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#nonukesforai — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #nonukesforai, aggregated by home.social.

  1. HT @waltbaldwin

    NextEra secures US loan of up to $1.9 billion for restart of #Iowa #nuclearPlant

    By Reuters
    September 8, 2026

    Excerpt: "Iowa's lone nuclear plant, the #DuaneArnoldEnergyCenter, closed ‌in 2020 ⁠after operating for 45 years. Operations are scheduled to resume in early 2029."

    reuters.com/business/energy/ne

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NextEra #Holtec #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  2. HT @waltbaldwin

    NextEra secures US loan of up to $1.9 billion for restart of #Iowa #nuclearPlant

    By Reuters
    September 8, 2026

    Excerpt: "Iowa's lone nuclear plant, the #DuaneArnoldEnergyCenter, closed ‌in 2020 ⁠after operating for 45 years. Operations are scheduled to resume in early 2029."

    reuters.com/business/energy/ne

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NextEra #Holtec #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  3. HT @waltbaldwin

    NextEra secures US loan of up to $1.9 billion for restart of #Iowa #nuclearPlant

    By Reuters
    September 8, 2026

    Excerpt: "Iowa's lone nuclear plant, the #DuaneArnoldEnergyCenter, closed ‌in 2020 ⁠after operating for 45 years. Operations are scheduled to resume in early 2029."

    reuters.com/business/energy/ne

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NextEra #Holtec #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  4. HT @waltbaldwin

    NextEra secures US loan of up to $1.9 billion for restart of #Iowa #nuclearPlant

    By Reuters
    September 8, 2026

    Excerpt: "Iowa's lone nuclear plant, the #DuaneArnoldEnergyCenter, closed ‌in 2020 ⁠after operating for 45 years. Operations are scheduled to resume in early 2029."

    reuters.com/business/energy/ne

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NextEra #Holtec #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  5. HT @waltbaldwin

    NextEra secures US loan of up to $1.9 billion for restart of #Iowa #nuclearPlant

    By Reuters
    September 8, 2026

    Excerpt: "Iowa's lone nuclear plant, the #DuaneArnoldEnergyCenter, closed ‌in 2020 ⁠after operating for 45 years. Operations are scheduled to resume in early 2029."

    reuters.com/business/energy/ne

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NextEra #Holtec #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  6. Um... ☢️

    A #Michigan #NuclearPlant shut down for good is being switched back on for #AI power

    Story by Everett Sloane, September 6, 2026

    "A nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan that shut down for good four years ago is now weeks or months away from producing electricity again, in what would be the first time in American history a retired commercial reactor has been brought back online. #Palisades #Nuclear Generating Station, in #CovertTownship, Michigan, ceased operating in 2022 after Entergy concluded it no longer made economic sense to keep running. Its new owner, #HoltecInternational, is now racing to restart it, betting that the same wave of electricity demand from artificial intelligence #datacenters reshaping the U.S. power grid can justify resurrecting a plant that was, until recently, on a path toward permanent teardown. The attempt is being closely watched across the utility industry because more than a dozen other reactors were permanently retired nationwide over the past decade, and each one is a potential candidate for the same kind of revival if Palisades proves it can be done safely and on budget."

    Read more:
    msn.com/en-us/money/general/a-

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #Holtec #PalisadesNuclearPlant #PalisadesNPP #WaterIsLife #LakeMichigan #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  7. Um... ☢️

    A #Michigan #NuclearPlant shut down for good is being switched back on for #AI power

    Story by Everett Sloane, September 6, 2026

    "A nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan that shut down for good four years ago is now weeks or months away from producing electricity again, in what would be the first time in American history a retired commercial reactor has been brought back online. #Palisades #Nuclear Generating Station, in #CovertTownship, Michigan, ceased operating in 2022 after Entergy concluded it no longer made economic sense to keep running. Its new owner, #HoltecInternational, is now racing to restart it, betting that the same wave of electricity demand from artificial intelligence #datacenters reshaping the U.S. power grid can justify resurrecting a plant that was, until recently, on a path toward permanent teardown. The attempt is being closely watched across the utility industry because more than a dozen other reactors were permanently retired nationwide over the past decade, and each one is a potential candidate for the same kind of revival if Palisades proves it can be done safely and on budget."

