• Providing Student Research Opportunities to Strengthen Nuclear Security

    Student researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso Aerospace Center will engage in nuclear materials technology research through a five-year, $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Work will focus on the design, synthesis and fabrication of advanced materials.

  • Speed and Surprises: Decline and Recovery of Global Electricity Use in COVID’s First Seven Months

    The unprecedented plunge in electricity use around the world at the beginning of the global pandemic was tied to shut-down policies and other factors. Surprisingly, the recovery to pre-COVID levels was quite fast and not linked to those same factors.

  • What Drives Sea Level Rise? U.S. Report Warns of 1-Foot Rise within Three Decades and More Frequent Flooding

    Sea levels are rising, and that will bring profound flood risks to large parts of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts over the next three decades. A new report led by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that the U.S. should prepare for 10-12 inches of relative sea level rise on average in the next 30 years. That much sea level rise means cities like Miami that see nuisance flooding during high tides today will experience more damaging floods by midcentury.

  • U.S. Coastline to See Up to a Foot of Sea Level Rise by 2050

    The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years. That’s according to a NOAA-led report updating sea level rise decision-support information for the U.S. The report also finds that the sea level rise expected by 2050 will create a profound increase in the frequency of coastal flooding, even in the absence of storms or heavy rainfall.

  • Nuclear Power May Be Key to Least-Cost, Zero-Emission Electricity Systems

    Human activity is spewing carbon pollution into the atmosphere, affecting the global carbon cycle and causing warming, as well as altered precipitation patterns. Nuclear power generation can play a crucial role in helping the world reach a key goal of zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, especially in countries with low wind resources.

  • We Need Hydropower for a Resilient Grid

    The shift in power source mix and climate change-driven natural disasters make America’s most critical piece of energy infrastructure—the grid—more vulnerable than ever before. That’s where hydropower plays a pivotal role: When other types of power plants go dark, hydropower provides a fast, crucial response in seconds.

  • Pan-European “Supergrid”' Could Cut 32% from Energy Costs

    A European wide ‘supergrid’ could cut almost a third from energy costs according to a new study finds. The 32% cost reduction identified is borne primarily from the expansion of European power flows - derestricting them to allow the location of renewable generation to be optimized, thereby significantly decreasing the total installed capacity.

  • Blocking Microgrid Cyberattacks to Keep Power Flowing

    Detection methods that identify the weaknesses in smart power grids will prevent cyberattacks from disrupting supply to critical infrastructure.

  • Macron Supports Nuclear in Carbon-Neutrality Push

    France will build at least six new nuclear reactors in the decades to come, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, placing nuclear power at the heart of his country’s drive for carbon neutrality by 2050.

  • Identifying “Double-Hazard” Zones for Wildfire in the West

    Rapidly growing communities in the American West’s forests and shrublands are nestled in zones where local soil and plant traits amplify the effect of climate change on wildfire hazards and lead to bigger burns.

  • Water Resources Depletion Near Large Urban Areas

    Researchers analyzed the spatial distribution of water resources depletion in connection with proximity to large urban areas and defined a model that might prove fundamental to mitigate the impact of urbanization on the ecosystem.

  • NSA Releases 2021 Cybersecurity Year in Review

    The NSA last week released its 2021 NSA Cybersecurity Year in Review which highlights how the agency continues to address threats to the U.S. most critical systems.

  • Improving the Flow of Renewable Energy to Power Plants

    Integrating renewable energy with the power grid continues to be a big challenge for the electrical grid infrastructure in the United States. The solution is not simple, but it is not impossible, either.

  • Cyberattacks on Belgian Energy Companies

    Oil facilities at Belgian ports have been hit with a cyberattack. The news comes a day after Germany launched an investigation into a similar incident.

  • Nuclear Energy as a Hidden Gem

    Advanced nuclear reactors will be a key component of a carbon-neutral economy. Andrew Breshears, a principal nuclear chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, offers a back-to-basics look at nuclear energy, and the importance of science communication in the nuclear field.