nuclear

The largest nuclear fusion project on the planet has survived the setbacks. This is the date on which Iter should be ready

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2024 was a difficult year for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experctor reactor). This experimental reactor of nuclear fusion It is being built in the French town of Cadarache by an international consortium Led by the European Union. Although it was conceived in 2006 and the project was officially launched in 2007, the beginning of the assembly of this titanic machine did not start until 2020. The initial itinerary Proposed by Eurofusion, which is the institution that is responsible for promoting and supporting the scientific research necessary to bring to fruition the European Nuclear Fusion Plan, established that in 2025 the assembly of this machine would end. However, that same year another crucial milestone would arrive: the first tests with plasma would start. Three years later, in 2028, Iter engineers would begin the low power with hydrogen and helium, and in 2032 the first high -power experiments would arrive with these two gases. Finally, in 2035, Iter would be able to undertake high power tests with deuterium and tritium. And in 2040 this experimental reactor would demonstrate the energy profitability of nuclear fusion. Finally this will not happen like this. In 2022 the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) identified several irregularities of a strictly technical nature in Vacuum Chamber sectorswhich caused the Iter organization to react as it should do so: constituting a working group to address the complementary requests of the ASN and advance with the reactor assembly Tokamak. Iter’s technical challenges are unpublished Assembling a machine as complex as it is it is not easy. The vacuum chamber weighs 8,000 tons, is made of stainless steel and boron and must remain hermetically sealed. Its assembly has forced engineers to deal with extraordinarily strict local tolerances of 0.1%, and, in addition, the camera has a very complicated shape and uses plates with thicknesses up to 60 mm. To solve the assembly the technicians have had to resort to state -of -the -art technologies, such as the Electron Beam Weldingwhich is welding using an electron beam, or The design of AI models specifically conceived to identify defects in the welds of the camera. The Covid-19 Pandemia that raised very crudely during the 2020s and 2021, and, on the other hand, the technical challenges derived from the completely unpublished nature of much of the components that need to be tuning so that Iter arrives in fruition have caused that The main milestones of this project are delayed. Nevertheless, The current updated itinerary proposes several important dates that interest us know. In 2039 Iter will be able to undertake high power tests with deuterium and tritium In 2034 the first experiments will be carried out in the reactor; In 2036 the magnetic system responsible for confinement of plasma to maximum power will be tested; And finally, in 2039 Iter will be able to undertake high power tests with deuterium and tritium. Initially this last milestone was going to arrive in 2035. Whatever it is during the last year the Iter assembly has advanced at a good pace. In the cover image of this article we can see two of the titanic sectors of the vacuum chamber, although, in my opinion, one of The milestones that this project has achieved This year It was consolidated in May. The superconductor magnets placed on the outside of the vacuum chamber of this nuclear fusion reactor have the responsibility of generating the magnetic field necessary to confine plasma inside. They are also responsible for controlling and stabilizing it. These magnets weigh 10,000 tons and are manufactured in an alloy of niobio and tin, or niobio and titanium, which acquires the superconductivity when cools with a supercritical helium until reaching a temperature of -269 ºC. This requirement justifies the need to put a powerful cooling system like the one that has devised Europe for Iter. In the construction of this experimental nuclear fusion reactor, the US, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom, but the cryogenization plant have been commissioned by Fusion for Energy (F4E), the organization of the European Union that coordinates the contribution of Europe to the development of Iter, the French company Air Liquide and technical integrated technicians in the Iter structure. Superconductor magnets acquire superconductivity when they reach a temperature of -269 ºC This extreme refrigeration installation will be responsible for supplying liquid helium to 4.5 Kelvin (-269 ° C) to superconductor magnets and criobombs, and also gaseous helium at 80 Kelvin (-193 ºC) to thermal shields. Creobombs are empty ultraalt devices that are responsible for eliminating gases inside the vacuum chamber. To do it They must work at an extremely low temperature. And, on the other hand, the thermal shields are responsible for protecting some critical elements of the reactor, such as superconductor magnets, the heat that emits the confined plasma inside the vacuum chamber. Iter’s cryogenic plant has an area similar to that of a football field (just over 7,100 m²) and contains several 26 -meter high storage tanks. These figures help us intuit how enormous this critical installation is. As we have just verified, without it the nuclear fusion would be absolutely impossible. This Grigory Kouzmenko statementF4E manager, invites us to tie Iter’s future with a reasonable optimism: “We have entered the most exciting phase of the project, in which all the efforts of previous years finally are specified and we can benefit from the collaboration based on the confidence between all the parties.” Image | Fusion for Energy More information | ITER In Xataka | From today Spain has the key to nuclear fusion: Granada’s particle accelerator is already a reality