    Read more:
    msn.com/en-us/money/general/a-

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #Holtec #PalisadesNuclearPlant #PalisadesNPP #WaterIsLife #LakeMichigan #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  8. Um... ☢️

    A #Michigan #NuclearPlant shut down for good is being switched back on for #AI power

    Story by Everett Sloane, September 6, 2026

    "A nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan that shut down for good four years ago is now weeks or months away from producing electricity again, in what would be the first time in American history a retired commercial reactor has been brought back online. #Palisades #Nuclear Generating Station, in #CovertTownship, Michigan, ceased operating in 2022 after Entergy concluded it no longer made economic sense to keep running. Its new owner, #HoltecInternational, is now racing to restart it, betting that the same wave of electricity demand from artificial intelligence #datacenters reshaping the U.S. power grid can justify resurrecting a plant that was, until recently, on a path toward permanent teardown. The attempt is being closely watched across the utility industry because more than a dozen other reactors were permanently retired nationwide over the past decade, and each one is a potential candidate for the same kind of revival if Palisades proves it can be done safely and on budget."

    Read more:
    msn.com/en-us/money/general/a-

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #Holtec #PalisadesNuclearPlant #PalisadesNPP #WaterIsLife #LakeMichigan #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  9. Um... ☢️

    A #Michigan #NuclearPlant shut down for good is being switched back on for #AI power

    Story by Everett Sloane, September 6, 2026

    "A nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan that shut down for good four years ago is now weeks or months away from producing electricity again, in what would be the first time in American history a retired commercial reactor has been brought back online. #Palisades #Nuclear Generating Station, in #CovertTownship, Michigan, ceased operating in 2022 after Entergy concluded it no longer made economic sense to keep running. Its new owner, #HoltecInternational, is now racing to restart it, betting that the same wave of electricity demand from artificial intelligence #datacenters reshaping the U.S. power grid can justify resurrecting a plant that was, until recently, on a path toward permanent teardown. The attempt is being closely watched across the utility industry because more than a dozen other reactors were permanently retired nationwide over the past decade, and each one is a potential candidate for the same kind of revival if Palisades proves it can be done safely and on budget."

    Read more:
    msn.com/en-us/money/general/a-

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #Holtec #PalisadesNuclearPlant #PalisadesNPP #WaterIsLife #LakeMichigan #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  10. Um... ☢️

    A #Michigan #NuclearPlant shut down for good is being switched back on for #AI power

    Story by Everett Sloane, September 6, 2026

    "A nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan that shut down for good four years ago is now weeks or months away from producing electricity again, in what would be the first time in American history a retired commercial reactor has been brought back online. #Palisades #Nuclear Generating Station, in #CovertTownship, Michigan, ceased operating in 2022 after Entergy concluded it no longer made economic sense to keep running. Its new owner, #HoltecInternational, is now racing to restart it, betting that the same wave of electricity demand from artificial intelligence #datacenters reshaping the U.S. power grid can justify resurrecting a plant that was, until recently, on a path toward permanent teardown. The attempt is being closely watched across the utility industry because more than a dozen other reactors were permanently retired nationwide over the past decade, and each one is a potential candidate for the same kind of revival if Palisades proves it can be done safely and on budget."

    Read more:
    msn.com/en-us/money/general/a-

    #AISucks #AIDatacenters #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #Holtec #PalisadesNuclearPlant #PalisadesNPP #WaterIsLife #LakeMichigan #RethinkNotRestart #AIBoom 💥

  11. #French #NuclearPower production expected to be reduced on Wednesday

    By Reuters
    August 12, 2025

    PARIS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - "Power production at France's #Bugey3 #nuclear reactor in the east of the country is expected to be reduced by 500 megawatts (MW) on Wednesday, data from operator #EDF showed on Tuesday, as high river temperatures reduce the plant's ability to intake cooling water.

    "A #heatwave throughout #France has led to multiple warnings of power reductions at a number of #NuclearPlants, particularly on the #RhoneRiver in the east and the #GaronneRiver in the west.

