Microsoft is looking to accelerate the regulatory approval process for setting up new nuclear power plants using AI.
Category: nuclear energy – Page 50
Helicity Space ignites deep space nuclear fusion engine with new funds
Fusion-powered engines might drastically reduce travel time to the Moon and Mars.
California-based startup Helicity Space has successfully raised $5 million in a recent seed funding round.
Prominent space companies Airbus Ventures, TRE Ventures, Voyager Space Holdings, E2MC Space, Urania Ventures, and Gaingels have all invested in Helicity, according to a press release.
The start-up’s work focuses on the development of nuclear fusion propulsion technology for deep space missions. Unlike traditional chemical propulsion systems, fusion propulsion offers the potential for significantly higher energy efficiency and speed.
Cosmic nuclear fission seen for 1st time in ‘incredibly profound’ discovery
“The only plausible way this can arise among different stars is if there is a consistent process operating during the formation of the heavy elements,” Mumpower said. “This is incredibly profound and is the first evidence of fission operating in the cosmos, confirming a theory we proposed several years ago.”
“As we’ve acquired more observations, the cosmos is saying, ‘hey, there’s a signature here, and it can only come from fission.’”
Neutron stars are created when massive stars reach the end of their fuel supplies necessary for intrinsic nuclear fusion processes, which means the energy that has been supporting them against the inward push of their own gravity ceases. As the outer layers of these dying stars are blown away, the stellar cores with masses between one and two times that of the sun collapse into a width of around 12 miles (20 kilometers).
Laboratory for Laser Energetics to Lead New Inertial Fusion Energy Research Hub
Federal funding brings together experts to chart a viable path to realizing fusion energy as a clean power source.
The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has received a four-year, $10 million award from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fusion Energy Science (FES) to lead a national research hub dedicated to advancing inertial fusion energy (IFE) science and technology.
The LLE-led inertial fusion energy hub—named IFE-COLoR, which stands for Inertial Fusion Energy-Consortium on LPI (laser-plasma interaction) Research—is one of only three such hubs in the nation selected by the DOE through competitive peer review. The award is part of a recent DOE initiative to stimulate IFE research and development by building on the momentum of scientists’ breakthrough in achieving ignition, or a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain, last year.
The world’s only floating NPP Akademik Lomonosov
Akademik Lomonosov — is the world’s only floating nuclear power plant, located at the Russian port of Pevek, Chukotka. A nuclear FPU is equipped with two KLT-…
NASA unveils nuclear-powered Cryobot mission concept to hunt alien life
NASA is currently investigating the feasibility of a “cryobot” probe that would drill through the ice crusts of moons such as Europa and Enceladus to directly detect liquid water and discover the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Apart from Mars, scientists are focusing their efforts on two other candidates: Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Compelling evidence indicates the potential existence of subsurface oceans beneath thick layers of water ice on these icy moons.
NASA is currently studying the viability of a “cryobot” mission, which would drill through the ice crusts of these moons to directly detect the existence of liquid water and explore the potential for supporting life forms. This is likely to be a nuclear-powered probe that will be deployed with the assistance of a lander.
6 US Cities Most Likely at Risk in a Nuclear Attack
When it comes to nightmare scenarios for the United States, a nuclear attack from a foreign power has to rank among the worst possible choices. While the likelihood of such a strike is low, that does not stop experts from trying to prepare for any possibility. A story by Business Insider lists the following six cities as the most likely to be at risk in the vent of a future nuclear attack on the United States:
1) Chicago, Illinois.
2) Houston, Texas
NASA’s nuclear-powered drone mission to Saturn’s moon now set for 2028
NASA’s maiden mission to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan, has progressed to the next phase of development.
If everything goes as planned, the launch of this car-sized nuclear-powered drone will take place in 2028.
The Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will move to the final stages of design and development of the Dragonfly drone with NASA’s preliminary design approval.
Japanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inaugurated
The world’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor in operation was inaugurated in Japan on Friday, a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs.
Fusion differs from fission, the technique currently used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.
The goal of the JT-60SA reactor is to investigate the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large-scale and carbon-free source of net energy—with more energy generated than is put into producing it.