Lifeboat Foundation

Engineers have successfully transferred digitally encoded information wirelessly using nuclear radiation instead of conventional technology.

Radio waves and mobile phone signals relies on electromagnetic radiation for communication but in a new development, engineers from Lancaster University in the UK, working with the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, transferred digitally encoded information using “fast neutrons” instead.

The researchers measured the spontaneous emission of fast neutrons from californium-252, a radioactive isotope produced in nuclear reactors.

Rolls-Royce will move ahead with a multibillion pound plan to roll out a new breed of mini nuclear reactors after securing more than £450m from the government and investors.

The engineering firm will set up a venture focused on developing small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, in partnership with investors BNF Resources and the US generator Exelon Generation with a joint investment of £195m to fund the plans over the next three years.

Fusion – combining atomic nuclei to release energy – is a clean and safe way to power our homes and industry. This ‘holy grail’ of energy has eluded physicists for decades, but there are signs that a bright future could be on the horizon.

A new joint project between the U.S. and Romania will bring small modular reactors to Eastern Europe! In addition to SMR simulators to train students.

Use the code “Undecided” to get Curiosity Stream for less than $15 a year! https://curiositystream.com/Undecided. Before you blow your fuse and start leaving your nuclear fusion jokes in the comments, there’s been a major fusion development we have to talk about and it’s kind of a nuclear bombshell… poor choice of words… it’s big news. It’s all about high temperature semiconductors (ie. magnets).

Watch Exploring the 1,000 Mile Car Battery — Aluminum Air Hype? https://youtu.be/9OOq3f6mUxU?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7UWp64ZlOKUPNXePMTdU4d.

Continue reading “Exploring Why This Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Matters” »

If China — and then Russia and other nuclear powers — get gliders, however, these defensive systems will be obsolete. Nuclear payloads could then zip around the South Pole instead, for instance. They’d never even exit the atmosphere. And they could change their trajectory, being controlled all along by a Chinese operator with a joystick.

All this makes China sound menacing and aggressive. In that sense, the news seems to rhyme with revelations that China is also building a couple of hundred silos for more conventional intercontinental missiles that could carry nukes.

In reality, China probably appears so aggressive only because it feels incredibly insecure. The greatest fear in Beijing is that in an escalating conflict — over Taiwan or whatever else — the U.S. might be tempted one day to launch preemptive nuclear strikes to take out all or most of China’s arsenal. The Americans would only contemplate such a drastic step, of course, if they thought that their own defenses could parry any remaining missiles coming from China in retaliation.

PERHAPS THE MOST PROMISING ROUTE TO FUSION uses Boron instead, reqiring higher temperatures atainable by chirped lasers—using a widely available fuel, and an output which can be turned directly into energy without the need for steam turbines, etc.

“when it’s finally deployed on electric grids, humanity can leave uranium, coal, oil, and gas in the ground. We won’t need to drill for geothermal energy, or line our hills with unrecyclable wind turbines. It won’t matter if the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing…”

Using super powerful lasers to create clean, emission-less energy, HB11 Energy is expanding options for commercial nuclear fusion.

Continue reading “Australian Company Works to Make Energy From Nuclear Fusion — But Without the Fiery Ball of Plasma” »

As the U.S. military has finalized a space for its first micro-nuclear reactor. The Department of Air Force has chosen the Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) in Alaska to introduce this next-generation energy capability, a press release said.

The US military has been inclining towards electronic warfare along with nuclear reactors for cleaner sources of energy. Last month, we reported that the Department of Defense was planning to install a portable nuclear reactor in Idaho.

It is also being said that the micro-reactor pilot is being built in response to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 that requires potential locations to be identified to build and operate a microreactor before 2027. The Air Force will work in collaboration with the Department of Energy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to execute the project of the micro-reactor pilot, and to ensure this pilot is conducted with safety as the number one priority, the press release said. This facility will have a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and will operate commercially.

ABINGDON, England — Harnessing fusion energy into something commercially viable — and maybe, ultimately, a clean source of power that replaces fossil fuels for centuries to come — has long been considered by some as the ultimate moonshot.

But investor interest in fusion energy continues to slowly rise, and the number of startups in the field is multiplying, with an estimated 1,100 people in several countries making their living at these firms. An industry is taking shape, with a growing network of companies that supply highly specialized equipment, like the components of the powerful magnets that fusion devices require.

The British government even recently saw the need to issue regulations for fusion energy — a kind of milestone for a burgeoning industry.