Tag Archives: nuclear reactors

‘Truly shocking’: UK has enough plutonium to make almost 20,000 nukes via Nuclear Free Local Authorities

[…] The 2023 Fissile Material Directory [1] is published in June each year by the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) [2], based at Nagasaki University. RECNA has been established for over twenty years as an educational and research … Continue reading

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U.S. nuclear regulator approves fuel for next-generation reactors via Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. nuclear power regulator has approved production of uranium fuel that is far more enriched than fuel for conventional nuclear power plants, the company aiming to make the material said on Monday. The fuel … Continue reading

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Nuclear plant lifetime extension: A creeping catastrophe via Bellona

 by Charles Digges Any discussion of nuclear disasters brings events like Chernobyl and Fukushima to mind. But the civilian nuclear industry could be facing a quieter nuclear failure. Simply put, the world’s nuclear reactors are getting dangerously old. […] The majority … Continue reading

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Kyushu Electric to scrap No. 2 reactor at Genkai nuclear plant due to cost of safety upgrades at aging site via The Japan Times

[…] The utility abandoned a plan to restart the unit, which has an output of 559 megawatts, in the face of the huge costs involved in enhancing the safety of the reactor that is already near the end of its … Continue reading

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Burning waste or playing with fire? Waste management considerations for non-traditional reactors via [abstract] Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

By Lindsay Krall and Allison Macfarlane Nuclear energy-producing nations are almost universally experiencing delays in the commissioning of the geologic repositories needed for the long-term isolation of spent fuel and other high-level wastes from the human environment. Despite these problems, … Continue reading

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U.S. Nuclear Comeback Stalls as Two Reactors Are Abandoned via The New York Times

In a major blow to the future of nuclear power in the United States, two South Carolina utilities said on Monday that they would abandon two unfinished nuclear reactors in the state, putting an end to a project that was once expected to … Continue reading

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New nuclear reactor builds fall to zero in H1 2016: report via Reuters

Construction starts for new nuclear reactors fell to zero globally in the first half of 2016 as the atomic industry struggles against falling costs for renewables and a slowdown in Chinese building, a report on the industry showed on Wednesday. … Continue reading

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Nuclear Industry Worldwide Faces Escalating Battle to Keep Aging Reactors Running via EcoWatch

Life extensions to nuclear plants in Europe and North America are repeatedly being granted by safety regulators. But, according to nuclear plant owners, 25 percent of parts are now obsolete, so keeping the reactors going is becoming an increasing problem … Continue reading

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Benefits of thorium as alternative nuclear fuel are ‘overstated’ via The guardian

The benefits of an alternative nuclear fuel that could offer a safer and more abundant alternative to the uranium that powers conventional reactors have been “overstated”, according a new government report on the potential of thorium. The report says the … Continue reading

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Fukushima Watch: Lawmakers Rank the Safety of Japan’s 50 Reactors via The Wall Street Journal

In a country as small, crowded and earthquake-prone as Japan, vetting nuclear reactors for safety is key — as the March 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi showed. Japan is the only economy, besides Taiwan, that has so many nuclear plants … Continue reading

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