A second tunnel storing radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation has structural problems and is at risk of failing, according to a U.S. Energy Department investigation released Friday. This tunnel is more than four times longer than the smaller Hanford tunnel that suffered a partial roof collapse May 9, triggering an order for more than 4,800 employees to stay indoors.
Seattle Times 30th June 2017 read more »
The Trump administration’s proposed budget contains a provision that threatens thousands of U.S. workers and a very successful nuclear anti-proliferation treaty. Last month, the Trump administration proposed the termination of a program designed to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists’ hands. The effort to close the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, which converts plutonium from nuclear weapons into fuel for power generation, began under the Obama administration as a concession to nuclear-power opponents with the claim that closing the facility would save money. This claim ignored the fact that the facility is 70 percent complete and the fact that the Obama administration had no credible alternative means to dispose of aging nuclear warheads.
The Hill 30th June 2017 read more »
As NASA makes plans to one day send humans to Mars, one of the key technical gaps the agency is working to fill is how to provide enough power on the Red Planet’s surface for fuel production, habitats, and other equipment. One option: small nuclear fission reactors, which work by splitting uranium atoms to generate heat, which is then converted into electric power.
NBC 30th June 2017 read more »