Plutonium has captured the attention of scientists since its discovery in the early 1940s. This enigmatic element has an important role to play in emerging energy technologies like nuclear batteries ...
The United States is preparing to mine a rare nuclear resource from some of its most dangerous Cold War legacies, turning ...
Plutonium is “the stuff out of which atomic bombs are made.” Plutonium can also be used as a nuclear fuel. Reprocessing is any technology that extracts plutonium from used nuclear fuel. In Canada, the ...
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy expects to begin announcing by December 31 which companies will take about 19.7 metric tons of surplus Cold War-era plutonium for eventual ...
China is building two advanced nuclear reactors with Russian assistance that will produce plutonium for Beijing’s rapid buildup of nuclear weapons, according to a new Air Force think tank study. The ...
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The Trump administration plans to make available about 20 metric tons of Cold War-era plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads to U.S. power companies as a potential ...
Last week U.S. District Judge Mary Lewis Geiger, South Carolina, faulted the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Agency for ignoring the National Environmental Protection Act and ...
Have you ever wondered what does a spacecraft and a pacemaker have in common? Both are powered by plutonium-238 (238 Pu), a versatile isotope, known for its ideal heating properties. Recent research ...
Nuclear weapons haven’t been tested in the United States since 1992. Find out why, and what could happen if the hiatus ends.
Multi-day fast-spectrum reactor experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center generate modern benchmark data. The data supports Oklo’s ...
President Trump’s proposal to repurpose the U.S. plutonium stockpile to fuel nuclear reactors resulted in a May 23, 2025, executive order directing the Department of Energy (DOE) to revisit disposal ...