    "The #Bugey 3 reactor has a maximum capacity of 910 MW, which will be reduced to 410 MW from 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) to midnight on Wednesday as the reactor is required to meet environmental safety measures, EDF's data showed.

    "The high water temperature warnings for the #SaintAlban plant - down river of the Bugey site - and the #Golfech site in the west were moved to August 14, but restrictions have not yet been issued.
    Average temperatures in the country are expected to continue to peak throughout the week, reaching a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius (83.3°F) on Saturday, LSEG data showed.

    "#NuclearPower accounts for about 70% of total French power consumption annually, but August is the main holiday season throughout the country and electricity demand is often limited."

    Source:
    reuters.com/sustainability/cli

    #EuropeHeatWaves #France #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #NuclearPowerNoThanks #NuclearWasteIsForever #NuclearPowerPlants #ExtremeHeat #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #RethinkNotRestart
    #LeNucléaireNonMerci

  12. We’re having a #heatwave...

    And #NuclearPower can’t cope. Worse still, it’s actually a liability under ever more extreme climate conditions, write Karl Grossman and Harvey Wasserman

    Posted on July 27, 2025, by #BeyondNuclear

    "At the core of the latest attempted 'renaissance' of nuclear power is the big lie that #AtomicReactors are an answer to #GlobalWarming. In fact, they are significant sources of heat.

    "There are more than 400 nuclear power plants in the world today that fission atoms at 300 degrees Centigrade, (572 degrees Fahrenheit). More are under construction or proposed. As the International Atomic Energy Agency states, 'water-cooled reactors offer heat up to 300 degrees Celsius. These types of reactors include pressurized water reactors (PWRs), boiling-water reactors (BWRs), pressurized heavy-water reactors, and light-water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors (LWGRs).'

    "Some heat is absorbed in the water—drawn from water bodies—used to cool these nuclear power plants and then returned, still with considerable heat, to #rivers or #seas.

    "The heatwave going on in recent weeks in Europe, in combination with this discharge of heated water from nuclear plants, has caused #NuclearPlants there to shut down.

    "Consider these headlines from recent days:

    " '#France and #Switzerland shut down nuclear power plants amid scorching heatwave,' was the July 3rd headline on Euronews. As the piece explained: “To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a high temperature. However, Europe’s ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local #biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas.'

    "A New York Times article, also dated July 3rd, related how in Europe, 'operators shut down one of the two reactors at the #Golfech nuclear power plant in southern #France after forecasts that the #GaronneRiver, from which it draws water and then discharges it after it is used in the plant as coolant, 'could top…82 degrees Fahrenheit.' The Times continued: 'The #Beznau Nuclear Power Plant in #Switzerland, built along the #AareRiver followed suit, shutting down one of its reactors on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday.' "

    Source:
    beyondnuclearinternational.org

    #ExtremeHeat #ClimateChange #NuclearPowerPlants #NuclearPowerNoThanks #RenewablesNow! #WaterIsLife #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI

  13. HT @btschumy
    And this is why we need to #RethinkNotRestart and #ShutDownAllNuclearPlants -- especially the aging ones! This article outlines a very possible #Doomsday scenario -- but it could be a number of things, including a large #SolarFlare...

    2030 Doomsday Scenario: The Great #Nuclear Collapse

    A timeline of the #EndGame for human civilization

    "Humanity has constructed a doomsday Deadman switch that threatens civilization. Climate destruction will make it increasingly difficult to avoid the looming global nuclear catastrophe we've created.

    "Here's how our future might unravel:
    Late 2020s: Climate Red Alert and Infrastructure Strain

    "By the late 2020s, Earth’s climate is in unprecedented turmoil. Global average temperatures are consistently 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Each year brings record-breaking heatwaves, “freak” floods, and droughts that batter infrastructure. Coastal cities flood more frequently, roads buckle in extreme heat, and power grids strain under surging demand for cooling.

    "This cascade of climate disasters sets the stage for a systemic collapse: as societies grapple with runaway warming, the resilience of #Criticalnfrastructure (power, water, transit) erodes.

