nuclear energy

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Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant May Be Revived

Owner of mothballed plant, site of infamous 1979 accident, is in talks to reopen it

(Newser) - The name has cast a shadow over the prospects of nuclear energy in the US for decades: Three Mile Island. But it appears that the mothballed nuclear plant in Pennsylvania—site of the worst nuclear accident in US history in 1979—might be back in business in the not-too-distant future....

Bill Gates Makes a Big Bet on Nuclear in Wyoming
In Wyoming, Bill Gates
Makes a Bet on Nuclear
the rundown
Jun 12, 2024 10:45 AM CDT

In Wyoming, Bill Gates Makes a Bet on Nuclear

His TerraPower breaks ground on a new type of reactor he says can provide clean, cheap energy

(Newser) - When Bill Gates broke ground on a new construction site Monday in Wyoming, he made a big prediction: Everyone present, he said, was "standing on what will soon be the bedrock of America's energy future." A startup company he co-founded, TerraPower, is building what's described as...

Toshiba Throws In Nuclear Towel: Chapter 11 for Westinghouse

Challenges proved too great—and may be nuclear industry harbinger

(Newser) - More fallout from Toshiba's reported "nuclear" loss last month, this time in the form of a bankruptcy filing. In what the AP says was a "largely expected" move, Toshiba noted in a statement Wednesday that its Westinghouse nuclear unit has submitted a Chapter 11 petition to the...

Feds Have Collected Billions for Nonexistent Nuke Project

And that practice must end, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday

(Newser) - Ever since 1983, the Energy Department has been collecting fees paid for by Americans who use nuclear-generated electricity. The tenth-of-a-cent charge per each kilowatt-hour of electricity adds up to about $750 million a year, earmarked to pay for a program disposing of these power plants' nuclear waste. Only, uh, that...

Radiation May Not Kill You, but Fear of It Might
Radiation May Not Kill You, but Fear of It Might
OPINION
Oct 22, 2013 12:13 PM CDT

Radiation May Not Kill You, but Fear of It Might

David Ropeik: Our dread of nuclear accidents exceeds the facts

(Newser) - Seems like there's a new story every week about a new radioactive leak or accident at Japan's shuttered Fukushima nuclear plant. The headlines may sound terrifying, but David Ropeik in the New York Times points out that scientists have said repeatedly that the radiation has been relatively harmless...

US OKs First Nuclear Reactors in 30 Years

Georgia plant gets approval to build two

(Newser) - It's a milestone for the nuclear energy industry: The feds today gave their blessing to a Georgia utility company to build two new reactors, the first such approval in 30 years, reports CNN . Southern Co. and its partners will build the reactors in Waynesboro, Ga., about 170 miles east...

Judge: Vermont Can't Shut Down Nuke Plant

Federal judge says only federal government can regulate nuclear safety

(Newser) - Vermont is the only state with a law allowing it to have a say over whether a nuclear plant's license should be renewed, but a federal judge has slapped down Vermont's attempt to withhold such a renewal. The judge ruled that Vermont Yankee, the state's only nuclear...

Nuclear-Waste Disposal Making Federal Budget Sick

Congress has spent the money set aside on other things

(Newser) - Nuclear-waste disposal isn’t just an environmental issue anymore—it’s a budgetary one. The Wall Street Journal today takes a look at the nation’s dysfunctional non-system for disposing of nuclear waste, and the story ain’t pretty. Nuclear sites are currently holding some 65,000 metric tons of...

Lax Nuclear Oversight Will Cost US Someday: Critics

Civil penalties by NRC plunge as industry lobbying increases

(Newser) - When corrosion thinned the pipes that circulate cooling water in Exelon Corporation's nuclear reactors outside Chicago, the company had a simple solution—it kept lowering the minimum thickness it considered safe. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not notice for eight years, and when it did discover the safety violation—...

