nuclear power
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China to build 50+ nuclear reactors based on unsafe 60's tech, says Wikileaks
"China is currently in the process of building as many as 50 to 60 new nuclear plants by 2020; the vast majority will be the CPR-1000, a copy of 60's era Westinghouse technology that can be built cheaply and quickly and with the majority of parts sourced from Chinese manufacturers," says this cable from the U.S. embassy in Beijing.
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Critical List: Hurricane Irene headed for East Coast; EPA totally creates jobs
East Coasters may not know what do in an earthquake, but a hurricane's coming, too. That, we know about.
The Obama administration is looking into "leasing" nuclear fuel from other countries, which would let American plants use the uranium, then return it for disposal once the fuel is spent. It’s like a bottle-return program, but with much higher stakes.
Chinese consumers want cars, not those namby pamby EVs.
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Overheated river hobbles nuclear power plants
The Tennessee Valley authority has shut down three of its nuclear power plants for the second summer in a row, thanks to unusually warm temperatures in the rivers into which they would normally discharge water.
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Swede finds out why nuclear, unlike renewables, can never be DIY
Blog your experience building a nuclear reactor in your kitchen, go to jail. Them's the laws in Sweden, where the no nerd's supervillain-esque childhood fantasy fulfillment goes unpunished.
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Nuclear power's new marketing strategy: hide behind some windmills
The tagline on this advertisement for German Atomic Forum ("founded in 1959 to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Germany") is "CO2 Emissions = Zero."
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Tepco bulldozed hill that could have prevented Fukushima disaster
When engineers first assessed the future home of the Fukushima nuclear power plant that would eventually melt down in response to a tsunami, the site featured a striking, 82-feet-high bluff that overlooked the ocean below.
It was more than high enough to have withstood the tsunami that struck the site in March.
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Germany says auf wiedersehen to nuclear power
Some see Germany's nuclear phase-out as an overreaction to Fukushima, but really it's a smart move toward a low-carbon economy.
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Do you live near America's Fukushima?
This infographic from 1BOG.org — click for the much bigger original, which has details about all the plants — shows at-risk nuclear facilities in the United States. Most of the ones situated in high-population areas (the larger gray circles) don't coincide with the high seismic risk areas (yellow and red), so that's comforting … but […]
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Strip-mining the Moon: Bad idea, or the worst idea?
As a millennial, I don't share boomers' enthusiasm for the power of science to solve all problems. So when someone says that strip-mining the Moon for rocks rich in helium-3, heating the rocks to harvest the helium, and using that helium for nuclear fusion will solve the world's energy problems, I am inclined to say, “Ha! You power-mad old person, you are living in a science fiction story.” But that, in fact, may be the direction humanity is heading in, moon-wise.