On August 21-23, 2023, a meeting was held at NCBJ as part of work on the preparation of the basic research project of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor HTGR-POLA (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor - POLski Atomowy). This was the next stage of reviewing the documentation provided by JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) under the contract concluded in March 2023 for cooperation in the preparation of the design of this reactor. The purpose of the talks was also to adapt the documentation provided to the requirements set by the Polish design team and to adapt the reactor design to the research, experimental and application requirements of the HTGR reactor for NCBJ and the Polish market.

Part of the POLATOM Radioisotope Center operating at NCBJ is the Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (LWR – Laboratorium Wzorców Radioaktywności) accredited by the Polish Center for Accreditation. The technical competence of LWR employees is confirmed by the fact that the laboratory is the depositary of the State Standard for the Unit of Measurement of Radionuclide Radioactive Activity. Employees devote a significant part of their time to monitoring the activity and level of radioactive contamination (radionuclide purity) of radiochemical preparations and radiopharmaceuticals produced in OR POLATOM. They also calibrate dozens of activity meters located in hospitals and diagnostic centers throughout Poland. Scientific and research work is also carried out at LWR. The latest published results concern precise measurements of the activity of 177Lu and 225Ac solutions and the half-life of these radionuclides.

In the study, the results of which have just been published in the journal "Molecules", scientists have shown that exposing non-small cell lung cancer cells to appropriately selected amino acids can increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy based on local emission of alpha radiation by neutron-activated boron. The so-called BNCT therapy is mainly used to treat particularly sensitive organs, e.g. the brain. The first author of the work is a doctoral student of RadFarm studies conducted at NCBJ.

On September 26, 2023, NCBJ was visited by Mr. David Austin Wright, Commissioner of the NRC - the American Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The guest was accompanied by representatives of the Commission and the US Embassy in Warsaw, including the deputy head of mission, Mr. Daniel J. Lawton. The guests met with the Institute's management, learned information about our main research priorities and visited the MARIA reactor.

The conceptual design of the Polish high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR-POLA), presented in June in Warsaw, was presented last week (September 27) at the international nuclear forum, at the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

On September 23, during the conference in Warsaw entitled "Directly (wprost) about science. From basic research to development work. The Polish system of higher education and science in the era of modern challenges. Prospects, opportunities, challenges", prof. Wacław Gudowski from the National Center for Nuclear Research received the Eagle "Wprost" award in the "Business and science" category. The award was granted for outstanding scientific achievements and teaching activities in the field of nuclear energy, as well as for involvement in the development of scientific cooperation between Poland and Sweden.

Scientists and Engineers of the NCBJ Materials Research Laboratory specialize in analyzes of mechanical, structural and thermal properties and non-destructive tests of modern materials intended for use in Generation IV nuclear reactors. The recently completed modernization of the Laboratory will allow for testing and certification of materials that will be used to construct the first Polish high-temperature gas-cooled reactor – HTGR.

On October 16, 2023, a change took place in the position of Deputy Director for Science at NCBJ. The former director, Professor Ewa Rondio, passed on her duties to Professor Agnieszka Pollo, an astrophysicist who has been successfully leading the rapidly developing Department of Astrophysics.

The team of researchers from France, Poland, and the United Kingdom has proposed a new hypothesis suggesting that interactions between dark matter and neutrinos could shed light on certain anomalies in the distribution of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The details of the analysis have been described in articles published in the prestigious scientific journals, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters and Physics of the Dark Universe.

On October 27, after a modernization break, the MARIA research reactor resumed operation. Thus, the long-awaited production of radioisotopes began again, mainly for medical purposes. In a special letter, the director of NCBJ thanked the people involved in the complex modernization works.