Archive for category Nuclear Power

Researchers Urging Decision Makers for Agreement on Plutonium Waste Disposal

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on May 10, 2012

A new research on the actions to be done about nuclear waste has been recently published in the science journal Nature. Their conclusions have been that the wastes should be disposed of safely and securely, so that they are unreachable by third parties who could build nuclear weapons. Worldwide, about 500 metric tons of plutonium [...]

Scientists Theorize One of the Problems Facing Nuclear Fusion

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on May 7, 2012

Fusion reactors are thought to be the mothers of all power plants. They’ll emit no gases, eat up no polluting resources and provide all of the energy humanity needs for heading towards self-destr… evolution. However, science didn’t allow us thus far to produce more energy than we consume in a nuclear fusion process, but a new [...]

New Nuclear Waste Recycling Technology Discovered by Notre Dame Researchers

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Nuclear Power on March 23, 2012

Maybe the folks at Fukushima should hear about this, or more precisely those handling the recovery process, which is far from over: as the latest discovery in the field, the Notre Dame Thorium Borate-1 (NDTB-1) is apparently just what you need to clean up a radioactive mess. Although the current trend is all for clean [...]

New Butterfly-Shaped Uranium Molecule Helps Cleaning Nuclear Waste

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on March 12, 2012

A new uranium molecule developed by scientists from the University of Edinburgh can literally clean the waste that nuclear power plants leave behind. The researchers found out that the molecule may be involved in forming clusters of radioactive material in waste that are difficult to separate during the cleanup process. The new discovery could lead [...]

The First Floating Wind Farm to Replace Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Nuclear Power, Wind Power on March 9, 2012

The Fukushima disaster in the spring of 2011 was first of all an environmental disaster for Japan. But like the Phoenix bird that is reborn from its own ashes, the site could become the home of world’s first offshore, floating wind farm. The government intends to install two 7-megawatt turbines and another 2-megawatt turbine off [...]

U.S. Nuclear Power Not Dead: Two New Plants to be Built in Georgia

Posted by Chris Bretto in Nuclear Power on February 20, 2012

Green light for the construction of nuclear reactors in Georgia. On February 9th, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a licence for Southern Company, an energy utility, for the building of two nuclear reactors at Vogtle, Georgia. In the past 34 years no such licence has been granted and no new reactors have been built [...]

Japan to Set Nuclear Power Plants Lifespan to 40 Years

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on January 7, 2012

After last year’s March 11 events, the Japanese government wants to impose strict limitations to the lifespan of future nuclear power plants. Environment and Nuclear Crisis Minister Goshi Hosono said that the limit would be 40 years. Only in rare cases would this time be extended, and that would be done with rigorous security checks [...]

Bill Gates Deals New, Safer Nuclear Reactors With China

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on December 8, 2011

If you’ve gotten used to seeing Bill Gates in the role of Microsoft CEO, then as the image of his foundation fighting for poverty alleviation, now it’s time to see him entering the energy business. Not kind of energy business, though, but a specially controversial one: nuclear power. Gates has begun discussions with Chinese authorities [...]

Poland to Build Its First Nuclear Power Plant by 2021

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Nuclear Power on November 28, 2011

While Germany and Switzerland want to ouster nuclear power, Poland will have its first one built near the Baltic Sea, by the end of 2020, according to Polish energy group PGE. The tender process for Poland’s atomic power program will be launched before the end of this year. The government believes that the country’s coal [...]

Germany Phases Out 8 Nuclear Plants Only to Rely On… Guess What!

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on November 9, 2011

You knew Germany is set to shut all of its 18 nuclear power plants by 2022, didn’t you? I also knew that, but as Angela Merkel’s government ordered shutting eight of them this year, it now plans for a long and heavy winter, where the renewable energy resources Germany has are not enough to sustain [...]

New Nanofiber/Nanotube Material Filters Radioactive Contaminated Water

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power, Water Purifiers on November 3, 2011

A new innovation from Professor Huai-Yong Zhu at Queensland’s University of Technology can clean up all the water contaminated by radioactive materials. The material Zhu made is based on nanofibers and nanotubes, and uses an approach that had never been tested before. Titanate nanofiber and nanotubes are the materials he uses, to be more exact. [...]

Japan May Quit Nuclear, But not Soon, Minister Says

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on October 18, 2011

Although opinions among the Japanese are very different, the country’s economy minister’s Yukio Edano told Reuters in Paris that they will reduce the reliance on nuclear power, “but whether we are going to reduce it to zero is a separate issue.” Edano even mentioned that decisions like Germany’s to reduce nuclear power down to zero [...]

Nuclear Power Remains Vital to Combat Global Warming, UK Expert Claims

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Nuclear Power on October 8, 2011

Britain’s chief scientific adviser, John Beddington, recently declared that nuclear power remains vital in the fight against global warming, also referring to Japan’s Fukushima crisis. The British government has great plans for the future by wanting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, but as John Beddington said, without nuclear [...]

Geobacter Bacteria Cleaning up Nuclear Waste and Generating Electricity

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on September 12, 2011

Some microbes may be able to clean up nuclear waste and at the same time generate electricity. Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have recently discovered how a bacterium called Geobacter can do all that. “Geobacter bacteria are tiny micro-organisms that can play a major role in cleaning up polluted sites around the world,” said Gemma [...]

NASA May Build Nuclear Reactors on Moon and Mars

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Nuclear Power on August 29, 2011

Nuclear power has originally been designed for use in terrestrial environments, but scientists at NASA think people could use nuclear fission reactors in extra-terrestrial environments such as the Moon, Mars or any other planet they may need power on. Nuclear fission doesn’t depend on sunlight, wind or any other element that may link it to [...]

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