All posts tagged: nuclear

How lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors

How lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors

Published by skeptic

Nuclear power provides about 9% of global electricity today, and that fraction could tick up as major world powers like the US and China look to build new reactors, including some based on next-generation technology. New, cheaper methods to obtain fuel could help ensure that those nuclear projects stay on track. Naturally occurring uranium is largely made up of uranium-238 (over 99%) and uranium-235 (about 0.7%). Uranium-235 is the fissile type, meaning that, when hit with slow low-energy neutrons, it can sustain a chain reaction that generates electricity. So reactors generally use material with a higher concentration of U-235 than what’s pulled from the ground. Today’s conventional reactors usually use low-enriched uranium, typically is about 5% U-235, though some advanced reactor designs will use fuel that’s up to 20% U-235. Today, centrifuges are the dominant tech used to enrich uranium. The equipment essentially takes uranium-containing material and spins it around incredibly quickly, so the heavier material (which contains U-238) spins out to the edge, while the lighter material (which has U-235) stays closer to the …

How lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors

The Download: lasers for nuclear fuel, and organ preservation advances

Published by skeptic

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How lasers could help provide fuel for nuclear reactors  Nuclear power provides about 9% of global electricity today, and that fraction could tick up as countries look to build new reactors. New, cheaper methods to obtain fuel could help ensure that those nuclear projects stay on track. One of those methods is called laser enrichment. It allows you to separate out the material you want (in this case, uranium) from others in a mixture of old waste. A company called Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) is about to start testing whether the technology works at commercial scale. Read our story about their efforts. —Casey Crownhart The quest to keep organs alive outside the body It’s super difficult to freeze organs. Once ice forms in them, they’re done. The ice crystals create all kinds of damage and render the organs unusable. That hasn’t stopped many researchers from trying. In new research, one team …

Putin sends chilling WW3 nuclear warning to UK: ‘Radioactive waves’ | World | News

Putin sends chilling WW3 nuclear warning to UK: ‘Radioactive waves’ | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

The dictator’s underwater weapon is on track to being operational (Image: Getty) Vladimir Putin issued a stark new threat to the West, warning of his huge nuclear naval arsenal as he struggles for supremacy in the war against Ukraine. The dictator’s chilling high-speed Poseidon underwater drone – powered by its own atomic reactor – is on track to be operational, he claimed. Putin’s propagandists have claimed that they are capable of triggering radioactive tidal waves which could submerge swathes of Britain, with the sinister weapon nearing completion and ready to be deployed. The Russian president was speaking in a command bunker at the Admiralty in St Petersburg after he was forced to abandon his usual massive annual Navy Day show of strength due to the threat of a Ukrainian strike to blow up his warships – or seek to assassinate him. “In the nuclear triad, the Navy is of enormous importance,” he said. “It is unnecessary to even mention the importance of a submarine fleet equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles for deterring any adversary and …

A nuclear reactor buried one mile below ground moves from concept to a Kansas test site

A nuclear reactor buried one mile below ground moves from concept to a Kansas test site

Published by Jenni Sidey

Deep Fission wants to place small nuclear reactors about a mile underground, where rock and water pressure could replace some costly safety structures. The company has started testing in Kansas with deep drilling and a non-nuclear prototype, but it has not yet operated a working underground reactor. The project has raised significant funding and gained federal support, though it still faces regulatory reviews, technical challenges and concerns from local residents. A nuclear reactor lowered nearly a mile into the Earth would operate far from storms, aircraft and most surface activity. Deep Fission believes that setting could also remove some of the most expensive parts of conventional nuclear plants. The Berkeley-based company has moved its proposal beyond early fundraising and computer designs. It now has a pilot site in Parsons, Kansas, a completed data-acquisition well and a full-scale prototype canister intended to test installation procedures. The reactor itself has not begun operating. Deep Fission’s recent work remains focused on site analysis, equipment testing and the regulatory steps needed before a nuclear demonstration can proceed. Each proposed …

Watch: Trump announces milestone in efforts to boost domestic nuclear production

Watch: Trump announces milestone in efforts to boost domestic nuclear production

Published by Sam Flores

President Trump spoke from the White House Friday afternoon as the administration marks a major milestone in expanding domestic nuclear energy. The announcement came just more than a year after Trump signed four executive orders seeking to quadruple the nation’s nuclear power, including making cutbacks to health and environmental considerations. The president was joined by… Source link

Nuclear molten salt could power future cargo ships

Nuclear molten salt could power future cargo ships

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. Massive artificial intelligence data centers and their extreme energy damages are fuelling renewed interest in nuclear power. But it turns out one of the more impactful uses of this atomic-age technology may not come from Three Mile Island or the American heartland. Instead, the hulls of giant cargo ships trudging their way across the world’s oceans may be ready to meet the world’s growing energy needs. Several shipping giants have been toying with the idea of outfitting future vessels with smaller, more advanced nuclear reactors. Earlier this month, the American Bureau of Shipping, a global maritime classification society that establishes technical standards for ships, granted an important Approval in Principle (AIP) to a South Korean consortium interested in building an advanced vessel powered …

The Puzzle at the Center of the U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal

The Puzzle at the Center of the U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal

Published by Daniella Wilson

What kind of negotiator gives the other side everything that it wants with the hope of eventually getting something in return? It’s a question that even some of President Trump’s own allies are asking after his administration signed a landmark deal to develop a civilian nuclear program in Saudi Arabia using American technology. The deal’s opponents, in the United States and Israel, worry that the new pact might ultimately allow for uranium enrichment—and if so, that Trump just gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the tools he needs to build a bomb. What did the U.S. require in return? Pretty much zip. That, at least, is how things stood when the agreement was finalized yesterday. Then, just before 8 a.m. today, Trump took to social media to deliver what seemed like an after-the-fact ultimatum: The deal, he wrote, is “totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” the Middle East initiative launched in Trump’s first term that is designed to normalize relations between Israel and countries in the region. Trump-administration …