ENS elects new President – Prof. Emilio Minguez On 5 December the ENS General Assembly elected Prof. Emilio Minguez Torres as the new President of the European Nuclear Society (ENS). Prof. Minguez will assume his duties as ENS President in April 2020, replacing incumbent President Alastair Laird. Mr Laird will continue to support the ENS…
IAEA announces peer review service for research reactors The IRRUR review mission is designed to assist IAEA Member States in improving the utilization of research reactors facilities. The IRRUR service is a holistic IAEA peer review conducted by a team of international experts who have direct experience in research reactors and with a broad scientific,…
Seeing Cancer Cells, Killing Cancer Cells Using molecules to safely carry radioactive materials inside the human body is helping physicians get more accurate images of tumours and more effectively eliminate cancer cells. This method of combining therapeutic and diagnostic uses of radiopharmaceuticals is called theranostics. It’s one of the latest advances in cancer care and one…
Enhancing Food Quality Using Irradiation How to prevent food contamination and waste? Irradiation is a safe and reliable solution, improving food preservation, as well as agricultural technologies and methods. The technology can be used to destroy microbes that cause food poisoning, or to help keep food fresher for longer because it reduces the numbers of…
Steps forward for the ENEA Research Project The Italian government agency ENEA (the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) has begun the detailed planning for a fusion divertor tokamak test (DTT) reactor. The project to build a research centre near Rome will cost approximately €500m, putting Italy at the forefront of…
IAEA is sending equipment to detect COVID-19 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is dispatching a first batch of equipment to more than 40 countries to enable them to use a nuclear-derived technique to rapidly detect the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Dozens of laboratories in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean will receive…
VTT to develop SMR for district heating VTT Technical Research Center in Finland has already begun the first phase of a project to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) for district heat production in Finland. This project also creates the opportunity to develop a new Finnish industrial sector around the SMR technology and the production…
Remix fuel is being tested by Rosenergoatom Rosenergoatom is testing the Remix fuel at Balakovo-3 nuclear plant, operated by Rosatom’s subsidiary. Remix (regenerated mixture) fuel is a combination of mixed-oxide (Mox) fuel and fuel with a mix of fresh and recycled uranium. It allows to save around 22% of the natural uranium, the developers estimate. The…
Irradiated Vaccines for Animal Health and Food Security Irradiation is a safe and reliable solution for many problems, related to agriculture, food, animal and human health. Vaccines, in animals just like in people, activate an immunological response that helps the body prepare to fight off a future disease. Some vaccinations use live microorganisms, and radiations…
FiR-1 decommissioning ready to start VTT Research Centre and Fortum have agreed on a partnership to decommission the first Finnish research reactor FiR-1. The FIR 1 research reactor was commissioned in 1962 and operated until 2015. It has played a key-role in several projects, like the study of lunar rocks, gold prospecting and cancer treatments…