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Manchester University leads SPRIng project
University to develop new tools for assessing the sustainability of nuclear power; among the tools to be developed: Methodology and decision-support system for assessing the sustainability of nuclear power and considering energy supply and demand
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First commercial wave farm operates in Portugal
Scottish company Pelamis has been operating the world’s first commercial wave energy farm, located off the coast line of Portugal, for a year now
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First U.S. hydrokinetic wave energy license granted
Federal regulator grants Canadian company Finavera conditional five-year license to build and operate wave energy farm off the shore of Washington State; wave energy buoy farm is first in the U.S.
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Wireless sensors to monitor bridges' health
There are about 597,000 bridges exceeding 20 feet in length on public roads in the United States; more than 50,000 of them were found to be deficient in load-bearing ratings; wireless sensors embedded in the bridge’s concrete will monitor structure’s health
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Information technology to create more efficient power grid
Creating a smarter grid through information technology could save $80 billion over 20 years nationally by offsetting costs of building new electric infrastructure; 300 Pacific Northwest volunteers take part in smart-appliance trial
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Tiny sensors detect toxic gasses
MIT researchers developed a small detector the size of a match box which will detect minute quantities of hazardous gases, including toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents, much more quickly than current devices
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Towns overhauling infrastructure maps
The GIS Consortium was established in 1999; it enables police, fire, and public works employees the ability to bring computer-based mapping applications onsite, and allows mapping and updating of towns’ infrastructure — everything from sewer and water lines to the location of valves, fire hydrants, street lights, trees and signs
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Interim government review of U.K. summer flooding published
Interim review addresses the issues of managing flood risk, groundwater monitoring, local and national planning and response, public information, and public preparedness; the Review draws seventy-two interim conclusions, awaiting further information and evidence before being put forward in firm recommendations next summer
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CN expands rail holding, banking on increasing northern oil production
As the price of oil increases, the attractiveness of extracting oil from oil sands in Canada’s northern regions increases apace; CN acquires yet more rail to ensure rail links to Alberta’s oil sands region
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Weapon-grade plutonium shipped cross-country
The Department of Energy plans to scale down U.S. nuclear weapons program by consolidating special nuclear materials — read: weapon-grade material — at five federal sites by the end of 2012 and reducing the square footage and staff within those sites by 2017; nuclear materials will have to be shipped from different labs around the country to these five sites
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DOE IG offers details of 24 October Oak Ridge security breach
Certain areas of the U.S. nuclear labs are designated “limited areas” by DOE; employees are prohibited from bringing into these secure areas any equipment capable of transmitting data wirelessly; at Oak Ridge, 38 laptops had been allowed into restricted areas, and IG finds that nine of these laptops had later been taken on foreign travel — two of them to countries on DOE’ sensitive countries list
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Storage offers investors intriguing opportunities
More and more surveillance cameras are placed around critical infrastructure facilities, above city streets, and long highways; these cameras generate mountains of visual material — and there is a need to store all this material; storage solutions will be a major business in the coming years
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U.K. nuclear power plan draws fire
A group of academics issue a report arguing that the established nuclear-power industry would inevitably move on to the use of fast-breeder reactors to manufacture plutonium for use as fuel, increasing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation
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VT Group acquires British Nuclear Group Project Services
As interest in nuclear power revives, nuclear-power related services enjoy another look from investors and businesses
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Investigation begins into causes of deadly Florida explosion
Jacksonville, Florida massive explosion and fire at the T2 Laboratories facility kill 4 and injure 14; rescue teams describe scene as “hellish inferno”
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