Tag: Nuclear Energy

Superpowers Race to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon

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In late August, NASA asked contractors to prepare to build a nuclear reactor that could survive a space voyage and run without maintenance near the moon’s south pole. That may sound like science fiction, but the agency wants it ready to be launched by December 2030. There is a reason for the rush. Russia aims to have a lunar reactor running by 2036 as part of a secretive partnership with China. NASA has already sped up its schedule to beat its rivals. The race is for the very future of…

Nuclear Energy Revival Puts Westinghouse in Prime Position

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A large investment firm and a Canadian uranium mining and enrichment company made a big bet three years ago on nuclear power by acquiring Westinghouse, an energy company that had fallen on hard times. Now, that wager is proving prescient. Soaring demand for electricity, driven by data centers, and renewed bipartisan and global interest in nuclear power have made Westinghouse a go-to source for nuclear power technology. The prominence of Westinghouse in the development of new nuclear power plants gained international attention Wednesday after the Trump administration announced a broad…

China’s A.I. Play Is Different From America’s

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Early in the Cold War, even as the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a relentless nuclear arms race, they treated nuclear technology as a tool of soft power and diplomacy — something to share and export, a seal on alliances and a token of friendship. Thus Dwight Eisenhower’s America launched the Atoms for Peace program, which helped build civilian nuclear programs around the world, in the same year that it executed the Rosenbergs for giving the Soviets our atomic secrets. The Soviet Union likewise exported forms of…

China’s Misinformation Fuels Anger Over Fukushima Water Release

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In Guangdong Province, on China’s southern coast, a woman posted a photo of a boxed-up Japanese-brand air-conditioner that she planned to return in protest. In southwest China, the owner of a Japanese pub posted a video of himself ripping down anime posters and smashing bottles, saying he planned to reopen the business as a Chinese bistro. In many social media posts like these, the phrase “nuclear-contaminated wastewater” has appeared — the same wording used by the Chinese government and state media to refer to Japan’s release into the ocean of…

Seafood Is Safe After Fukushima Discharge, But Some Won’t Eat It

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Seafood is having a bad week in East Asia, which is bad news for a region where it’s a major part of the diet. Experts say Japan’s discharge into the ocean of treated radioactive wastewater from the ruined Fukushima nuclear power plant, which began on Thursday, does not and will not pose health risks to people who eat seafood. But even though the scientific evidence bears that out, not everyone is convinced. On Thursday, the Chinese government widened a ban on seafood imports to include all of Japan instead of…

Atomic Agency Clears Japan to Release Fukushima Water

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In one of the remaining steps before Japan decides to release more than one million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared on Tuesday that the government’s plan had met the agency’s safety standards. The nuclear authority’s final report concluded that the treated water would “have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment” once it is released. Japan’s plan has provoked controversy both at home and abroad, as government officials in China and many…

Biden Administration Engages in Long-Shot Attempt for Saudi-Israel Deal

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Shortly after his plane took off earlier this month from Riyadh, where he had held a lengthy meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called a different Middle East leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Over 40 minutes, Mr. Blinken gave the Israeli leader a briefing about the significant demands the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was making for his nation to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu had an update on his own demands. The phone call — described by two American…

China Is on Track to Become Nuclear Superpower, Ushering in New Age

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — On the Chinese coast, just 135 miles from Taiwan, Beijing is preparing to start a new reactor the Pentagon sees as delivering fuel for a vast expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, potentially making it an atomic peer of the United States and Russia. The reactor, known as a fast breeder, excels at making plutonium, a top fuel of atom bombs. The nuclear material for the reactor is being supplied by Russia, whose Rosatom nuclear giant has in the past few months completed the delivery of 25 tons of…

Biden to Announce Nuclear-Powered Submarine Deal with Australia and Britain

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — President Biden plans to announce on Monday a landmark agreement with the leaders of Britain and Australia to develop fleets of nuclear-powered attack submarines that the three nations would use to strengthen their naval forces across the Asia-Pacific region as China bolsters its own navy. The purchase and training agreements on submarines amount to the first concrete steps taken by the three English-speaking nations to deepen the ambitious strategic partnership called AUKUS that they announced 18 months ago. The military deal, centered on Australia first buying the attack…