• Nuclear power may be considered for carbon credits

    Te 2001 Kyoto protocol excluded nuclear power from clean energy technology schemes; now, more and more countries appear to support the idea that developing countries should be given carbon credits if they build nuclear power stations; carbon credits could cut the capital cost of building new nuclear stations by up to 40 percent

  • Sweden selects location for central nuclear waste repository

    The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project now appears doomed, but in Sweden a location has been selected for that country’s central nuclear waste disposal site

  • Debate over alternatives to Yucca Mountain project

    The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project is being deliberately starved for funds by the Obama administration; some argue the United States should use UREX reprocessing technology to reprocess waste (this was the Bush administration’s preference); MIT and Harvard scientists say it is perfectly safe to store nuclear waste above ground for 60 or 70 years, while working on a better alternative to UREX

  • Florida orders Raytheon's radiation detection system

    Florida orders Raytheon’s Mobile Nuclear Radiation Detection System; the state will use the SUV-mounted system to watch out for nuclear threats on highways, bridges, overpasses, tunnels, ports of entry, and public venues such as major sporting events and other large events

  • Funding continues for Yucca Mountain project

    Both Senator Harry Reid and President Barack Obama — and also Secretary of Energy Steven Chu — want the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project — 25 years and $13.5 billion in the making — ended, but funding continues

  • DHS 2010 budget increases by 6 percent

    Proposed $43 billion 2010 DHS budget emphasizes border and transportation security, de-emphasizes a national network of sensors to detect dirty bombs

  • More orders for AS&E's cargo screening vans bring in $4.7 million

    Massachusetts-based AS&E’s popular Z Backscatter Vans are becoming more popular; company receives $4.7 million order for the “drive-by” scanning system, following several other orders in the past month

  • DHS seeks nuclear detection research

    DHS is looking to award $3 million this summer for nuclear detection technology exploratory research that could lead to a dramatic improvement in the U.S. nuclear detection capabilities

  • AS&E sells its first gantry security scanner to Pentagon

    AS&E’s proprietary Z Backscatter technology is popular with customers, and the company announces yet another contract, this time with the Pentagon — but: complaint from scanning rival Rapiscan lead the U.S. government to half an earlier order for AS&E’s ZBV Military Trailers, from 68 units to 34 units

  • New RFID technology tracks nuclear materials

    Argonne National Lab’s researchers develop RFID-based method to monitor the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation

  • Hi-G-Tek, Trojan Defense work on global nuclear threat early detection

    Hi-G-Tek and Trojan Defense collaborate on developing a global nuclear threat early detection and warning system; the wireless sensor is designed for rapid reporting of WMD in global shipments

  • U.S. searching for a nuclear waste graveyard

    Congress has killed the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository project, so the United States has no central location for storing nuclear waste; 50,000 metric tons of toxic nuclear waste that has already been produced by the U.S. nuclear plants; 30,000 metric tons more of nuclear waste is expected to be generated in the coming decades

  • Handling nuclear materials for less

    During this century, nuclear plant decommissioning in the United Kingdom will likely produce thousands of waste packages that will be retrieved, conditioned, and stored for no less than £40 billion; BNS develops new way to reduce storage and handling costs of radioactive material

  • BNS wins £13 million Dounreay decommissioning contract

    Dounreay was the site of a brave, new idea — a fast breeder nuclear reactor which would convert an unusable form of uranium to plutonium which could be recycled and turned into new reactor fuel; it would, that is, breed its own fuel, offering the prospect of electricity in abundance; it has not worked out that way; now it is the site of a big decommissioning effort

  • Obama's budget cuts off most funds for Yucca Mountain repository

    The future of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository appears grim; Obama campaigned against the project, which is already more the 10 years behind schdule; new scientific evidence showing that water flows through Yucca Mountain much faster than initially believed raises the prospect that the nuclear waste would leach over time