Author: Fission Today

How can you use science to build a better gingerbread house?That was something Miranda Schwacke spent a lot of time thinking about. The MIT graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) is part of Kitchen Matters, a group of grad students who use food and kitchen tools to explain scientific concepts through short videos and outreach events. Past topics included why chocolate “seizes,” or becomes difficult to work with when melting (spoiler: water gets in), and how to make isomalt, the sugar glass that stunt performers jump through in action movies.Two years ago, when the group was making a…

Radiation safety is a cornerstone of nuclear safety, playing a vital role across domains such as nuclear engineering, space exploration, medical physics, and various industrial applications1. In nuclear facilities, shielding is essential not only because of particles-induced activation structural materials—which leads to the emission of penetrating photon radiation (mostly gamma radiation)—but also because of its direct implications for personnel safety and long-term occupational health2. The effectiveness of shielding design directly affects exposure risks and is thus a critical determinant of facility safety compliance. Furthermore, shielding designs significantly influences the economic efficiency and overall feasibility of facility construction3. As such, accurate…

Russia says it awaits an answer from the US on New START as nuclear treaty ticks down. By Guy Faulconbridge and Lucy Papachristou, December 10, 2025, New START expires on February 5 Russia awaits an answer from US, top official says Putin has proposed keeping the treaty’s limits Trump has said it is a good idea MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Russia on Wednesday said it was still awaiting a formal answer from Washington on President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to jointly stick to the last remaining Russian-U.S. arms control treaty, which expires in less than two months. New START, which runs out on February…

This year’s climate summit in Belem did not deliver necessary progress to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Similarly, the EU’s contribution to the needed global emissions reductions by 2035 are not at the level required. The EU can make up for these failures by starting with the development of an EU roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, in line with its (failed) demand to get a global roadmap in the Belem conclusions. Wendel Trio reports. Credits: DOERS | Shutterstock, All rights reserved. The 2025 climate summit, COP30, which took place in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem, brought little progress…

Questions and Answers:  What is the goal of the Fission Surface Power system? The system is intended to provide reliable, sustained electrical power on the lunar surface to support future missions and enable the development of a lunar economy. Which technical capabilities does NASA emphasize? NASA highlights automated operation, fault detection and recovery, restart capability without external power, adherence to wire and cable derating standards, and support for high-power user loads through multiple 120 VDC connector ports. What is the timeline for feedback and engagement? Comments are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on 12 December 2025. Virtual one-on-one sessions will take place…

Britain’s AI boom is running straight into an energy wall, and nuclear power was supposed to act as its crutch to get around it.Instead, the government has hit pause, just as data centre demand is set to explode, leading investors wondering whether the UK risks talking itself out of its opportunity.Recent analysis from the Nuclear Industry Association and Oxford Economics warned that data-centre electricity demand will jump more than fivefold by 2030, swallowing nearly nine per cent of the UK’s total power use.The AI labs and hyperscalers behind that surge want plug in-ready, 24/7 power, all within two years. Britain…

Quenching, a powerful heat transfer mechanism, is remarkably effective at transporting heat away. But in extreme environments, like nuclear power plants and aboard spaceships, a lot rides on the efficiency and speed of the process.It’s why Marco Graffiedi, a fifth-year doctoral student at MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), is researching the phenomenon to help develop the next generation of spaceships and nuclear plants.Growing up in small-town ItalyGraffiedi’s parents encouraged a sense of exploration, giving him responsibilities for family projects even at a young age. When they restored a countryside cabin in a small town near Palazzolo, in…

China plans to launch commercial operations at the world’s first small modular reactor (SMR) to generate nuclear energy as early as in the first half of 2026, according to the president of the China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy. The Linglong One reactor was the first SMR to be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016.  Linglong One, based in Hainan province in China, earlier this year completed its primary circuit cold functional test, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said in October. “Linglong One is the first commercial onshore small modular reactor worldwide to pass the International Atomic Energy…

One of the highest-risk components of nuclear waste is iodine-129 (I-129), which stays radioactive for millions of years and accumulates in human thyroids when ingested. In the U.S., nuclear waste containing I-129 is scheduled to be disposed of in deep underground repositories, which scientists say will sufficiently isolate it.Meanwhile, across the globe, France routinely releases low-level radioactive effluents containing iodine-129 and other radionuclides into the ocean. France recycles its spent nuclear fuel, and the reprocessing plant discharges about 153 kilograms of iodine-129 each year, under the French regulatory limit.Is dilution a good solution? What’s the best way to handle spent…

Students enrolled in MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program recently collaborated across academic disciplines to design and construct a solar-powered charging station. Positioned in a quiet campus courtyard, the station provides the MIT community with climate-friendly power for phones, laptops, and tablets.Its installation marked the “first time a cross-departmental team of undergraduates designed, created, and installed on campus a green technology artifact for the public good, as part of a class they took for credit,” says Amitava “Babi” Mitra, NEET founding executive director.The project was very on-brand for the NEET program, which centers interdisciplinary, cross-departmental, and project-centric scholarship with…