25Nov

New Mars Curiosity Science Laboratory Will be Nuclear Powered Instead of Solar

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How nuke power bested solar in latest Mars mission

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Heading off on a long journey to Mars on Saturday is NASA’s new Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory which, once it lands on the Red Planet, will be powered by nuclear energy. Unlike previous Mars rovers — the Spirit and the Opportunity — which were powered by the sun and couldn’t work in dark crevasses, on the wrong side of mountains or at night, the Curiosity will power through all of those times and spaces like a champ. Slated to have a 23-month stay, the Curiosity’s engine could theoretically last a few decades.

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30Aug

The first nuclear power plants for settlements on the Moon & Mars

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The team is scheduled to build a technology demonstration unit in 2012. This is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Werner leads the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory involvement in this effort, which includes participation in the reactor design and modeling teams, fuel development and fabrication and development of a small electrical pump for the liquid metal cooled system.

Sunlight and fuel cells were the mainstays for generating electricity for space missions in the past, but engineers realized that solar energy has limitations. Solar cells do a great job supplying electricity in near-Earth orbits and for satellite-borne equipment, but nuclear power offers some unique capabilities that could support manned outposts on other planets or moons.

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26Aug

WikiLeaks cables reveal fears over China’s nuclear safety

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China has “vastly increased” the risk of a nuclear accident by opting for cheap technology that will be 100 years old by the time dozens of its reactors reach the end of their lifespans, according to diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Beijing.

The warning comes weeks after the government in Beijing resumed its ambitious nuclear expansion programme, that was temporarily halted for safety inspections in the wake of the meltdown of three reactors in Fukushima, Japan.

Cables released this week by WikiLeaks highlight the secrecy of the bidding process for power plant contracts, the influence of government lobbying, and potential weaknesses in the management and regulatory oversight of China’s fast-expanding nuclear sector.

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24Aug

5.9 Mineral, Virginia Earthquake Shakes Six Nuclear Power Plants Within 150 Miles

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5.9 Mineral, Virginia Earthquake Shakes Six Nuclear Power Plants Within 150 Miles

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A magnitude 5.9 earthquake just hit Mineral, VA, sending shockwaves up and down the East Coast of the United States that evacuated the Capital Building, the White House, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. With Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear disaster still fresh in our memory — and still sending radiation through that country — everyone is wondering how this latest tremor will affect nuclear power plants in the Mineral, VA area. The answer, as of now, is not much — but there are six nuclear reactors within 150 miles of the earthquake’s epicenter, and a recent report by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that we’re not properly prepared for a disaster.

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8Aug

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – A Big Part of America’s Energy Future?

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Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – A Big Part of America’s Energy Future

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America’s nuclear power renaissance has been just around the corner for years, it seems.  Even though 20 percent of all U.S. electricity is generated by nuclear power plants, without any greenhouse gas emissions, safety and cost concerns mean no new plants have been built in decades.

But a new breed of nuclear reactor could unlock the power of the atom in a safe, affordable way. energyNOW! correspondent Daniel Sieberg explores the promise of small modular reactors (SMR) – simple enough to be scalable, powerful enough to power a whole town, and safe enough to be buried underground.

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30Jul

Hinckley C nuclear power station: a good thing?

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This week French state-owned power company EDF was given permission to start the preconstruction of “Hinkley C”, the third nuclear power station on the Somerset coast of the Bristol channel and what is expected to be the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain in over 20 years. This will involve clearing over 400 acres of land and excavating more soil and rock than was dug up for the London Olympic Games.

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