Geoff Brumfiel | NPR
In May, President Trump sat in the Oval Office flanked by executives from America's nuclear power industry. "It's a hot industry. It's a brilliant industry," the president said from behind the Resolute desk. It's also an industry that's having a moment. Billions of dollars in capital are currently flowing into dozens of companies chasing new kinds of nuclear technologies. These are small modular designs that can potentially be mass produced in the hundreds or even thousands. Their proponents say these advanced designs promise to deliver megawatts of power safely and cheaply. But there's a problem ... New nuclear plants keep getting caught up in safety regulations. Now, a new Trump administration program is sidestepping the regulatory system that's overseen the nuclear industry for half a century.
Kyodo News
A source within Japan's prime minister's office said Thursday that the country needs nuclear weapons, remarks that deviate from the country's long-standing non-nuclear principles and could trigger backlash at home and abroad. "I think we should possess nuclear weapons," said the source, who is involved in devising security policy under the government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, while also indicating that such a move is unrealistic. The remarks came as Takaichi, known for her hawkish security views, is considering reviewing Japan's non-nuclear principles, long upheld given the country's status as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings.
Matthew Goldstein and Jonathan Wolfe | The New York Times
President Trump’s social media company, which recently expanded into streaming and cryptocurrency, is now looking to become a fusion power company. Trump Media & Technology Group and TAE Technologies, a fusion power company, said Thursday they had agreed to an all stock merger valued at more than $6 billion. ... The merger would create one of the world’s first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies, according to a news release.
Davis Winkie | USA Today
A pair of lawmakers exhorted the Energy Department's top official to consider reining in a major nuclear arsenal modernization program amid long-running concerns over its cost and schedule performance. In a Dec. 16 letter shared with USA TODAY, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. John Garamendi, D-California, pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright "to seriously review the need for and scope of" the National Nuclear Security Administration's effort to reestablish mass production of plutonium pits, which are the explosive cores of modern nuclear weapons.
Ben Payton | Reuters
It is unlikely that many people stop to think about power consumption as they make AI-generated cat videos on their phones. But what happens in the virtual world has real-world consequences. Every cat video relies on processors that hum away inside data centres. These data centres, in turn, require huge amounts of electricity, as well as water for cooling. Even before artificial intelligence began to take off, grids were coming under strain around data centre clusters, such as Virginia, Dublin and Singapore. With the rise of power-hungry AI applications, the International Energy Agency expects global data centre power demand to double by 2030.
Stephanie Liechtenstein | Associated Press
In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion earlier this year that the U.S. would resume nuclear testing, a U.S. government representative defended the stance at a global nuclear arms control meeting and pointed to nuclear provocations from Russia, China and North Korea. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the International Organizations in Vienna Howard Solomon made the previously unpublished comments, which were obtained by The Associated Press, at the Preparatory Commission of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization on Nov. 10.