Nuclear Energy News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

Step Forward in Generating Solar-Powered Hydrogen

Dec. 17, 2024 — Another advance has been made by experts in nano-scale chemistry to propel further development of sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power. Experts have now identified a novel solar cell process to potentially ...

Plasma Heating Efficiency in Fusion Devices Boosted by Metal Screens

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists have performed computer simulations confirming a technique that prevents the production of unhelpful electromagnetic waves, boosting the heat put into fusion ...

Thorium Film Could Replace Crystals in Atomic Clocks of the Near Future

Dec. 18, 2024 — Atomic clocks that excite the nucleus of thorium-229 embedded in a transparent crystal when hit by a laser beam could yield the most accurate measurements ever of time and gravity, and even rewrite some of the fundamental laws of physics. ...

Particle Research Gets Closer to Answering Why We're Here

Dec. 5, 2024 — Physicists have outlined the next 10 years of global research into the behavior of neutrinos, particles so tiny that they pass through virtually everything by the trillions every second at nearly the speed of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:38pm EST

Eyes on the Sun: Naked Thallium-205 Ion Decay Reveals History Over Millions of Years

Dec. 11, 2024 — The Sun generates its tremendous energy through the process of nuclear fusion. At the same time it releases a continuous stream of neutrinos -- ...

'Spooky Action' at a Very Short Distance: Scientists Map out Quantum Entanglement in Protons

Dec. 2, 2024 — Scientists have a new way to use data from high-energy particle smashups to peer inside protons. Their approach uses quantum information science to ...

ODS FeCrAl Alloys Endure Liquid Metal Flow at 600 °C Resembling a Fusion Blanket Environment

Nov. 25, 2024 — Researchers explored protective coatings to resist corrosion in fusion reactors. They tested -Al2O3 oxide layers on ODS alloys in a high-temperature, ...

Deciphering the Anomalous Properties of Water

Nov. 14, 2024 — Water, a molecule essential for life, has unusual properties -- known as anomalies -- that define its behavior. However, there are still many enigmas about the molecular mechanisms that would explain ...

Fermium Studied at GSI/FAIR: Researchers Investigate Nuclear Properties of Element 100 With Laser Light

Nov. 11, 2024 — Where does the periodic table of chemical elements end and which processes lead to the existence of heavy elements? Researchers report on experiments ...

Scientists Calculate Predictions for Meson Measurements

Nov. 6, 2024 — Calculations of charge distribution in mesons provide benchmark for experimental measurements and validate widely used 'factorization' method for imaging the building blocks of ...

Imaging Nuclear Shapes by Smashing Them to Smithereens

Nov. 6, 2024 — Scientists have demonstrated a new way to use high-energy particle smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to reveal subtle details about the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method is ...

Successful Experiment Paves the Way for New Element

Oct. 24, 2024 — Scientists have found an alternative way to produce atoms of the superheavy element livermorium. The new method opens up the possibility of creating another element that could be the heaviest in the ...

New AI Models of Plasma Heating Lead to Important Corrections in Computer Code Used for Fusion Research

Oct. 9, 2024 — New artificial intelligence models for plasma heating can do more than was previously thought possible, not only increasing the prediction speed 10 ...

Molecule 'Handedness' Determines the Strength of a Coupling Between Nuclear Spins

Oct. 9, 2024 — Chirality -- a geometric property that allows molecules to exist in two distinct forms that are chemically identical but are 3D mirror images of each ...

Stopping Off-the-Wall Behavior in Fusion Reactors

Oct. 7, 2024 — New experimental results suggest that sprinkling boron into a tokamak could shield the wall of the fusion vessel and prevent atoms from the wall from getting into the plasma. A new computer modeling ...

Nanopillars Create Tiny Openings in the Nucleus Without Damaging Cells

Oct. 2, 2024 — Researchers have created an array of nanopillars that can breach the nucleus of a cell -- the compartment that houses our DNA -- without damaging the cell's outer membrane. This new ...

Using Antimatter to Detect Nuclear Radiation

Oct. 1, 2024 — Discerning whether a nuclear reactor is being used to also create material for nuclear weapons is difficult, but capturing and analyzing antimatter particles has shown promise for monitoring what ...

