Nuclear power

Plan to Reopen Three Mile Island Plant Could e ‘Rebirth’ of Nuclear Energy: Experts
The 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant became a cautionary tale for a generation of Americans. But experts say a plan to reopen the plant shows opinions are changing regarding nuclear power and its role in a clean energy future.
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No Power, No Operator, No Problem: Simulating Nuclear Reactors to Explore Next-Generation Nuclear Safety Systems
To create safe and efficient nuclear reactors, designers and regulators need reliable data consistent with real-world observation. Data generated at the facility validates computational models and guides the design of nuclear reactors.
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Uranium Science Researchers Investigate Feasibility of Intentional Nuclear Forensics
Despite strong regulations and robust international safeguards, authorities routinely interdict nuclear materials outside of regulatory control. Researchers are exploring a new method that would give authorities the ability to analyze intercepted nuclear material and determine where it originated.
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How Do You Convince Someone to Live Next to a Nuclear Waste Site?
The world’s first permanent depository for nuclear fuel waste opens later this year on Olkiluoto, a sparsely populated and lushly forested island in the Baltic Sea three hours north of Helsinki. Engineers know how to build a site that can safeguard nuclear waste for 100,000 years. The challenge is convincing people to live next to it.
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Nuclear Electricity Supply Would Be Less Vulnerable to Attack Than Renewables
Renewable energy generation is not as robust in the face of enemy attack as it looks. Nuclear power, even though it would probably be concentrated in a few large generating stations, should in fact be a little more dependable in wartime.
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Ranking the Feasibility of Converting 245 U.S. Coal Plants to Nuclear
An assessment ranks the feasibility of converting 245 operational coal power plants in the U.S. into advanced nuclear reactors. This is the most comprehensive coal-to-nuclear analysis to date, and it could help policymakers and utilities plan how to meet climate targets.
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Hardy Transistor Material Could Be Game-Changer for Nuclear Reactor Safety Monitoring
The safety and efficiency of a large, complex nuclear reactor can be enhanced by hardware as simple as a tiny sensor that monitors a cooling system. That’s why researchers are working to make those basic sensors more accurate by pairing them with electronics that can withstand the intense radiation inside a reactor.
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How Do You Convince Someone to Live Next to a Nuclear Waste Site?
Engineers know how to build a site that can safeguard nuclear waste for 100,000 years. The challenge is convincing people to live next to it.
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Facing a Potentially Warmer, Drier Washington State, Scientists Develops Plans to Be Sure Nuclear Power Plants Stay Cool
Waterways — tried and true cooling sources for nuclear power plants — could get warmer due to global climate change. Washington is planning ahead. Argonne scientists will use Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to work with Washington’s Energy Northwest on climate-ready nuclear reactor designs.
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West Reliant on Russian Nuclear Fuel Amid Decarbonization Push
A new report and research from a British defense research group has found that many Western nations are still reliant on Russian nuclear fuel to power their reactors, despite efforts to sever economic ties with the Kremlin following its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Georgia’s Vogtle Plant Could Herald the Beginning — or End — of a New Nuclear Era
Few issues are as divisive among American environmentalists as nuclear energy. Concerns about nuclear waste storage and safety, particularly in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island reactor meltdown in Pennsylvania, helped spur the retirement of nuclear power plants across the country. Nuclear energy’s proponents, however, counter that nuclear power has historically been among the safest forms of power generation, and that the consistent carbon-free energy it generates makes it an essential tool in the fight against global warming. The $35 billion Vogtle nuclear project is an investment in the future or a cautionary tale, depending whom you ask.
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Plan B: Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Cool in a Warmer, Drier Climate
Waterways — tried and true cooling sources for nuclear power plants — could get warmer due to global climate change. Climate scientists and nuclear science and engineering experts are joining forces to develop a plan B for nuclear power.
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Strike Looms at Nuclear Power Plants
Security officers at nuclear power plants operated by Constellation energy company may go on strike after the union representing them and the company have so far failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Under federal law, nuclear plants must operate under a costly contingency plan in the run-up to and during a strike, and the union highlights the fact that cost of the contingency plan far exceeds the cumulative cost to the company of the annual wage increases to the security officers during the life of the contract.
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Domestic Violent Extremists’ Threat to U.S. Nuclear Facilities
Nuclear security in the U.S. has historically understood threat as “other,” – for example, foreign states or terrorists — leaving practitioners, facilities, and physical protection systems vulnerable to threats from within. There is a need for an urgent change to the nuclear security norms and understanding of threat to include not only foreign agents, but also domestic violent extremist groups and homegrown violent ideologies, is needed to strengthen the resiliency and effectiveness of the national nuclear security regime.
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Small Nuclear Reactors May Be Coming to Texas, Boosted by Interest from Gov. Abbott
A nuclear power plant hasn’t been built in Texas in decades because of cost and public fears of a major accident. Now the governor wants to find out if smaller reactors could meet the state’s growing need for on-demand power.
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Plan to Reopen Three Mile Island Plant Could e ‘Rebirth’ of Nuclear Energy: Experts

No Power, No Operator, No Problem: Simulating Nuclear Reactors to Explore Next-Generation Nuclear Safety Systems

Uranium Science Researchers Investigate Feasibility of Intentional Nuclear Forensics

How Do You Convince Someone to Live Next to a Nuclear Waste Site?

Nuclear Electricity Supply Would Be Less Vulnerable to Attack Than Renewables

Ranking the Feasibility of Converting 245 U.S. Coal Plants to Nuclear

Hardy Transistor Material Could Be Game-Changer for Nuclear Reactor Safety Monitoring

How Do You Convince Someone to Live Next to a Nuclear Waste Site?

Facing a Potentially Warmer, Drier Washington State, Scientists Develops Plans to Be Sure Nuclear Power Plants Stay Cool

West Reliant on Russian Nuclear Fuel Amid Decarbonization Push

Georgia’s Vogtle Plant Could Herald the Beginning — or End — of a New Nuclear Era

Plan B: Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Cool in a Warmer, Drier Climate

Strike Looms at Nuclear Power Plants

Domestic Violent Extremists’ Threat to U.S. Nuclear Facilities

Small Nuclear Reactors May Be Coming to Texas, Boosted by Interest from Gov. Abbott

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