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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Copper melting behavior at extreme temperatures could inform fusion materials
Using SLAC’s electron camera, researchers recorded timestamps of solid copper atoms (orange) as they melted (yellow) after being blasted with laser heat. This graphic shows how copper atoms changed over a period of several femtoseconds (millionths of a billionth of a second), notated here as fractions of a picosecond. Instead of the predicted collapse, the researchers saw a gradual melting. (Image: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has announced researchers have conducted experiments testing how copper melts under extreme conditions, such as those it might be exposed to in a fusion machine. The results, published in Nature Communications, found that a copper thin film was more resilient to melting than models had predicted, uncovering molecular dynamics that had been missing from calculations.
“These results greatly improve the simulations we use to predict which materials have the best shot at surviving the extreme conditions of future fusion reaction chambers,” said Mianzhen Mo, the SLAC staff scientist who led the research.
November 15–18, 2026
Phoenix, AZ|Arizona Grand Resort & Spa
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The International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP) provides a forum for leaders of the nuclear industry to exchange information, present results from their work, review the state of the industry, and discuss future directions and needs for the deployment of new nuclear power plant systems around the world. ICAPP will gather industry leaders in several invited lectures in plenary sessions. ICAPP 2026 will be held as an international embedded topical meeting during the 2026 ANS Winter Conference & Expo, and the registration fee will give access to both conferences.
The International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP) provides a forum for leaders of the nuclear industry to exchange information, present results from their work, review the state of the industry, and discuss future directions and needs for the deployment of new nuclear power plant systems around the world. This Congress welcomes the submission of full-length technical papers that will be peer reviewed and, if presented, published.
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ICAPP 2026 Call for Papers
ICAPP 2026 Abstract Template
ICAPP Full Paper Template
ICAPP LaTeX Paper Template
