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Dust: Trapped by a laser or threatening ITER, it’s making headlines

September 17, 2024, 7:02AMNuclear News

An optically trapped microparticle in high vacuum is visible as a white dot levitated between two lenses, which are used to focus and collect invisible infrared laser light used to trap the particle. (Photo: DOE/Yale Wright Lab)

Start talking about dust in a vacuum, and some people will think of household chores. But dust has featured in recent nuclear science and engineering headlines in curious ways: ITER is deploying oversized dust covers inspired by space satellites in the south of France, while at Yale University, researchers have watched every move of a dust-sized particle levitating in a laser beam for telltale twitches that indicate radioactive decay.

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From SPARC to ARC: CFS prepares for a first-of-a-kind fusion plant

February 27, 2026, 3:00PMNuclear News

Commonwealth Fusion Systems makes no small plans. The company wants to build a 400-MWe magnetic confinement fusion power plant called ARC near Richmond, Va., and begin operating it in the...

The battle against New World screwworm continues

February 27, 2026, 7:21AMNuclear News

Last year, the state of Texas, in partnership with several arms of the federal government, mounted a major response to the New World screwworm (NWS)—a parasitic fly spreading through...

Washington legislators look to nuclear

February 26, 2026, 7:19AMNuclear News

It has been an unusually busy week in the world of West Coast nuclear legislative momentum. In California, a bill is aiming to effectively repeal the state’s nuclear moratorium, while in...

Jefferson Lab awarded $8M for accelerator technology to enable transmutation

February 25, 2026, 3:51PMNuclear News

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is leading research supported by two Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) grants aimed at developing...

Hanford exhaust stack demolished

February 24, 2026, 1:12PMNuclear News

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management recently announced that, with the help of contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company, it has completed the safe demolition of...

INL teams with Nvidia in Prometheus project to accelerate nuclear deployment

February 23, 2026, 7:21AMNuclear News

Idaho National Laboratory and computer chip maker Nvidia have announced a public-private partnership to advance nuclear energy deployment through artificial intelligence. According to INL, the...

Gov. Evers announces siting study for new Wisconsin nuclear

February 20, 2026, 12:37PMNuclear News

During his State of the State address on February 17, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced the launch of a new nuclear siting study that will be undertaken by a partnership between the Public...

Fusion roundup: Helion sets temperature record; Inertia raises $450M

February 18, 2026, 2:13PMNuclear News

Two start-ups working to commercialize fusion energy made headlines last week. Helion Energy announced that its Polaris prototype fusion energy machine recently demonstrated measurable...

Ward250 reactor rides cargo to Utah

February 18, 2026, 9:42AMNuclear News

A public-private partnership between the Departments of Defense and Energy and Valar Atomics marked a milestone over the weekend when Valar’s Ward250 microreactor was transported (without...

Godzilla is helping ITER prepare for tokamak assembly

February 4, 2026, 7:24AMNuclear News

Many people are familiar with Godzilla as a giant reptilian monster that emerged from the sea off the coast of Japan, the product of radioactive contamination. These days, there is a new...

Dust: Trapped by a laser or threatening ITER, it’s making headlines

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