We round up the past week’s news and updates from the world of Nuclear.
Ghana and USA sign nuclear co-operation MOU, by Nuclear Engineering International: “The USA and Ghana on 13 July signed a Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation (NCMOU), “which improves our cooperation on nuclear energy and strengthens our diplomatic and economic relationship,” the US State Department said. It added that the USA and Ghana “have an enduring diplomatic relationship, which includes long-standing cooperation in the fields of security, energy and commerce”. Cooperation in nuclear energy, science and technology can lead to significant contributions to clean energy, agricultural improvements, clean water, advanced medical treatments, and more, the Department noted.”
UK cross-sector report plans zero-carbon hydrogen from nuclear, by World Nuclear News: “A new report published by the UK’s Nuclear Sector Deal’s Innovation Group presents a series of recommendations for realising the opportunity of zero-carbon hydrogen from nuclear energy. Its findings follow a Nuclear Hydrogen Roundtable event, which brought together over 80 experts and industry leaders from across the hydrogen value chain.”
Houston, are we going to have a problem with space nuclear power?, by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “Nuclear propulsion is the fastest way to send a manned mission to Mars, as the United States proposes to do in the late 2030s. But nuclear power can also be useful for other activities in space that require more electricity than solar panels can currently provide, such as harvesting ice from the Moon to provide drinking water and generate rocket propellant for future lunar explorers, and powering radar arrays to map the Earth.”
Bitcoin Miners Seek to Go Nuclear to Address Environmental Woes, by Bloomberg: “Power startup Oklo Inc. said it’s partnering with Bitcoin mining and hosting firm Compass Mining to introduce advanced fission to the energy-intensive process of minting new coins. It’s an effort, the companies say, to reduce fossil-fuel emissions from Bitcoin mining and to diversify energy sources used by the miners, who compete to verify transactions in exchange for new coins.”
Commentary: Opportunities presented by nuclear energy for South Africa, by ESI Africa: “South Africa has an established and experienced nuclear industry, with some of our great talents behind the development of SMRs and the operation of new-generation nuclear power plants around the world. Although our industry has been geared toward operating and maintaining the Koeberg and Safari reactors, the previous nuclear new build procurement programmes and Koeberg life extension projects have kickstarted our industry with new entrants qualifying for these opportunities.”