US Launches Safety Review of All 104 Nuke Plants

As do other countries, like China

(Newser) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is launching a comprehensive review of all 104 reactors in America. Other countries, including China, are taking similar steps as the Japan nuclear crisis unfolds. President Obama called for the review yesterday as he assured Americans that they are unlikely to face harmful radiation from the...

Think $100 Oil Is Bad? Here Comes $100 Uranium

American firms lag as world prepares for big crunch in supplies

(Newser) - While we’re worrying about a spike in oil prices, the rising cost of another energy source is being largely ignored: uranium. Last month, the nuclear power source reached $73 a pound, a three-year high—and in the next 10 years, it could approach its all-time high of $136 a...

Satellite Reveals N. Korea Nuke Building

Reactor would give country cause to enrich uranium

(Newser) - Satellite photos reveal construction at North Korea’s main atomic complex, suggesting the country is fulfilling its plans to build a light-water nuclear reactor, the AP reports. The images, from a private Washington institute, show at least two cranes and an under-construction rectangular structure, and come amid reports that work...

Exploding Transformer Shuts NY Nuke Plant

Indian Point blast being investigated

(Newser) - One of two units at a nuclear power plant 24 miles north of New York City was shut down after a transformer exploded last night. No one was injured and there was no danger of a radiation leak, officials at the Indian Point plant told AP . The unit will remain...

North Korea Claims to Have Created 'Artificial Sun'

Scientists highly skeptical

(Newser) - North Korea says it has discovered the secrets of nuclear fusion, allowing it to create an “artificial sun” able to produce untold amounts of energy—which would be quite a feat for a country that currently lacks the power to keep the lights on at night. Nuclear fusion, the...

We'll Ride Nuke to Mars: Russia
 We'll Ride Nuke to Mars: Russia 
Oct 30, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

We'll Ride Nuke to Mars: Russia

Space program plans elusive nuclear spaceship by 2012

(Newser) - The Russians are planning to ride a $600 million nuclear-powered spaceship to Mars, and they say they may begin construction by 2012. “It’s a very serious project, and we need to find the money,” president Dmitry Medvedev says. Small nuclear reactors and batteries have long powered satellites,...

Iran Balks at UN Plan on Nukes
Iran Balks
at UN Plan
on Nukes
Oct 23, 2009 9:30 AM CDT

Iran Balks at UN Plan on Nukes

Now wants to buy fuel, not ship uranium to Russia for enrichment

(Newser) - State TV says Iran wants to buy nuclear fuel it needs for a research reactor rather than accept the UN deal negotiated earlier this week, in which much of Iran's uranium would be shipped to Russia for further enrichment. The response will come as a disappointment to the US, Russia,...

Iran May Be Ready for Nuke Deal
 Iran May Be 
 Ready for 
 Nuke Deal 
ANALYSIS
Oct 15, 2009 1:17 AM CDT

Iran May Be Ready for Nuke Deal

Nation may have reached its goal

(Newser) - Iran has likely taken its nuclear program as far as it wants to and the nation may be willing to make a deal with the US and its allies this month, analysts say. The country has developed the capability to create and deliver a nuclear weapon without actually making it,...

US Will Give Iran 3 Months to Spill Nuke Secrets

(Newser) - The US will tell Iran next week that it must open all its nuclear sites for inspection within 3 months, turn over any related documents, and make scientists available for questions. Tehran also may be ordered to allow inspectors into its newly revealed uranium-enrichment plant within days. The revelation of...

US Puts UAE on Fast Track to Nuclear Power

Abu Dhabi could have electricity program by 2017

(Newser) - An Arab state may be on the fast track to developing nuclear power—with the help of the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. American experts have been jetting to Abu Dhabi in recent few months to support the UAE’s nuclear aspirations, which could be speedily realized by 2017...

Discovery Revives Hopes for Cold Fusion

Researcher believes limitless energy source may be on horizon

(Newser) - A new lab discovery holds promise that cold fusion could become a reality, according to a US Navy researcher. The chemist—whose report was greeted with skepticism in the scientific world—says her new process created highly energized neutrons in a reaction that could someday provide almost limitless amounts of...

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