Week 38 of 2024

Three nuclear energy innovation news!

🤑 Antares (US) is awarded three Phase 2 SBIR awards with the United States Air Force total $3.75m to accelerate the development of their microreactor. The R1 is a 300 kWe reactor designed to fit on standard 463L pallets. The reactor is fuelled by TRISO particles, with the heat transfer performed by sodium heat pipes, and a low-pressure closed nitrogen Brayton cycle for conversion.

🌏 China opens 12 nuclear research facilities and testing platforms to international scientists and institutions to enhance global cooperation. The facilities span areas such as basic nuclear research, isotope production, nuclear environment simulation, equipment testing and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. This initiative is part of an effort to deepen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and expand international collaboration.

🗑 Preliminary results of a groundbreaking study supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reveal widespread microplastic pollution across Antarctica, utilizing nuclear technologies like vibrational microspectroscopy to identify and quantify particles as small as 20 microns. The research underscores the role of nuclear technologies in addressing plastic pollution, offering innovative solutions such as plastic waste upcycling through irradiation.

👨‍🎓 Paper of the week: "First Structured Uranium-Based Monoliths Produced via Vat Photopolymerization for Nuclear Applications", Advanced Functional Materials (2024).

👉 Demonstration of the possibility to directly pattern uranium-based materials in complex structures.