Chernobyl attack: Risk of Russian forces triggering nuclear disaster is minimal

Physicists say that the risk of nuclear material being released from the Chernobyl reactor as a result of Russian attack is minimal Technology 24 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Ukrainian soldiers in the abandoned city of Pripyat, near Chernobyl Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty Images Russian forces have gained control of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine, … Read more

Chernobyl Power Plant Captured by Russia, Leading to Fears of Radioactive Waste Spread

Russian troops have captured Chernobyl‘s former nuclear power after heavy fighting near the Chernobyl exclusion zone, according to an advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office.   Ukrainian troops fought with Russian forces, which invaded the region from Belarus and have seized control of the now-defunct power plant, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to the … Read more

Physics Breakthrough as AI Successfully Controls Plasma in Nuclear Fusion Experiment

Successfully achieving nuclear fusion holds the promise of delivering a limitless, sustainable source of clean energy, but we can only realize this incredible dream if we can master the complex physics taking place inside the reactor.   For decades, scientists have been taking incremental steps towards this goal, but many challenges remain. One of the … Read more

Nuclear explosion in space: Neutron star blast is so rare we may never see one again

Astronomers say a “hyperburst” nuclear explosion within a neutron star could explain its strange behaviour – but the conditions required to create the explosion are so rare that we will probably never see one again Space 11 February 2022 By Jonathan O’Callaghan An artist’s illustration of an explosion in space Shutterstock/mik ulyannikov Astronomers think they … Read more

News at a glance: Iran’s nuclear research, monkey flights, and an accused professor reinstated | Science

ASTRONOMY Astronomers organize to combat satellite interference The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced a new center last week to address the burgeoning constellations of satellites that may interfere with ground-based observations. A U.N. committee also said it would consider the issue—a first step toward international regulations. The constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, aim to provide … Read more

Nuclear fusion: Record-breaking experiment suggests we really could build artificial suns

The Joint European Torus has sustained a super-hot plasma for 5 seconds, producing 59 megajoules of energy and suggesting that larger experiments could produce more power than is put in Technology 9 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan A white hot river of heat winds around the bottom of a doughnut-shaped machine before the searing light … Read more

NASA’s ‘Nuclear Option’ May Be Crucial for Getting Humans to Mars

The pathway to humans on Mars lies through the atom, split. Far from Earth, whether in the void or on another world, power is life. A steady, strong flow of electricity is as crucial for operating computers and engines as it is for assuring access to corporeal necessities such as light and heat, breathable air … Read more

Record-Breaking Nuclear Fusion Experiment Achieves Historic Plasma Milestone

The secret behind a record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment that spit out 10 quadrillion watts of power in a split second has been revealed: a “self-heating” – or “burning” – plasma of neutron-heavy hydrogen inside the fuel capsule used in the experiment, according to researchers.   Last year, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in … Read more

The Doomsday Clock Is About to Tick, And We’ve Never Been So Close to Midnight

In less than 24 hours the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will update the Doomsday Clock. It’s currently at 100 seconds from midnight – the metaphorical time when the human race could destroy the world with technologies of its own making.   The hands have never before been this close to midnight. There is scant … Read more

Soil Microbe Could Clean Up Nuclear Waste

Fission in nuclear reactors forges radioactive metal by-products so toxic that they must be stored deep underground, at great cost and effort, for millennia. But a protein made by a common microbe could help ease this hazardous burden, researchers report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Two of nuclear waste’s most problematic ingredients … Read more