    "Energy systems enter a crisis even before 2030. Nuclear power, which in 2025 still provided about 9% of the world’s electricity from ~440 reactors, becomes increasingly unreliable. Many nuclear plants struggle with climate stresses: cooling water sources heat up in summer, forcing reactors to reduce output or shut down to avoid unsafe temperatures. For example, a 2028 European #heatwave pushes river and sea temperatures above 25 °C, triggering emergency shutdowns at multiple reactors that cannot be cooled effectively.

    "At the same time, stronger storms and floods threaten reactor safety. Dozens of reactors worldwide are unprepared for #ExtremeFlooding, meaning a dam failure or #StormSurge could lead to a Fukushima-scale accident. Worrisome reports emerge of power plants in #floodplains and #coasts where defenses are overtopped by #RisingSeas and torrential rains.

    "By 2029, global carbon output remains high, and natural feedback loops are kicking in. In the Arctic, permafrost thaws and releases methane creating a vicious warming cycle where initial warming triggers more emissions, leading to even more warming. Scientists caution that a tipping point is near, beyond which climate change becomes self-perpetuating (a true “runaway” scenario).

    "Society approaches 2030 in a precarious state: aware of looming catastrophe yet unprepared for its speed. The stage is set for the coming collapse, with power grids and nuclear facilities - the backbone of the industrial world - already under severe strain.

    Early 2030s: Blackouts and the First Reactor Crises

    "2030 marks the breaking point.

    "A confluence of climate catastrophes collapses power grids across multiple continents. A severe global heatwave in the summer of 2030 brings record electricity demand while many power plants (nuclear and coal alike) are derated or offline due to overheating coolant water.

    "Then powerful Category 5 storms strike in succession: one hurricane inundates the U.S. Eastern seaboard, while an unprecedented typhoon swamps Southeast Asia. These #disasters knock out transmission lines and flood key substations, leading to prolonged blackouts in dozens of major cities. Emergency systems are overwhelmed. With communications down and transportation paralyzed, manpower shortages become acute - many operators and engineers cannot reach their stations.

    "Nuclear power plants are among the first to feel the emergency. Grid failure triggers automatic reactor SCRAMs (rapid shutdowns) at plants from Florida to France. Control rods halt the fission reactions, but decay heat in reactor cores still needs cooling for days to prevent meltdown.

    "Normally, backup diesel generators would power the cooling pumps, but the scale of the #blackout means diesel resupply is uncertain and some generators fail in flooded facilities. In a grim reflection of 2011’s Fukushima disaster, several coastal reactors lose all power as storm surges drown their backup generators.

    "Within hours to days, the first meltdowns occur.

    "In 2031, a reactor in South Asia becomes a flashpoint: its cooling pumps falter after the grid collapse, leading the core to overheat. The reactor’s heart melts through containment in a matter of days, releasing a plume of radioactive steam and debris.

    "Nearby, an even greater danger unfolds: the plant’s spent fuel pool, packed with years of highly radioactive spent rods, boils dry without cooling. Exposed to air, the zirconium cladding of the fuel ignites, triggering a fire that belches long-lived radioisotopes directly into the atmosphere. This nightmare scenario - once narrowly avoided at #Fukushima by heroic ad-hoc measures - now plays out in full."

    Read more:
    collapse2050.com/2030-doomsday

    #NoNukes #RenewablesNow #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Radiation #NuclearMeltdowns #Polycrisis #NoMoreFukushimas #NoNukesForAI #CivilizationCollapse #NuclearFuture #ARadioactiveWorld

  14. #NuclearRevival? #Diné #Activist Warns Against New #UraniumMining as #AI, #Bitcoin Energy Needs Soar

    #DemocracyNow
    November 19, 2024

    "The search for an energy alternative to #FossilFuels has renewed interest in #NuclearPower production across the globe. Despite nuclear boosters’ promotion of the energy source, Tim Judson of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service [#NIRS] calls #NuclearPower an 'elaborate #greenwashing scheme.' Nuclear is 'not carbon-free,' says Diné organizer #LeonaMorgan, who highlights the fuel costs and #EnvironmentalContamination — particularly within and around #IndigenousCommunities in the #SouthwestUnitedStates — of the #UraniumMining required to produce nuclear power. Because the carbon costs before and after nuclear generation are not factored into energy calculations, says Morgan, 'it’s really not going to solve the #EnergyCrisis.'"