A New and Unique Fusion Reactor

Sep. 30, 2024 — As part of the global effort to harness power from fusing plasma, scientists worked on the computer codes, engineering and physics for a new and unique fusion reactor: the SMall Aspect Ratio ...

Researchers Measure More Detailed Data on the 'Magic' N=50 Neutron Shell Closure

Sep. 27, 2024 — Researchers have found new information about the strength of the so-called magic neutron number 50 shell closure in the silver isotope chain. The new more detailed information on the properties of ...

Breakthrough in Hydrogen Research

Sep. 19, 2024 — Hydrogen is in great demand due to its promising role as a sustainable resource in the energy transition. Researchers have made an important breakthrough in the efficient and cost-effective provision ...

Shedding Light on Superconducting Disorder

Sep. 16, 2024 — The importance of disorder in physics is only matched by the difficulty to study it. For example, the remarkable properties of high-temperature superconductors are greatly affected by variations in ...

Towards the Realization of Compact and Portable Nuclear Clocks

Sep. 13, 2024 — The low-energy excited state of thorium-229 (229Th) isotope nucleus has recently gained much attention owing to it being an ideal candidate for ultra-precise nuclear clocks. Building such ...

Hair-Thin Wire to Help Simulate Cosmic Conditions

Sep. 12, 2024 — Extreme conditions prevail inside stars and planets. The pressure reaches millions of bars, and it can be several million degrees hot. Sophisticated methods make it possible to create such states of ...

Quantum Researchers Cause Controlled 'Wobble' in the Nucleus of a Single Atom

Sep. 12, 2024 — Researchers have been able to initiate a controlled movement in the very heart of an atom. They caused the atomic nucleus to interact with one of the electrons in the outermost shells of the atom. ...

Probing the Depths of Complex Electron Shells

Sep. 5, 2024 — The heavy metal uranium is, besides its radioactive reputation, known for its intricate chemistry and diverse bonding behaviors. Scientists utilized synchrotron light to explore the unique properties ...

Major Leap for Nuclear Clock Paves Way for Ultraprecise Timekeeping

Sep. 4, 2024 — Nuclear clocks would measure time based on changes inside an atom's nucleus, which would make them less sensitive to external disturbances and potentially more accurate than atomic clocks. These ...

Assorted, Distinctive Behavior of Molten Uranium Salt Revealed by Neutrons

Sep. 3, 2024 — New research addresses the fundamental science necessary to increase the efficiency of nuclear energy. Researchers have now documented the unique chemistry dynamics and structure of high-temperature ...

Bubbling, Frothing and Sloshing: Long-Hypothesized Plasma Instabilities Finally Observed

Aug. 27, 2024 — Scientists have observed new details of how plasma interacts with magnetic fields, potentially providing insight into the formation of enormous plasma jets that stretch between the ...

Quenching the Intense Heat of a Fusion Plasma May Require a Well-Placed Liquid Metal Evaporator

Aug. 21, 2024 — New fusion simulations of the inside of a tokamak reveal the ideal spot for a 'cave' with flowing liquid lithium is near the bottom by the center stack, as the evaporating metal particles ...

New Heaviest Exotic Antimatter Nucleus

Aug. 21, 2024 — Scientists studying the tracks of particles streaming from six billion collisions of atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) -- an 'atom smasher' that recreates the ...

World's Highest-Performance Superconducting Wire Segment

Aug. 7, 2024 — Researchers report that they have fabricated the world's highest-performing high-temperature superconducting wire segment while making the price-performance metric significantly more ...

Researchers Dig Deeper Into Stability Challenges of Nuclear Fusion -- With Mayonnaise

Aug. 6, 2024 — Researchers are using mayonnaise to study and address the stability challenges of nuclear fusion by examining the phases of Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Their innovative approach aims to inform the ...

Fresh Light on the Path to Net Zero

July 26, 2024 — Researchers have used magnetic fields to reveal the mystery of how light particles split. Scientists are closer to giving the next generation of solar cells a powerful boost by integrating a process ...

A New Way to Make Element 116 Opens the Door to Heavier Atoms

July 23, 2024 — Researchers have successfully made super-heavy element 116 using a beam of titanium-50. That milestone sets the team up to attempt making the heaviest element yet: ...