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☆ Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Scientists generate more power than used to create reaction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Fusion is the way that the sun makes power, but recreating a useful fusion reaction here on earth has eluded scientists for decades. The National Ignition Facility target chamber at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is where scientists shoot lasers and watch and measure what happens when those lasers collide on a fuel source. Reaching ignition means the fusion experiment produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy that used to drive the reaction. "For the first time on Earth, scientists have confirmed a fusion energy experiment released more power than it takes to initiate, proving the physical basis for fusion energy. But it's proven extremely challenging to sustain a fusion reaction here on earth, and scientists have been trying for decades.

☆ 5 key takeaways from Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Here are five key takeaways from Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Press Agency//ReutersDuring Xi’s visit, Saudi Arabia and China released a nearly 4,000-word joint statement outlining their alignment on a swathe of political issues, and promising deeper cooperation on scores of others. China is the world’s biggest buyer of oil, with Saudi Arabia being its top supplier. China is also keen to cooperate with Saudi Arabia on security and defense, an important field once reserved for the kingdom’s American ally. Saudi Arabia was, however, keen to reject notions of polarization, deeming it unhelpful.

☆ Why Silicon Valley is so hot on nuclear energy and what it means for the industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Pallava Bagla | Corbis News | Getty ImagesVenture capitalists in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs are investing money in nuclear energy for the first time in history. This surge of private investment will be a positive for the industry, agrees John Parsons, an economist and lecturer at MIT. Nuclear energy is "a very complex science, and it's been supported by the federal government and at these national labs. In the 1960s and 1970s, large conglomerates constructed big nuclear power plants, and those projects often ran over budget. New generations of nuclear reactors will have different sizes, different coolants and different fuels, explained Matt Crozat, senior director of policy development at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

☆ Three companies vie to build new Czech nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Czech Republic has been a strong backer of nuclear energy as a carbon-free power source for the future, unlike European Union neighbours Germany and Austria. CEZ plans to build three more nuclear units - on top of the one now planned - at its Dukovany and Temelin nuclear sites, as the country diversifies away from coal. It is also planning to build smaller modular nuclear power plants. Poland picked Westinghouse last month to build its first nuclear power plant, and also agreed to cooperate with South Korea on potential further units. In 2020, the cost of the project - not including financing and inflation - was estimated at 6 billion euros ($6.2 billion).

The U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, aims to develop a dozen projects to recycle spent nuclear fuel. "I don't see many really looking seriously into reprocessing," Grossi told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had halted reprocessing of nuclear waste in 1977, citing proliferation concerns. "Nobody will be doing reprocessing without the IAEA being involved," he said, noting that any nuclear waste recycling North Korea is undertaking is an exception. The United States has spent billions of dollars over decades on a project at Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store nuclear waste.

"Many countries faced with sharply rising energy costs and heightened security of supply concerns are turning to nuclear power," the IAEA said in a release announcing the exhibit. "We don't get to net zero by 2050 without nuclear power in the mix." The United States has already earmarked billions of dollars toward keeping existing nuclear power plants open as part of a broader strategy to decarbonize the economy and is hoping to encourage new projects. The nuclear power industry has had trouble raising money in recent years, having taken a huge public relations hit following the 2011 reactor meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. Even so, Hannah Fenwick, the co-lead of Nuclear for Climate which represents a network of 150 associations advocating for governments to embrace nuclear power, said her organization was lobbying policy-makers at COP27 to consider nuclear energy investments and was getting decent feedback.

☆ Nuclear energy is part of every path to getting to net-zero, says investment management firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNuclear energy is part of every path to getting to net-zero, says investment management firmNatalie Adomait of Brookfield Asset Management explains why the company "are big fans" of nuclear energy.

☆ Climate Change Is Real. Markets, Not Governments, Offer the Cure. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Bret Stephens | Mr. Stephens Is An Opinion Columnist. Mr. Winter Is A Staff Photographer On Assignment In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +32 min

worse-case, highest-carbon-emission scenario.” (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the U.N. body that assesses climate change.) How do we weigh the risks of underreacting to climate change against the risks of overreacting to it? While he’s not an expert on climate change, he has spent decades thinking deeply about every manner of risk. That’s particularly true if climate change is akin to cancer — manageable or curable in its earlier stages, disastrous in its later ones. Maybe, I realized, in assessing my newfound concerns about climate change, my long-held beliefs might provide a solution — look to the market.

☆ Elon Musk says shutting down nuclear power plants is 'insane' for national security and 'anti-human'
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-27 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk called some environmentalists "anti-human" for shutting nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy is back in the spotlight as energy insecurity grows after Russia invaded Ukraine. You should not only not shut down the nuclear power plants, but you should also reopen the ones that have already shut down. It is crazy to shut down nuclear power plants now, especially if you are in a place where there are no natural disasters." If there is no massive natural disaster risk, which Germany does not have, then there is really no danger with the nuclear power plants."

☆ Japanese support for a nuclear restart is at its highest since Fukushima disaster, says former IEA executive director
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-17 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a first for Japan since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, public support for a nuclear restart is now at more than 60%, said a former executive director of the International Energy Agency, citing a possible energy shortage and a "very cold winter" as reasons. "Japanese public support's more than 60%, and it was the first time ever that support of nuclear power is starting to come over 50% after (the) Fukushima accident," said Nobuo Tanaka, now the chair of the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in May that the country will take firm steps to restart idled nuclear power plants to stabilize energy supply and prices. In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, which killed nearly 16,000 people and caused the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Though there have been reservations among the Japanese public over the use of nuclear energy, particularly when it comes to the issue of safety, Tanaka said the future of nuclear power is now safer, and stressed the importance of minimizing risk and maintaining "peaceful use."

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