Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: nuclear energy – Page 43

Tapping The Power Of The Stars — Dr. Andrea Kritcher Ph.D., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Dr. Andrea (Annie) Kritcher, Ph.D. is a nuclear engineer and physicist who works at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (https://www.llnl.gov/). She is the design lead of the HYBRID-E capsule technology within Lawrence Livermore’s Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, and is a member of the ICF leadership team and lead designer for shot N210808, at their National Ignition Facility, a recent experiment that heralded a significant step towards a fusion break-even target. She was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2022.

Dr. Kritcher was first employed at Lawrence Livermore as a summer intern in 2004, as an LLNL Lawrence Scholar during her time at UC Berkeley, where she earned a master’s degree and doctorate in nuclear engineering, and as a Lawrence postdoctoral fellow in 2009 following completion of her Ph.D. During her postdoctoral appointment she explored using X-rays to measure the properties of warm and hot dense matter (plasma), and measuring how nuclei interact with dense plasma.

In 2012, Dr. Kritcher became a member of scientific staff and now serves as team lead for integrated implosion modeling and is a group leader within the design physics division at LLNL.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. Its principal responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons through the application of advanced science, engineering, and technology. The laboratory also applies its special expertise and multidisciplinary capabilities towards preventing the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction, bolstering homeland security, and solving other nationally important problems, including energy and environmental needs, scientific research and outreach, and economic competitiveness.

Continue reading “Dr. Annie Kritcher, Ph.D. — National Ignition Facility — LLNL — Tapping The Power Of The Stars” | >

Robots in their current form contribute far more to our modern day life than you may realise. They may not be the sci-fi androids many imagine, but they’re hard at work doing tasks like building cars, or learning how to control nuclear fusion (opens in new tab). Only in recent years are we starting to see robots like you might have imagined as a kid, with Boston Dynamics’ creations doing all sorts of crazy stunts (opens in new tab) like dancing (opens in new tab) or guarding Pompeii (opens in new tab).

Robotics isn’t all about metal machines it turns out, and biohybrid robots may be part of our cyberpunk future too. It’s only been a few days since I was introduced to OSCAR, an artist’s rendition of a disgustingly meaty, pulsating flesh robot (opens in new tab). As wonderful and vivid as those videos are, it’s a good time to take a palette cleanser with a look at a real-world biohybrid robot.

Read more | >

Rolls-Royce is now aiming to “have a reactor ready to send to the Moon by 2029.”

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) said on Friday it would invest a significant amount in Rolls-Royce’s project to produce nuclear power on the moon.

The government agency will now invest £2.9 million (around $3.52 million) in the project in order to “deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor.”

Rolls Royce.

In a statement, the UKSA outlined how researchers from Rolls-Royce had been working on a Micro-Reactor program “to develop technology that will provide the power needed for humans to live and work on the Moon.”

Read more | >

ST… PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators said Thursday they’re monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water from Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear power plant, and the company said there’s no danger to the public.

“Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment,” the Minneapolis-based utility said in a statement.

While Xcel reported the leak of water containing tritium to state and federal authorities in late November, the spill had not been made public before Thursday. State officials said they waited to get more information before going public with it.

Read more | >

A nuclear power plant along the Mississippi River in Monticello, Minnesota, has leaked more than 400,000 gallons of radioactive water due to a broken pipe. NBC’s Maggie Vespa has the details.

» Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
» Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews.

NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows.

Connect with NBC News Online!
NBC News App: https://smart.link/5d0cd9df61b80
Breaking News Alerts: https://link.nbcnews.com/join/5cj/breaking-news-signup?cid=s…lip_190621
Visit NBCNews. Com: http://nbcnews.to/ReadNBC
Find NBC News on Facebook: http://nbcnews.to/LikeNBC
Follow NBC News on Twitter: http://nbcnews.to/FollowNBC
Get more of NBC News delivered to your inbox: nbcnews.com/newsletters.

