UK Atomic Energy Authority awards contracts worth a total of £9.6m to six organisations to advance their concepts to support fusion development. These include Full Matrix Ltd for ultrasonic inspection, the University of Manchester for digital twins, AQSORPTION Ltd and the University of Liverpool to separate hydrogen isotopes, IS-Instruments Ltd and the University of Bristol for tritium detection.

👨‍🎓 Paper of the week: "Arabidopsis transcriptomic analysis reveals cesium inhibition of root growth involves abscisic acid signaling", Planta (2024).

👉 Identification of a way for plants to gain resistance to cesium.

👇 Did you spot anything else? Let me me know!