Free Republic

Over 80 years after scientists of the ‘Manhattan Project’ harnessed the power of the atom to end World War II, the top-secret worksite has a new mission to help dominate AI before China does. The first phase of the United States' latest uranium enrichment facility opened in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in May. ... The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported 99% of U.S. nuclear fuel is imported from other countries. In 2023, most of America's uranium products came from Russia, Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The U.S. banned the import of uranium products from Russia in May 2024, but companies can...

The Trump administration's drive to revive American manufacturing and power a growing artificial intelligence industry is accelerating with a new nuclear energy project in Texas, The Washington Times reported.A manufacturing facility in Texas is preparing to switch from natural gas to nuclear power as the Trump administration pushes to expand the use of small modular reactors, or SMRs, to meet rising electricity demand and bolster the U.S. manufacturing base.This week, Dow Chemical and nuclear engineering firm X-energy submitted a federal construction permit application for a next-generation SMR at Dow's 4,700-acre plant in Seadrift, Texas. The site produces plastics and chemical...

A new report from GlobalData, a data and analytics group, projects global nuclear power capacity will hit 494 GW by 2035. The group’s “Nuclear Power Market, Update 2025–Market Size, Segmentation, Major Trends, and Key Country Analysis to 2035” said capacity gains will be tied to advancements in deployments of small modular reactors (SMRs), along with the continuing worldwide shift to cleaner forms of energy. The report released April 21 said recent gains in nuclear power have been driven by moves toward more low-carbon baseload power. Measures promoting energy security, in addition to interest in decarbonization of industrial sectors, also is...

Google announced a deal on Monday to purchase energy from small nuclear reactors that the startup Kairos Power plans to start bringing online in the U.S. by 2030. Why it matters: It's Google's first nuclear foray as the tech giant — and its peers — hunt for zero-carbon power to fuel energy-thirsty AI data centers. Google says it's the world's first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular reactors. Driving the news: If successful, it will bring 500 new megawatts of power to U.S. grids, with the first SMR targeted to come online by 2030 and more through...

Long-term use of skeletal muscle relaxants (SMRs) for chronic pain is only effective for certain conditions, such as painful spasms, painful cramps, and neck pain, according to a review published online Sept. 19 in JAMA Network Open. Benjamin J. Oldfield, M.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to assess the effectiveness or efficacy of long-term use of SMRs for chronic pain. Based on 30 randomized controlled trials (1,314 participants) and 14 cohort studies (1,168 participants), the researchers identified nine unique SMRs (11 examining baclofen, eight examining tizanidine, and seven...

Rolls-Royce has cleared a key hurdle in the race to build Britain’s first mini-nuclear power plant, as competition across Europe ramps up. On Tuesday, the FTSE 100 engineering giant became the first developer to advance a small modular reactor (SMR) design to the final stage of examination by UK regulators. Helena Perry, director of safety and regulatory affairs at Rolls-Royce SMR, said the latest approval was “the most important milestone to date in advancing deployment of Rolls-Royce SMRs in the UK”.

Outside the United States, nuclear is entering a golden era, especially in China. There is a record building boom in current and announced plants, including more than 225 plants in China alone. Costs are being driven down to exceptionally affordable levels. Best practice current nuclear plants deliver costs of $0.05/kwh versus the average U.S. electric bill of $0.14/kwh. Most impressively, technology is rapidly evolving to safe, low-waste fourth-generation technology, or GEN IV, expected to be commercialized by 2030. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, GEN IV high-temperature, low-pressure plants "offer impressive safety features and can be easy to construct...

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final 6 months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and certain other purposes. For the final 6 months of 2022, the standard mileage rate for business travel will be 62.5 cents per mile, up 4 cents from the rate effective at the start of the year. The new rate for deductible medical or moving expenses (available for active-duty members of the military) will be 22 cents for...

China connected its first small modular nuclear reactor to its power grid, making it the first country in the world to draw power from such a machine, a report from Bloomberg reveals. China Huaneng Group Co.'s 200-megawatt unit 1 reactor at Shidao Bay is connected to the grid in the Shandong province. The company is also developing a second reactor, which is scheduled to go into full operation next year following tests. The 200-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) is roughly a fifth of the size of China's first proprietary reactor design, called Hualong One. Its small size allows for greater...