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Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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August 2026
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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.
May 9–13, 2027
15th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, & Human-Machine Interface Technologies and the 9th International Symposium on Future I&C for Nuclear Power Plants
Salt Lake City, UT|Hilton Salt Lake City Center
This conference marks a premier milestone as the joint conference of 15th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control & Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT 2027) and 9th International Symposium on Future I&C for Nuclear Power Plants (ISOFIC 2027).
Organized by the Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls Divisions (HFICD) of American Nuclear Society (ANS) and the Korean Nuclear Society (KNS), this joint meeting serves as the definitive global forum for nuclear I&C and human factors engineering professionals. This collaboration brings together industry leaders, academic researchers, and regulatory experts to explore the current state of technology, exchange critical insights, and shape the future of the field.
The conference invites the submission of full-length technical papers across a broad range of disciplines, including: Instrumentation & Control (I&C), Human Factors Engineering, Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and Advanced Modeling and Simulation.
All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process and will be published in the formal conference proceedings. Sessions will be organized into podium presentations, technical panels, and student competitions.
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