Author: Fission Today

More than a decade after its launch, the Paks II investment is still in an early, uncertain stage, despite the fact that construction has formally begun. The project was initiated as a political decision in 2014, with questionable economic justification. Compared to the original deadlines, the investment has now accumulated an approximately 10-year delay. The 2026 “first concrete” milestone represents more of a formal change in status than real progress. Costs have increased significantly, and the total investment cost remains unknown. Perger András reports. A birds eye view of the site on 17 October 2024. Credits: Paks II. Ltd, CC-BY-ND…

California-headquartered Pacific Fusion announced that a pulsed-power prototype designed and built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has surpassed 3,000 shots under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the company. Pacific Fusion on July 16 said this marks a key milestone in the development of high-gain fusion, and provides a practical example of government-industry partnership at work. The prototype, called Sirius, is an impedance-matched Marx generator (IMG), which is a new pulsed-power architecture designed to deliver short, powerful electrical pulses efficiently and repeatedly. It is the same core technology Pacific Fusion is now scaling for its own fusion system.…

Holtec Files with SEC for IPO NJ Launches Procurement Process for 1,100 MW of Nuclear Power Hyundai E&C, FANCO to Collaborate on SMR Project Blue Energy Gets Equity Deal with Constellation for Shipyard Construction Methods  Newcleo Files Regulatory Engagement Plant with NRC TerraPower Sets Export Goals for the UK Realta Fusion Selects Wisconsin Site for HQ and R&D facility Inertia Fusion Energy Company Opens HQ in Livermore Japanese Startup Helical Fusion Signs Construction Agreement  Fusion Industry Attracts Record Annual Funding of $4.48 Billion Holtec Files with SEC for IPO Holtec Nuclear Corporation announced that it has publicly filed a registration…

In June 2026, the Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition (QNFC) published a policy paper “From Harm to Justice: A Needs-Based Assessment of Nuclear-Affected Communities in Kazakhstan and Policy Pathways for Implementing Articles 6 and 7 of the TPNW”. ICAN hosted a webinar to launch the report on 2 July 2026 which you can watch here. This policy paper is shaped by lived experience, community knowledge, and a shared commitment to nuclear justice. It is not a conventional policy paper written solely from institutional or academic distance. Developed with care and responsibility towards every human being, animal, ecosystem, and the Qazaq steppe that has endured…

The Men Who Own the War Now Run It Different countries, different uniforms, one profession and one move: from owning the assets of war to commanding the state that pays for them. Every European budget hardens Moscow’s conviction that it is being encircled, which justifies the next budget, around and around, while the men who profit count their dividends and call it security. That was true of one chancellor. It is true of an entire class of men who have stopped seeing daylight between the public interest and their own book, because across their whole careers there never was any. by Thomas S.…

Proxima Fusion, a Munich, Germany-based group that is considered among the leading European companies working on fusion energy, said it completed a €411 million ($468 million) funding round. Proxima on July 7 said investors included technology giant Google along with global energy company RWE. Proxima on Tuesday said the latest funding, which was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, brings the company’s valuation to €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) and establishes it as the best-financed fusion company in Europe. Proxima was founded in April 2023, and spun out of the well-known Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. The company…

Four Micro Reactors Meet Criticality Milestones Crossing DOE’s Finish Line TRISO Fuel Delivered to INL for Radiant’s Kaleidos Reactor Experiment Quadrant Nuclear & INL Partner on HALEU Fuel  Applied Atomics Licenses BWXT’s mPower SMR Design Standard Nuclear Announces Launch of its Initial Public Offering  NRC Proposes Comprehensive Modernization of Reactor Licensing  NRC Proposes Modernization of Radiation Protection Rules Four Micro Reactors Meet Criticality Milestones Image: Google Gemini Pro On 07/04/26 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy Reactor Pilot Program, Aalo Atomics’ advanced reactor design, Aalo-X, was the fourth firm to successfully complete a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration. Earlier…

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Article 8, paragraph 4, states that a review conference shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations five years after entry into force of the treaty.  The first review conference will take place 30 November – 4 December, 2026 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  Below you will find the official convocation note issued by the Secretary-General on 10 July 2026. Source link

Trump Sweetens the Nuclear Energy Pot, But Will Anyone Play? By Thomas A. Firey, July 6, 2026, Last week, the Trump administration announced it is offering $17.5 billion in financing to build five new two-reactor nuclear power plants featuring Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 large reactor. The offer comes on the heels of last November’s Trump announcement of an $80 billion deal with Westinghouse intended to jump-start a fleet of new US reactors. Government doling out money (and other breaks) to nuclear power is old hat. But the two announcements, taken together, put a new spin on the practice of politicians picking winners and losers in the marketplace: Under…

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed a major rewrite of its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules, opening yet another front in the agency’s fast-moving campaign to modernize as directed by a series of recent executive orders, statutory NEPA amendments, and a Supreme Court precedent. The rule proposed on July 7, “Implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act,” seeks to revise 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC’s environmental review framework for domestic licensing and related regulatory actions, to focus NEPA reviews on impacts the agency has authority to regulate rather than broader project effects outside its licensing authority. The…