    Watch / listen / read transcript:
    democracynow.org/2024/11/19/co

    #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearNotCarbonFree
    #ViewerSupportedNews #BigTech #Corporatocracy
    #CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoUraniumMining #HaulNo #UraniumMills #WaterIsLife
    #AirIsLife #NoNewNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NuclearColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism
    #NativeAmericanActivists #DinéActivists

  15. Not to mention all the #WaterConsumption! There are plans to restart aging nuclear reactor as well as untested SMR reactors! Will #AI’s huge energy demands spur a #nuclear renaissance?

    By Davide Castelvecchi
    25 October 2024

    Do small modular reactors carry extra risks?

    "In some cases, small modular reactors 'could actually push nuclear power in a more dangerous direction', says #EdwinLyman. 'Advanced isn’t always better.'

    "In particular, Lyman points out that the pebble-bed designs drawn up by #XEnergy and #Kairos would rely on high-assay low-enriched #uranium (#HALEU), which comprises 10–20% uranium-235 — compared with the 5% enrichment level required by most existing reactors (and by #NuScale’s reactor). HALEU is still classified as low-enrichment fuel (as opposed to the highly enriched uranium used to make nuclear bombs), but that distinction is misleading, Lyman says. In June, he and his collaborators — including physicist Richard Garwin, who led the design of the first hydrogen bomb — warned in a Science article that a bomb could be built with a few hundred kilograms of HALEU, with no need for further enrichment.

    "Smaller reactors are also likely to produce more nuclear waste and to use fuel less efficiently, according to work reported in 2022 by Macfarlane and her collaborators. In a full-size reactor, most of the neutrons produced by the splitting of uranium travel through a large volume of fuel, meaning that they have a high probability of hitting another nucleus, rather than colliding with the walls of the reactor vessel or escaping into the surrounding building. 'When you shrink the reactor, there’s less material in there, so you will have more neutron leakage,' Macfarlane says. These rogue neutrons can be absorbed by other atomic nuclei — which would then themselves become radioactive."

    Original article:
    nature.com/articles/d41586-024

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/mODpF#selection-952

    #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cryptocurrency #DataCenters #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NuclearHype #NeutronEmbrittlement #NuclearWaste #NotCarbonFree

  16. Not to mention all the #WaterConsumption! There are plans to restart aging nuclear reactor as well as untested SMR reactors! Will #AI’s huge energy demands spur a #nuclear renaissance?

    By Davide Castelvecchi
    25 October 2024

    Do small modular reactors carry extra risks?

    "In some cases, small modular reactors 'could actually push nuclear power in a more dangerous direction', says #EdwinLyman. 'Advanced isn’t always better.'

    "In particular, Lyman points out that the pebble-bed designs drawn up by #XEnergy and #Kairos would rely on high-assay low-enriched #uranium (#HALEU), which comprises 10–20% uranium-235 — compared with the 5% enrichment level required by most existing reactors (and by #NuScale’s reactor). HALEU is still classified as low-enrichment fuel (as opposed to the highly enriched uranium used to make nuclear bombs), but that distinction is misleading, Lyman says. In June, he and his collaborators — including physicist Richard Garwin, who led the design of the first hydrogen bomb — warned in a Science article that a bomb could be built with a few hundred kilograms of HALEU, with no need for further enrichment.

    "Smaller reactors are also likely to produce more nuclear waste and to use fuel less efficiently, according to work reported in 2022 by Macfarlane and her collaborators. In a full-size reactor, most of the neutrons produced by the splitting of uranium travel through a large volume of fuel, meaning that they have a high probability of hitting another nucleus, rather than colliding with the walls of the reactor vessel or escaping into the surrounding building. 'When you shrink the reactor, there’s less material in there, so you will have more neutron leakage,' Macfarlane says. These rogue neutrons can be absorbed by other atomic nuclei — which would then themselves become radioactive."

