12Nov

Thorium: The Nuclear Power We’ve Never Known (Video)

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Imagine if nuclear power was safe, terror-proof, and fueled by a plentiful, ubiquitous element. Sound like a pipe dream? Maybe it is. Maybe not.

A couple nights ago, I dropped by the Vice magazine offices in Brooklyn to check out a new documentary on thorium put together by Motherboard.tv. (Full disclosure: the video was produced by Alex Pasternack, a former contributor here at TH.) The film, The Thorium Dream, examines the history of an alternative kind of nuclear power, one tested decades ago but never embraced.

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29Oct

Bavaria to Swap Nuclear for Fossil Energy

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Bavaria to Swap Nuclear for Fossil EnergyNuclear

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Going from sixty-to-zero on nuclear will require significant new fossil generation in the German state. Bavaria is expected to trade out their significant nuclear electricity portfolio for fossil generation in the coming decade, according to new analysis from Der Spiegel. While the contribution of non-hydro renewables is anticipated to increase from 10 to 36 percent of generating capacity, the largest increase comes from natural gas, which will increase its portfolio share from 10 to 46 percent, far more than any other single fuel. Spurred by recent fears following the Fukushima crisis in Japan, Bavaria is just the latest to abandon its nuclear investments in favor of fossil fuels, trading unlikely radiation risks for certain emissions and pollution increases from natural gas combustion.

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26Oct

Airborne Metro: A Giant Nuclear-Powered Airport That Flies 3,000 Passengers Across the Sky

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Airborne Metro A Giant Nuclear-Powered Airport That Flies 3,000 Passengers Across the Sky

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When it comes to aircraft, bigger is better. As size increases, so does efficiency, which is the thinking behind the monstrous Airbus A-380. But to be really efficient, you’d need to go bigger. Way bigger. We’re talking an aircraft so large that other aircraft could land on it, in-flight.

The “Airborne Metro” concept is just that: it’s like an express train in the sky. As part of a general metro or train system, though, you don’t get to take the express line directly from start to finish. Instead, you take a smaller bus or train to get to the express train, and then probably another smaller bus or train to get to your final destination once you get off the express. In the case of the Airborne Metro, you’d catch a regular aircraft at a regional airport, zip up to a giant flying airport, and then ride that for a couple thousand miles before taking another regular aircraft back down.

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26Oct

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Released Far More Radiation than Government Said

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Global radioactivity data challenge Japanese estimates for emissions and point to the role of spent fuel pools

The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March released far more radiation than the Japanese government has claimed. So concludes a study1 that combines radioactivity data from across the globe to estimate the scale and fate of emissions from the shattered plant.

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12Oct

UK nuclear safety review finds 38 cases for improvement

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UK nuclear safety review finds 38 cases for improvement

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A review of nuclear safety in the UK has found 38 areas where safety could be improved, in lessons drawn from the Fukushima incident in Japan early this year.

The review, ordered by the government following the Japanese experience, pinpointed critical areas for concern, including risks associated with flooding, the layout of plants, and the state of preparedness for emergencies. Ministers and the relevant regulators will be asked to look at these as a matter of urgency.

However, the review published on Tuesday also concluded that the UK’s nuclear industry is broadly safe, with “no fundamental safety weaknesses”. If the areas of concern raised in the light of the Fukushima are addressed, the industry will be “even safer”, the report said. The relatively clean bill of health was rapidly seized on by the government.

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11Oct

Future Perfect : Fusion power as a safe alternative to fission power

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Future Perfect Fusion power as a safe alternative to fission power

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With various countries undergoing liberalization for faster economic development, the energy needs of the world are growing at a very fast pace. The availability of fossil fuels is only for a limited time period and their effects are also very devastating for the global environment. As increased carbon levels in atmosphere have been found to damage economic systems throughout the world, the nuclear power is emerging as a more useful and easily explorable option for fulfilling the energy needs without causing any environmental damage.

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26Sep

Geologically Active Japan as an Energy Resource

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Geologically Active Japan as an Energy Resource

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Only about 16% of Japan’s electricity is produced domestically, but Japan is located on the ring of fire and is rated as the third most geologically active country in the world. This threatens nuclear power with earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, but is ideal for geothermal energy development. Japan Geothermal Developer’s Council has announced that six Tohoku prefectures could develop a generating capacity of 170 MW and a total of 740 MW in those prefectures, if including sites in national parks, where geothermal plants are presently restricted.

The recent massive earthquake in Japan caused 6800 MW of electricity to go offline. It is estimated that conventional geothermal in Japan may have a combined capacity for 85,000 MW, more than enough to entirely replace its nuclear energy power plants.

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10Sep

UK joins laser nuclear fusion project

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UK joins laser nuclear fusion project

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The UK has formally joined forces with a US laser lab in a bid to develop clean energy from nuclear fusion. Unlike fission plants, the process uses lasers to compress atomic nuclei until they join, releasing energy. The National Ignition Facility (Nif) in the US is drawing closer to producing a surplus of energy from the idea.

The UK company AWE and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have now joined with Nif to help make laser fusion a viable commercial energy source.

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10Sep

Fukushima disaster: it’s not over yet

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Fukushima disaster it's not over yet

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Fu Nishikata, eight, and her brother Kaito, 12, on the playground of the school they left on 1 April to evacuate to Yonezawa, 50km away. Their mother, Kanako Nishikata, is member of a group of parents for the protection of Fukushima children. Photograph: Jeremie Souteyrat

It was an email from an old friend that led me to the irradiated sunflower fields of Fukushima. I had not heard from Reiko-san since 2003, when I left my post as the Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent. Before that, the magazine editor had been the source of many astute comments about social trends in Japan. In April, she contacted me out of the blue. I was pleased at first, then worried.

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7Sep

Microbes Generate Electricity While Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste

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Microbes Generate Electricity While Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste

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Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals.

Details of the process, which can be improved and patented, are published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist.

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