#Minnesota #Nuclear #Radioactive

Read more | >

😗

After successful recommissioning in autumn 2022, the Greifswald nuclear fusion experiment has surpassed an important target. In 2023, an energy turnover of 1 gigajoule was targeted. Now the researchers have even achieved 1.3 gigajoules and a new record for discharge time on Wendelstein 7-X: the hot plasma could be maintained for eight minutes.

During the three-year completion work that ended last summer, Wendelstein 7-X was primarily equipped with water cooling for the wall elements and an upgraded heating system. The latter can now couple twice as much power into the as before. Since then, the experiment can be operated in new parameter ranges.

“We are now exploring our way towards ever higher energy values,” explained Prof. Dr. Thomas Klinger, head of the Stellarator Transport and Dynamics Division at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald. “In doing so, we have to proceed step by step so as not to overload and damage the facility.”

Read more | >

The move uses a loophole in the NPT and prompts fears of nuclear proliferation.

The U.S. will lend its advanced nuclear propulsion technology to build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia as it looks to counter the rising influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. This is the first major agreement under the AUKUS pact, a trilateral arrangement that was set up 18 months ago with the U.K., the U.S., and Australia as signatories.

Back in September 2021, when the AUKUS pact was announced, the U.S. had confirmed that it would help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

LockieCurrie/iStock.

Under the arrangement, the U.S. will supply its nuclear propulsion technology to Australia, making it the only country in the world after the U.K. to have gained such access. This will help advance Australia’s diesel engine-powered submarine fleet and allow it to carry out long-range strikes.

Continue reading “US to transfer nuclear submarine technology to Australia under new AUKUS deal” | >

Reliable carbon-free power for the world — michelle catts, senior vice president, nuclear programs, ge-hitachi nuclear energy.

Michelle Catts is the Senior Vice President of Nuclear Programs at GE-Hitachi (GEH — https://nuclear.gepower.com/) located in Wilmington, NC.

Ms. Catts has over 18 years of demonstrated managerial and technical expertise in nuclear Regulatory Affairs and currently is responsible for ensuring world-class Quality, Continuous Improvement, Regulatory Affairs, and oversight of Environment, Health & Safety programs. She manages a multimillion-dollar budget and over a 30-member organization. She provides licensing and quality leadership and guidance to support nuclear fuel facility licensing, current nuclear fleet fuel reload/outage licensing activities, new reactor and new fuel opportunities, Technical Regulations and Standards, and GE-Hitachis’s Vallecitos and Morris sites.

Prior to joining GE-Hitachi, Ms. Catts worked for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) where she held positions of increasing responsibility including as a nuclear reactor inspector stationed onsite at nuclear power plants up to the Policy Advisor to the Presidential Appointed NRC Chairman.

Ms. Catts holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University and is currently working on her MBA at UNCW.

Continue reading “Michelle Catts — SVP, Nuclear Programs, GE-Hitachi — Reliable Carbon-Free Power For The World” | >

Retro Biosciences’ mysterious backer has finally been revealed!

In 2021 the longevity industry received one of its largest investments to date, with a $180m investment being made into the pharmaceutical start known as Retro Biosciences, or Retro Bio for short. Not only was this investment cause for celebration within the field of regenerative medicine, but it also came with a tantalising mystery, as the backer, or indeed backer, did not make themselves publicly known. It was assumed that due to the secrecy involved, it was likely that this investment had come from a small number of individuals, potentially just a single backer. This mystery backer, combined with the notable capital investment, led to much media attention at the time, and has since garnered a significant amount of interest in Retro Bio from both the general public and future potential financial backers. That was until last week, when the mystery backer finally decided that now was the right time to reveal their identity to the general public.

In an interview with MIT Technology review, American entrepreneur Sam Altman revealed that he was the sole backer for the pharmaceutical start-up, who single handily provided the entire $180m investment. Sam Altman, who primarily made his fortune in the tech industry (specifically through social media companies such as Loopt) has become somewhat of an angel investor for a slew of world changing, innovative companies which are involved in everything from artificial intelligence to nuclear energy. It is hoped that this significant single investment marks the beginning of a longevity tech boom, similar to what was seen during the dot-com boom (but hopefully without the disastrous ending).

Read more | >