Nuclear

No, this isn't the return of Marvel's Iron Man. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has announced plans to build the world's first grid-scale fusion power plant near Richmond, Virginia.

Imagine your local nuclear plant is a zero-emissions cozy community center. Oklo’s Aurora microreactor could make this vision a reality – delivering clean power to remote areas with a "fire-and-forget" reactor that runs 20 years without refueling.

In what it calls "the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors," Google has taken another step toward its goal of achieving net-zero emissions from its operational chain by 2030.

Westinghouse Electric Company is advancing its revolutionary eVinci nuclear microreactor. Based on space nuclear technology, it boasts a tiny footprint, no moving parts, and can be swapped out for refueling, much like replacing a used gas bottle.

In a remarkable topical twofer, not only is Microsoft turning to nuclear power to run its data centers, it's commissioned the restarting of the infamous Three Mile Island station – the site of the worst commercial nuclear accident in US history.

When you picture a sci-fi energy source, glowing green crystals are right up there. Scientists in China have now demonstrated just that, in the form of a “micronuclear battery” that can provide continuous low levels of power for decades.

Atomic clocks are our most accurate timekeepers, losing only seconds across billions of years. But nuclear clocks could steal their thunder, speeding up GPS and the internet. Now, scientists have built and tested the first prototype nuclear clock.

Deep Fission has come up with a new solution to the economic and safety problems of nuclear power that is, to say the least, novel. The idea is to build a reactor that's under 30 inches (76 cm) wide and stick it down a mile-deep (1.6-km) drill shaft.

Lloyd's Register and nuclear startup Core Power are joining forces with shipping company Maersk to study how to update regulations as part of an effort to introduce Gen IV nuclear reactors to power the next generation of zero-carbon-emission cargo ships.

Kairos Power has broken ground at Oak Ridge on the first officially approved Generation IV reactor ever in the US and the first non-light-water reactor in 50 years.

China's Tsinghua University has scored a world first by demonstrating the inherent safety of the first operating commercial pebble-bed nuclear reactor by shutting off the power and letting the passive systems maintain control of the reactor core.

Rolls-Royce has received an additional £4.8 million (US$6.2 million) in funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) to develop key technology for a nuclear micro-reactor that could one day power lunar bases and spacecraft propulsion.