We round up the past week’s news and updates from the world of Nuclear.
US President includes nuclear in American Jobs Plan, by World Nuclear News: “US President Joseph Biden yesterday announced a USD2 trillion jobs, infrastructure and clean energy plan to reshape the country’s economy. Among the proposed investments to tackle climate change, the American Jobs Plan calls for funding for the development of advanced nuclear reactors and for a clean electricity standard to leverage and incentivise more efficient use of the USA’s existing fleet of reactors.”
UAE’s first nuclear power plant begins commercial operations, by Reuters: “The Barakah nuclear power plant in the Abu Dhabi emirate is the first nuclear power station in the Arab world and part of the oil producing state’s efforts to diversify its energy mix. “The first megawatt from the first Arab nuclear plant has entered the national power grid,” Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on Twitter.”
New project to improve the design and performance of nuclear power plants, by Environment Journal: “Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has announced a new £7.6m collaboration to harness world-improve the design and performance of nuclear power plants. Researchers at the University of Bristol, Manchester and Imperial College London will work with EDF to assess the condition of nuclear power stations.”
‘Not bonkers’: Hydrogen could give US nuclear plants new lease on life, by S&P Global: “Nuclear-produced hydrogen could provide an additional revenue stream for the nuclear fleet, potentially helping to keep aging reactors in some markets online. This is because producing hydrogen from a nuclear plant’s electricity and steam can allow utilities to run the plant at full output rather than having to curtail production when lower-cost energy sources are available.”
Four ways to fusion: The pros and pitfalls of our nuclear power pursuit, by New Atlas: “For nearly a century, scientists have been tantalized by the prospect of attaining an inexhaustible source of energy through nuclear fusion. Unfortunately, engineering a controlled environment where atomic nuclei can continuously fuse under extreme pressure and temperature to produce energy that we can capture is very difficult, but that doesn’t mean exciting advances aren’t being made.”