Jul 22, 2024 07:49 PM
(This post was last modified: Jul 23, 2024 07:48 PM by C C.)
High hopes and security fears for next-gen nuclear reactors
https://www.theverge.com/24201610/next-g...ation-risk
INTRO: Next-generation nuclear reactors are heating up a debate over whether their fuel could be used to make bombs, jeopardizing efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Uranium in the fuel could theoretically be used to develop a nuclear weapon. Older reactors use such low concentrations that they don’t really pose a weapons proliferation threat. But advanced reactors would use higher concentrations, making them a potential target of terrorist groups or other countries wanting to take the fuel to develop their own nuclear weapons, some experts warn.
They argue that the US hasn’t prepared enough to hedge against that worst-case scenario and are calling on Congress and the Department of Energy to assess potential security risks with advanced reactor fuel.
Other experts and industry groups still think it’s unfeasible for such a worst-case scenario to materialize. But the issue is starting to come to a head as nuclear reactors become a more attractive energy source, garnering a rare show of bipartisan support in Congress.
Nuclear reactors generate electricity without producing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. And unlike solar and wind energy, which fluctuate with the weather and time of day, nuclear reactors provide a steady source of electricity similar to gas and coal power plants. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation into law meant to speed the development of next-generation nuclear reactors in the US by streamlining approval processes.
Next-generation reactors are smaller and modular, meant to make them cheaper and easier to build than old-school nuclear power plants. Aside from generating electricity, small reactor designs could also be used to produce high-temperature heat for industrial facilities... (MORE - details)
Washington DC among US cities most vulnerable to space weather, scientists say
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051966
INTRO: Several cities in the United States - including the nation's capital - have power grids particularly vulnerable to the threat of space weather – but experts are still trying to understand why.
Researchers at the British Geological Survey (BGS) found that certain regions of the US are more at risk from geomagnetic storms, which occur when the Sun spits out solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
These are bursts of gas and magnetic fields which erupt into space from the solar atmosphere. They can cause geomagnetic storms that have the potential to damage infrastructure both in Earth's orbit and on its surface, ranging from satellites to underground pipelines.
Two of the cities with power grids found to be most vulnerable to the effects of such space weather are Washington DC and Milwaukee, according to Dr Lauren Orr of the BGS, who is presenting her findings at this week's National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hull.
"We have identified certain regions of the US (Washington DC area and Milwaukee) which are repeatedly appearing as 'highly connected' in our network, hence are possibly regions particularly vulnerable to the effects of space weather and may benefit from further monitoring," she said.
Dr Orr added that there were "many reasons" the cities may be more at risk to the impact of geomagnetic storms, including "electrical conductivity of the ground, the physical construction of the power grid in those areas, or the location of the auroral currents in the sky"... (MORE - details, no ads)
https://www.theverge.com/24201610/next-g...ation-risk
INTRO: Next-generation nuclear reactors are heating up a debate over whether their fuel could be used to make bombs, jeopardizing efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Uranium in the fuel could theoretically be used to develop a nuclear weapon. Older reactors use such low concentrations that they don’t really pose a weapons proliferation threat. But advanced reactors would use higher concentrations, making them a potential target of terrorist groups or other countries wanting to take the fuel to develop their own nuclear weapons, some experts warn.
They argue that the US hasn’t prepared enough to hedge against that worst-case scenario and are calling on Congress and the Department of Energy to assess potential security risks with advanced reactor fuel.
Other experts and industry groups still think it’s unfeasible for such a worst-case scenario to materialize. But the issue is starting to come to a head as nuclear reactors become a more attractive energy source, garnering a rare show of bipartisan support in Congress.
Nuclear reactors generate electricity without producing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. And unlike solar and wind energy, which fluctuate with the weather and time of day, nuclear reactors provide a steady source of electricity similar to gas and coal power plants. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation into law meant to speed the development of next-generation nuclear reactors in the US by streamlining approval processes.
Next-generation reactors are smaller and modular, meant to make them cheaper and easier to build than old-school nuclear power plants. Aside from generating electricity, small reactor designs could also be used to produce high-temperature heat for industrial facilities... (MORE - details)
Washington DC among US cities most vulnerable to space weather, scientists say
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051966
INTRO: Several cities in the United States - including the nation's capital - have power grids particularly vulnerable to the threat of space weather – but experts are still trying to understand why.
Researchers at the British Geological Survey (BGS) found that certain regions of the US are more at risk from geomagnetic storms, which occur when the Sun spits out solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
These are bursts of gas and magnetic fields which erupt into space from the solar atmosphere. They can cause geomagnetic storms that have the potential to damage infrastructure both in Earth's orbit and on its surface, ranging from satellites to underground pipelines.
Two of the cities with power grids found to be most vulnerable to the effects of such space weather are Washington DC and Milwaukee, according to Dr Lauren Orr of the BGS, who is presenting her findings at this week's National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hull.
"We have identified certain regions of the US (Washington DC area and Milwaukee) which are repeatedly appearing as 'highly connected' in our network, hence are possibly regions particularly vulnerable to the effects of space weather and may benefit from further monitoring," she said.
Dr Orr added that there were "many reasons" the cities may be more at risk to the impact of geomagnetic storms, including "electrical conductivity of the ground, the physical construction of the power grid in those areas, or the location of the auroral currents in the sky"... (MORE - details, no ads)