Nuclear

Energy Audio available

Fusion breakthrough as China's "artificial sun" reaches 100 million degrees

David Szondy November 14, 2018

The day of clean, limitless energy from nuclear fusion has taken another step closer after China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reached a core plasma temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million degrees Fahrenheit).

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3D Printing Audio available

US nuclear carriers to get first 3D-printed part

David Szondy October 14, 2018

Additive manufacturing is taking to the seas with the first 3D-printed part being cleared for installation aboard a US Navy nuclear aircraft carrier. The prototype piping assembly will be installed on the USS Harry S. Truman in 2019, where it will be subjected to 12 months of operational testing.

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Energy

Chernobyl fires back up as a solar power plant

Michael Irving October 7, 2018

More than 30 years after the worst nuclear disaster in history, the Chernobyl area is once again producing power. From the (somewhat literal) ashes of the Nuclear Power Plant springs the Chernobyl Solar Power Plant, which was officially launched with an opening ceremony on Friday.

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Energy

MIT study sees nuclear power as integral to a low-carbon future

David Szondy September 5, 2018

According to a new MIT study, achieving a low-carbon-emission future at a reasonable cost and minimal social impact requires a mix of power sources, with nuclear power as a major component. Otherwise a radically low-carbon economy would cost two to four times as much to achieve.

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Space

Mars 2020 rover goes nuclear with delivery of new electrical generator

David Szondy August 7, 2018

NASA's Mars 2020 rover has received its nuclear power plant. The Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) unit will provide the robotic spacecraft with 125 W of electricity to operate the drive motors and power the onboard systems.

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Energy

Wendelstein 7-X sets new record in its quest for practical fusion power

James Holloway June 28, 2018

The latest tidings from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, creators of the Wendelstein 7-X, are that a new record has been set for the fusion product – another significant step along the path to practical fusion power.

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Energy

Cost-effective method of extracting uranium from seawater promises limitless nuclear power

David Szondy June 13, 2018

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in association with LCW Supercritical Technologies has made a potentially important breakthrough for the nuclear industry by extracting five grams of powdered uranium, called yellowcake, from ordinary seawater.

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Energy

Milestone claimed as experimental nuclear reactor reaches temperature of the Sun

Nick Lavars June 7, 2018

A relatively new player on the nuclear fusion scene, a UK company called Tokamak Energy, is claiming a new milestone in the area after heating its ST40 device to 15 million degrees Celsius, similar to temperatures found at the center of the Sun.

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Energy

Russian scientists pack more power into nuclear battery prototype

Michael Irving June 3, 2018

Nuclear batteries can last decades, but their power density is currently too low to be very practical. Now, Russian researchers have developed a new nuclear battery design based on nickel-63, which has a higher specific energy than regular, commercially-available batteries.

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Environment

Researchers turn low-level nuclear waste into glass

David Szondy May 16, 2018

PNNL has vitrified low-level radioactive waste taken from a tank at the decommissioned Hanford Site nuclear production complex in Washington state for the first time in a continuous process. The waste was turned into durable glass that immobilizes the radioactive and chemical compounds inside.

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