Rolls-Royce is now aiming to “have a reactor ready to send to the Moon by 2029.”

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) said on Friday it would invest a significant amount in Rolls-Royce’s project to produce nuclear power on the moon.

The government agency will now invest £2.9 million (around $3.52 million) in the project in order to “deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor.”

Rolls Royce.

In a statement, the UKSA outlined how researchers from Rolls-Royce had been working on a Micro-Reactor program “to develop technology that will provide the power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.”

ST… PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators said Thursday they’re monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water from Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear power plant, and the company said there’s no danger to the public.

“Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment,” the Minneapolis-based utility said in a statement.

While Xcel reported the leak of water containing tritium to state and federal authorities in late November, the spill had not been made public before Thursday. State officials said they waited to get more information before going public with it.

A nuclear power plant along the Mississippi River in Monticello, Minnesota, has leaked more than 400,000 gallons of radioactive water due to a broken pipe. NBC’s Maggie Vespa has the details.

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#Minnesota #Nuclear #Radioactive

After successful recommissioning in autumn 2022, the Greifswald nuclear fusion experiment has surpassed an important target. In 2023, an energy turnover of 1 gigajoule was targeted. Now the researchers have even achieved 1.3 gigajoules and a new record for discharge time on Wendelstein 7-X: the hot plasma could be maintained for eight minutes.

During the three-year completion work that ended last summer, Wendelstein 7-X was primarily equipped with water cooling for the wall elements and an upgraded heating system. The latter can now couple twice as much power into the plasma as before. Since then, the nuclear fusion experiment can be operated in new parameter ranges.

“We are now exploring our way towards ever higher energy values,” explained Prof. Dr. Thomas Klinger, head of the Stellarator Transport and Dynamics Division at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald. “In doing so, we have to proceed step by step so as not to overload and damage the facility.”

The move uses a loophole in the NPT and prompts fears of nuclear proliferation.

The U.S. will lend its advanced nuclear propulsion technology to build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia as it looks to counter the rising influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. This is the first major agreement under the AUKUS pact, a trilateral arrangement that was set up 18 months ago with the U.K., the U.S., and Australia as signatories.

Back in September 2021, when the AUKUS pact was announced, the U.S. had confirmed that it would help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

LockieCurrie/iStock.

Under the arrangement, the U.S. will supply its nuclear propulsion technology to Australia, making it the only country in the world after the U.K. to have gained such access. This will help advance Australia’s diesel engine-powered submarine fleet and allow it to carry out long-range strikes.

Reliable carbon-free power for the world — michelle catts, senior vice president, nuclear programs, ge-hitachi nuclear energy.

Michelle Catts is the Senior Vice President of Nuclear Programs at GE-Hitachi (GEH — https://nuclear.gepower.com/) located in Wilmington, NC.

Ms. Catts has over 18 years of demonstrated managerial and technical expertise in nuclear Regulatory Affairs and currently is responsible for ensuring world-class Quality, Continuous Improvement, Regulatory Affairs, and oversight of Environment, Health & Safety programs. She manages a multimillion-dollar budget and over a 30-member organization. She provides licensing and quality leadership and guidance to support nuclear fuel facility licensing, current nuclear fleet fuel reload/outage licensing activities, new reactor and new fuel opportunities, Technical Regulations and Standards, and GE-Hitachis’s Vallecitos and Morris sites.

Prior to joining GE-Hitachi, Ms. Catts worked for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) where she held positions of increasing responsibility including as a nuclear reactor inspector stationed onsite at nuclear power plants up to the Policy Advisor to the Presidential Appointed NRC Chairman.

Ms. Catts holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University and is currently working on her MBA at UNCW.

Ms. Catts is also on the board of Smart Start of New Hanover County, an organization that seeks to build bridges to develop, sustain and enhance health, family support and early education services for all children, ages birth to five.

Retro Biosciences’ mysterious backer has finally been revealed!

In 2021 the longevity industry received one of its largest investments to date, with a $180m investment being made into the pharmaceutical start known as Retro Biosciences, or Retro Bio for short. Not only was this investment cause for celebration within the field of regenerative medicine, but it also came with a tantalising mystery, as the backer, or indeed backer, did not make themselves publicly known. It was assumed that due to the secrecy involved, it was likely that this investment had come from a small number of individuals, potentially just a single backer. This mystery backer, combined with the notable capital investment, led to much media attention at the time, and has since garnered a significant amount of interest in Retro Bio from both the general public and future potential financial backers. That was until last week, when the mystery backer finally decided that now was the right time to reveal their identity to the general public.

In an interview with MIT Technology review, American entrepreneur Sam Altman revealed that he was the sole backer for the pharmaceutical start-up, who single handily provided the entire $180m investment. Sam Altman, who primarily made his fortune in the tech industry (specifically through social media companies such as Loopt) has become somewhat of an angel investor for a slew of world changing, innovative companies which are involved in everything from artificial intelligence to nuclear energy. It is hoped that this significant single investment marks the beginning of a longevity tech boom, similar to what was seen during the dot-com boom (but hopefully without the disastrous ending).

A research team’s milestone could help realize efficient electrical grids, better battery life for cellphones and improving nuclear fusion.

A water-based detector has been used to spot antineutrinos from nuclear reactions hundreds of kilometres away. It could be used to monitor distant nuclear activities.

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

A new test finally ignited a nuclear fusion reaction that unleashed more energy than it took in. This raises hopes that someday the reaction that powers the sun could also cleanly power activities here on Earth.

The experiment took place at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif. The U.S. Department of Energy announced its achievement on December 13.

“This is a monumental breakthrough,” says Gilbert Collins. This physicist works at the University of Rochester in New York and did not take part in the new research. “Since I started in this field, fusion was always 50 years away,” Collins says. “With this achievement, the landscape has changed.”