NASA Doesn’t Have Enough Nuclear Fuel For Its Deep Space Missions
Nevada officials watching federal Yucca, plutonium proposals
[via AP News, December 12, 2018]
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada officials postponed until at least January submitting an end-of-year report to the governor about state efforts to fight federal proposals to bury the nation’s nuclear reactor waste north of Las Vegas.
The state Commission on Nuclear Projects cited uncertainty Wednesday about whether Congress will allocate any funds in coming days for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository.
Agency officials also reviewed a lawsuit filed recently to block a separate plan by the Energy Department to ship weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a U.S. radioactive materials handling facility at the former Nevada nuclear nuclear proving ground.
NNSA administrator: Strengthening America through nuclear security
[via DefenseNews]
The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review did not flinch from reality.
With Russia and China pursuing entirely new nuclear capabilities and the ongoing negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, the geopolitical challenges are pressing.
There are challenges at home, too. Following the end of the Cold War, the infrastructure and capabilities needed to maintain a credible U.S. nuclear deterrent were neglected.
Staring down these realities, the 2018 NPR, released in February, set a clear course to modernize the nuclear security enterprise to face 21st century threats. The time is long past to provide the dedicated stewards of the U.S. nuclear deterrent with a modern, safe infrastructure and the critical tools needed to maintain it.
Opinion: The lights could go out this winter if we close more coal and nuclear power plants
[via MarketWatch, December 5, 2018]
Shortages of natural gas could push the power grid to the limit
by TERRYÂ JARRETT
It’s been an early start to winter this year across much of the Central and Eastern United States. And plunging temperatures have highlighted a surprising fact: Not only are natural-gas prices soaring, but fuel stockpiles have dipped to unusually low levels.
It’s a somewhat unexpected turn of events — since the United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2009. But a number of factors are combining to significantly alter the landscape for utilities in the United States that rely on natural-gas-fired power generation.
Environment department accuses Los Alamos lab of violations
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — December 1, 2018 — State environment officials have accused Los Alamos National Laboratory of violating its hazardous waste permit and state regulations.
The allegations came in a letter the New Mexico Environment Department sent to lab officials in early November, days after a new contractor began operating the lab.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the allegations include sending tons of construction waste to a landfill in Santa Fe and sites in Albuquerque and Colorado between 2015 and 2017 without proper notification and labeling.
Can Lockheed Martin Produce Compact Fusion Reactor?
http://www.physics-astronomy.com/2015/02/lockheed-martins-new-compact-fusion.html
Lockheed Martin has a compact fusion reactor prototype that holds promise. Can they accomplish in a 5 years what physicists have failed to do (sustained fusion) in 50 years?
U.S. Nuclear Fleet Dwindles
“This year is expected to be a bad one for the nuclear energy industry in the U.S., with several reactors, including a handful in Illinois and New York, at risk of shutting down. Yet the dwindling number still produce roughly 70 percent of the electricity in the country that does not exacerbate global warming.” SciAm February 17, 2015
Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers #163
Catch the latest installment, hosted by The Hiroshima Syndrome.
http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/06/30/carnival-of-nuclear-energy-bloggers-163/
Dr. John D. Johnson has a background in nuclear, experimental & accelerator physics. He worked for Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1990s and founded Docent Institute to raise awareness about the ethical use of advanced technology.