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Deal is set to be announced at meeting of Biden and leaders of Australia and U.K. ... The U.S. will speed up Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines by arranging for Canberra’s first few subs to be built in the U.S. .... The plan to sell up to five U.S. Virginia-class submarines to Australia is intended as a stopgap to provide the country with nuclear-powered subs by the mid-2030s. ... The alliance is called Aukus, an acronym for Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. In addition to collaborating on nuclear-submarine technology, the countries intend to cooperate on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems,...

Alexander Bloshenko, executive director for advanced programs and science at Roscosmos, presented two images of future spacecraft with the Zeus nuclear-powered tug — one with rotary magnetoplasma engines, and one with ion engines. According to the presentation, a satellite with a 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor will weigh up to 22 tons. It is expected to be launched from the Vostochny spaceport on board the Angara-A5V heavy rocket with the Fregat upper stage. The nuclear-powered tug, also known as the Transport and Energy Module (TEM), has been in development since 2010 in Russia. The first prototype for a full-scale TEM vehicle...

This new research contract will see planetary scientists work together to explore the game-changing potential of nuclear power as a more plentiful source of energy, capable of making possible deeper space exploration in the decades to come. Nuclear propulsion, which would involve channelling the immense energy released in splitting the atom to accelerate propellants, like hydrogen, at huge speeds, has the potential to revolutionise space travel. By some estimates, this kind of engine could be twice as efficient as the chemical engines that power our rockets today. Spacecraft powered by this kind of engine could, conceivably, make it to Mars...

"The USS Enterprise, a Navy ship stationed in Virginia, is slowly being taken apart. According to The Daily Press, the ship's 'inactivation' is being handled in Newport News. The Enterprise was active between 1962 and 2012 - and is 'the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,' The Press said.A ninth USS Enterprise will eventually be built and may include parts of the eighth ship being disassembled, the newspaper said. .....; Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Even on military flights, regular manned aircraft need to stop regularly so the crew can rest, bathe and unwind. But an unmanned drone can keep flying until it runs low on fuel, so the U.S. military drew up plans for nuclear powered drones that could stay airborne for months at a time. The catch 22 is that while a manned aircraft can stay airborne for extended periods using mid-air refueling, this requires a skilled team on the plane making true long tern endurance impossible. Working in collaboration with Sandia National Labs, Northrup Grumman drew up plans for a drone powered...

There have been a number of articles lately about the U.S. developing a new unmanned aerial vehicle in secret. Dave Majumdar, at Air Force Times, recently had an article about how the U.S. Air Force’s decision to postpone development of a next generation unmanned combat aircraft suggests that service might be developing something else in the “black world.” The article quoted USAF intelligence chief Lt.-Gen. Larry James who said that there is no immediate need for a next generation replacement for the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. And the Predator-C Avenger UAV the USAF is buying will be used only as...

Craving reliable energy that doesn't come with a big side order of carbon, the United States is taking a new look at nuclear power. some engineers also are urging a new look at an alternative to the uranium fuel those plants will inevitably use. Thorium, they say, provides all the carbon-free energy of uranium - about 300 times more, actually - with almost none of the guilt. Thorium plants cooled with molten fluoride salt would leave a fraction of the nuclear waste compared to the uranium-fueled, water-cooled plants in use today. In addition, thorium plants can't melt down and don't...

After a laborious two-year overhaul beset by delays, cost overruns and unforeseen problems, Navy officials said Monday that the military's oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is once again ready for war. The 49-year-old Enterprise, which has been docked at Northrop Grumman's Newport News shipyard since April 2008, was originally slated to return to service six months ago. That plan changed after repair crews discovered damage and decay - from rotted pipes to fried electronics - far beyond what they'd anticipated. As the list of repairs grew, so did costs, to nearly $700 million from an initial estimate of $450 million. That's...

South Korea plans to build 3,500-tonne submarines Mon Jan 26, 1:56 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea (news - web sites) has formed a research team to build 3,500-tonne new submarines as part of efforts to reduce its reliance on US firepower, military officials said. Some 1.7 billion won (1.4 million dollars) has been set aside for a two-year study to develop the new submarines but no decision has been made yet on how they will be powered, the defense ministry said. The navy plans to deploy the new submarines from 2010, it said. The plan was unveiled after...