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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
IAEA again raises global nuclear power projections
Noting recent momentum behind nuclear power, the International Atomic Energy Agency has revised up its projections for the expansion of nuclear power, estimating that global nuclear operational capacity will more than double by 2050—reaching 2.6 times the 2024 level—with small modular reactors expected to play a pivotal role in this high-case scenario.
IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report Energy, Electricity, and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050 at the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.
In the report’s high-case scenario, nuclear electrical generating capacity is projected to increase to from 377 GW at the end of 2024 to 992 GW by 2050. In a low-case scenario, capacity rises 50 percent, compared with 2024, to 561 GW. SMRs are projected to account for 24 percent of the new capacity added in the high case and for 5 percent in the low case.
L. El-Guebaly, P. Wilson, D. Paige, ARIES Team, Z-Pinch Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | January 2006 | Pages 62-73
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-2
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The issue of radioactive waste management presents a top challenge for the nuclear industry. As an alternative to recycling or disposal in repositories, many countries are proceeding successfully with the process of developing clearance guidelines that allow solids and building rubble containing traces of radioisotopes to be cleared from regulatory control and unconditionally released to the commercial market after a specific storage period. With the emergence of new clearance standards, we took the initiative to compare U.S. to European and other international limits. This exercise is proving valuable in understanding the differences between the clearance standards and their implications for the radwaste management of fusion power plants. While clearance standards now exist for most radionuclides that are mainly important to the fission industry, no such standards are in place for many radionuclides of interest to fusion facilities. Before fusion penetrates the energy market, fusion-specific standards should be developed to address the safe release of fusion materials with trace levels of radioactive contamination.