    Original article:
    nature.com/articles/d41586-024

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/mODpF#selection-952

    #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cryptocurrency #DataCenters #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NuclearHype #NeutronEmbrittlement #NuclearWaste #NotCarbonFree

  17. Not to mention all the #WaterConsumption! There are plans to restart aging nuclear reactor as well as untested SMR reactors! Will #AI’s huge energy demands spur a #nuclear renaissance?

    By Davide Castelvecchi
    25 October 2024

    Do small modular reactors carry extra risks?

    "In some cases, small modular reactors 'could actually push nuclear power in a more dangerous direction', says #EdwinLyman. 'Advanced isn’t always better.'

    "In particular, Lyman points out that the pebble-bed designs drawn up by #XEnergy and #Kairos would rely on high-assay low-enriched #uranium (#HALEU), which comprises 10–20% uranium-235 — compared with the 5% enrichment level required by most existing reactors (and by #NuScale’s reactor). HALEU is still classified as low-enrichment fuel (as opposed to the highly enriched uranium used to make nuclear bombs), but that distinction is misleading, Lyman says. In June, he and his collaborators — including physicist Richard Garwin, who led the design of the first hydrogen bomb — warned in a Science article that a bomb could be built with a few hundred kilograms of HALEU, with no need for further enrichment.

    "Smaller reactors are also likely to produce more nuclear waste and to use fuel less efficiently, according to work reported in 2022 by Macfarlane and her collaborators. In a full-size reactor, most of the neutrons produced by the splitting of uranium travel through a large volume of fuel, meaning that they have a high probability of hitting another nucleus, rather than colliding with the walls of the reactor vessel or escaping into the surrounding building. 'When you shrink the reactor, there’s less material in there, so you will have more neutron leakage,' Macfarlane says. These rogue neutrons can be absorbed by other atomic nuclei — which would then themselves become radioactive."

    Original article:
    nature.com/articles/d41586-024

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/mODpF#selection-952

    #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cryptocurrency #DataCenters #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NuclearHype #NeutronEmbrittlement #NuclearWaste #NotCarbonFree

  18. Not to mention all the #WaterConsumption! There are plans to restart aging nuclear reactor as well as untested SMR reactors! Will #AI’s huge energy demands spur a #nuclear renaissance?

    By Davide Castelvecchi
    25 October 2024

    Do small modular reactors carry extra risks?

    "In some cases, small modular reactors 'could actually push nuclear power in a more dangerous direction', says #EdwinLyman. 'Advanced isn’t always better.'

    "In particular, Lyman points out that the pebble-bed designs drawn up by #XEnergy and #Kairos would rely on high-assay low-enriched #uranium (#HALEU), which comprises 10–20% uranium-235 — compared with the 5% enrichment level required by most existing reactors (and by #NuScale’s reactor). HALEU is still classified as low-enrichment fuel (as opposed to the highly enriched uranium used to make nuclear bombs), but that distinction is misleading, Lyman says. In June, he and his collaborators — including physicist Richard Garwin, who led the design of the first hydrogen bomb — warned in a Science article that a bomb could be built with a few hundred kilograms of HALEU, with no need for further enrichment.

    "Smaller reactors are also likely to produce more nuclear waste and to use fuel less efficiently, according to work reported in 2022 by Macfarlane and her collaborators. In a full-size reactor, most of the neutrons produced by the splitting of uranium travel through a large volume of fuel, meaning that they have a high probability of hitting another nucleus, rather than colliding with the walls of the reactor vessel or escaping into the surrounding building. 'When you shrink the reactor, there’s less material in there, so you will have more neutron leakage,' Macfarlane says. These rogue neutrons can be absorbed by other atomic nuclei — which would then themselves become radioactive."

    Original article:
    nature.com/articles/d41586-024

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/mODpF#selection-952

    #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cryptocurrency #DataCenters #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForAI #NoNukes #NuclearHype #NeutronEmbrittlement #NuclearWaste #NotCarbonFree