All articles tagged with #nuclear power
NASA has begun testing the nuclear-powered Dragonfly rotorcraft for its 2028 Titan mission, validating core systems and aerodynamics in a cleanroom and wind tunnels, and aiming to make Dragonfly the first rotorcraft to fly Titan’s thick, frigid, nitrogen-rich atmosphere while studying its chemistry and potential habitability.
NASA outlines a plan to establish a permanent Moon base at the south pole, leveraging water ice for drinking water and rocket fuel, and powering the habitat with nuclear reactors to endure the long lunar night, supported by robotic precursor missions and international cooperation, with a target of deploying a lunar surface reactor by 2030 and expanding habitats over time.
NASA has begun building and testing Dragonfly, a nuclear-powered rotorcraft that will explore Titan’s atmosphere and surface. After months of integration and power/instrument testing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dragonfly is on track for a 2028 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, with further system testing at Lockheed Martin and Kennedy Space Center to study Titan’s chemistry, geology and potential clues to life.
In the 1990s, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant modernized its remaining RBMK reactors not by a full rebuild of the Soviet-era mainframe, but by wrapping a new auxiliary information-measurement system (DIIS) around the 1970s SKALA mainframe. The upgrade linked a Ukrainian SM-1210 minicomputer and an ARCnet-connected 80386 PC to run real-time reactor-core modeling and visualization via the PRIZMA program, letting data stay local instead of being sent to Moscow. Unit 2 operated until 1991 (turbine fire), Unit 1 until 1996, and Unit 3 until 2000, yielding a pragmatic, hybrid upgrade that pushed the plant toward 21st-century capabilities.
A Harvard-led study published in Nature Communications finds that U.S. counties closer to operating nuclear power plants have higher cancer mortality than those farther away, even after adjusting for factors like income, race, BMI, smoking, and hospital access. The researchers estimate about 115,000 cancer deaths (roughly 6,400 per year) may be associated with proximity to plants from 2000–2018, though they caution that correlation does not prove causation and call for more research into exposure pathways as nuclear energy policy seeks expansion.
Gregory Beard has taken over the DOE's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF), the world's largest energy lender with about $289 billion in loan authority, and is steering a rapid, results-focused expansion after a Biden-era turnaround that canceled or restructured roughly $83.6 billion in loans to prioritize affordability and reliability. The EDF will focus on six areas—nuclear; coal, oil, gas and hydrocarbons; critical minerals; geothermal; grid and transmission; manufacturing and transport—and aims to deploy a wave of loans (including potentially the largest ever), with EDF able to fund up to 80% of project costs for nuclear. The goal is to boost domestic generation, shore up the grid, and reduce China’s dominance over critical minerals while refinancing or building new capacity to lower power costs.
Russian researchers at Rosatom’s Troitsk Institute are testing a 300 kW plasma propulsion system that accelerates hydrogen with an onboard nuclear reactor, potentially cutting Mars travel time to about one to two months; current ground tests report exhaust speeds up to 100 km/s, roughly 6 N thrust, and a 2,400-hour service life, but the system has not yet flown or undergone peer review, and deployment depends on further testing, funding, and regulatory approvals toward a 2030 timeframe.
Japan suspended operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world's largest by capacity, just hours after restarting reactor six when an alarm sounded during start-up; Tepco says the reactor is stable with no radiological impact outside the plant and is investigating the cause. The seventh reactor is not expected to resume until 2030, and five other reactors could be decommissioned, leaving far less capacity than before Fukushima.
A reactor at TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture was restarted but shut down again within hours, underscoring ongoing operational challenges at one of Japan’s largest nuclear facilities.
Russia launched an overnight mass strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including substations feeding two nuclear plants, triggering broad power, heating, and water outages in Kyiv and other regions. Ukraine’s air defenses downed many missiles and drones (27 missiles and 315 drones reported), but Kyiv still faced about 60% power loss and left-bank water cuts, with casualties reported. President Zelensky convened emergency energy and defense talks and urged stronger sanctions as Ukraine works to stabilize the grid and bolster defenses amid ongoing attacks.
NASA and the DOE signed an agreement to pursue a lunar nuclear power system that could fuel Artemis-era bases on the Moon by 2030; nuclear fission would provide continuous electricity for years without refueling, supporting deep-space outposts and aligning with a Trump-era push to establish lunar infrastructure, building on decades of space-nuclear research.
Meta has signed nuclear power agreements with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra to support its AI data centers, including the upcoming Prometheus project in Ohio, aiming to add up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable and reliable energy sources.
Meta has secured multiple nuclear power agreements with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra to power its AI data centers in Ohio, supporting up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, including funding for new nuclear units and existing plant expansions, to ensure reliable energy supply for its data infrastructure.
Meta is making a significant investment in nuclear energy by financing fuel for the startup Oklo's reactors, marking one of the largest private sector commitments to nuclear in the US and signaling a shift towards advanced nuclear technologies and domestic fuel production.
Meta has secured multiple nuclear power agreements with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra to power its AI data centers in Ohio, supporting up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, including the development of new nuclear units and expansion of existing plants.