Nuclear winter is the theory that severe and prolonged global climatic cooling will happen after a large-scale nuclear war. This assumes that fires can inject soot into the stratosphere. This would block some direct sunlight from reaching the surface of the Earth. This would then lead to widespread crop failure and famine. Nuclear-winter scenario researchers …
The current nuclear arsenal will not kill all humans and the pattern of nuclear explosions for a nuclear war between the largest nuclear powers will not destroy civilization, let alone kill all people or even half of all people. The greatest risks from a total nuclear war are from fire and starvation and not from …
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced it has closed on more than $1.8 billion in Series B funding to commercialize fusion energy. This money will be used construct, commission, and operate SPARC, the world’s first commercially relevant net energy fusion machine. They will also start work on ARC, the first commercial fusion power plant, which includes …
China is developing a megawatt nuclear reactor for moon and Mars missions according to the South China Morning Post. Jiang Jieqiong, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Nuclear Safety Technology, has suggested that the nuclear reactor could use a foldable structure – similar to an umbrella – to increase the surface …
Both nuclear reactors of the High-Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor-Pebble-bed Module (HTR-PM) at the Shidaowan plant in China’s Shandong province have reached criticality for the first time. The HTR-PM has two 250 MW thermal reactors that drive a single 210 MWe turbine. Commercial 600 MWe pebble bed reactors (6×250 MWt, total 655 MWe) will follow. the …
French President Emmanuel Macron said France will build six new nuclear reactors. This will keep France’s energy costs at a “reasonable” level and reduce dependence on imports. France will save energy and invest in domestic carbon-free energy production. Nuclear power was at the heart of Macron’s France 2030 plan for re-industrialization which was announced last …
China is turning to increased nuclear power plans because of their coal and hydroelectric energy crisis. China has an energy crisis this year with droughts reducing hydro power by 30% and problems ramping up coal power. China had slowed its nuclear power build after the 2011 Tsunami in Japan caused the Fukushima plant to fail. …
Germany failed to meet its 2020 clean energy target and will lose 12% of its clean energy if it shuts 8 GW of current nuclear power. Germany will miss its 2030 climate target of 65 percent less emissions that in 1990 emissions. They are projected to miss by 16 percentage points and reach only 49 …
ARC Clean Energy Canada CEO Bill Labbe says a 2029 start-up for an ARC-100 advanced small modular reactor in New Brunswick is aggressive but achievable target. The company is preparing to begin the second phase of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s Vendor Design Review (VDR) process. The Government of New Brunswick earlier this year announced …
A full-scale mock-up of the main vessels of the U-Battery advanced modular reactor (AMR), by U-Battery and Cavendish Nuclear, has demonstrated how the reactor can be built using modular techniques. The mock-up includes the reactor vessel, the intermediate heat exchanger vessel, and the u-shaped connecting duct, began in February 2020, Threlfall said at an event …
Here is an update on advanced molten salt reactors and pebble bed reactors. For the past 60 years, the world has had water and pressurized water reactors which follow the same principle as a coal plant except they use a nuclear reactor to generate heat. Terrestrial Energy is working towards an operational first 400 MW …