The most complex nuclear reactor in the world is underway in the United Kingdom. His critics directly call him “a monster”

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Two figures are enough to understand the scope of the British challenge: 38,000 million investment pounds and six million homes fed with nuclear electricity for sixty years. This presents Sizewell C, the center that Downing Street describes as a clean energy and employment engine. His detractors, on the other hand, see it as a financial well and the last attempt to give life to a nuclear design so complex that in France it already call it “the monster.” The crown jewel. The objective of the British government is to double the nuclear capacity of the country by 2050 and guarantee a stable supply of low carbon energy. Sizewell C, With two EPR type reactors (European pressurized reactor), is the key piece of that strategy. According to the BBCthe project is the successor of Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, which accumulates a decade of delays and a runaway cost: more than 18,000 million pounds planned in 2010 to about 46,000 million today. Minister Rachel Reeves declared The Guardian that investment is “a powerful support to the United Kingdom as the best place to do business and as a global center of nuclear energy.” Instead, Henri Proglio, former director of the French electric EDF – developmentator of the project -, assured the Financial Times that the reactor design is “scary” and “almost impossible to build.” Faced opinions. The detractors have it clear. Proglio describes it as “a machine with more reinforcement rods than concrete.” Another engineer, Also cited in the FThe spoke of a “colossal error.” And Greenpeace warned the BBC That this time will be taxpayers, not EDF, who pay the inevitable cost overruns. But there are also moderate voices. Tony Roulstone, Professor of Cambridge and exejecutive of Rolls-Royce, declared to FT That Sizewell could be ready “one or two years before Hinkley” and cost 20 % less. Thanks to the fact that much of the design is already tested since the supply chain was consolidated in Somerset. There are already works in Suffolk. The project is not just paper. In Suffolk, 1,700 operators are already working in preliminary works, According to the Financial Times. The first one: a perimeter wall 55 meters deep and 3 kilometers long to drain the marsh before placing the foundations. In addition, Hinkley errors will be avoided. This time the concrete structures will be pregnant in workshops and not in the work, which should accelerate the deadlines. Even so, the official calendar – entered into operation in the middle or end of the 2030s – raises doubts. Flamanville, in France, and Hinkley have shown that deadlines in projects of this type are usually wet paper, As Critica Nils Pratley in his column for The Guardian. It is very complex. It is more complex than it seems to the naked eye. EPR are nuclear reactors of generation III+, the result of Franco-German collaboration between EDF and Siemens. According to World Nuclear Associationare designed to offer a net electrical power of between 1,600 and 1,650 MW, although they can reach 1,770 MW. In addition, they incorporate advanced security measures: double containment, four independent cooling systems, a Core Catcher to catch the nucleus in case of merger, and structural capacity to resist impacts and earthquakes, in addition to diesel generators and backup batteries that guarantee operability to multiple failures. They also stand out for greater energy efficiencyconsuming up to 17% less fuel than old reactors and producing up to 14% more energy. All this with a projected life of 60 years. This technical complexity is, at the same time, a strength in terms of safety and efficiency, and a challenge for the delays and costs that it has shown in its construction. The invoice reaches the British pocket. The cost of the central already exceeds twice the first estimates, According to BBC. The majority (36.6 billion) will be covered with public debt through the National Fund of Wealth. While the financing is distributed among the State (the largest shareholder with 44.9%), followed by the Canadian Caisse (20%), Centrica (15%), EDF (12.5%) and Amber Infrastructure (7.6%). The great novelty is the “Regulated Assets Base” model (Rab) in which households will begin to pay £ 1 per month in their electrical invoices for at least a decade, Julia Pyke explained to the BBC. This scheme mainly protects investors, As Nils Pratley recalled in The GuardianCentrica ensures returns of more than 10% even if the costs reach 47.7 billion pounds; Any excess will be assumed by taxpayers. France already tried. Although with problems. The first French EPR reactor, Flamanville 3, in Normandy, connected to the network In December 2024 after 12 years of delays and with a final cost of € 13.2 billion, four times budgeted. As explained in Financial Timesthe French experience forced to redesign the concept, so EDF no longer prioritizes the EPR, but the EPR2, a simplified and cheaper version that hopes to build in six units here to 2038. Meanwhile, in China they have shown that its Taishan center that has operated for years with an EPR of 1.75 GW, is one of the most powerful reactors in the world. A continent that turns nuclear. The British bet arrives in a contradictory European context. Germany He closed his last central in 2023 and Spain plans to close them in 2027. France, on the contrary, Maintain nuclear as a pillar (70 % of its electricity) and accelerates new EPR2 projects. The board moves: under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany has stopped blocking France and accepts that the nuclear receives the same treatment as renewables in EU legislation. The agreement includes giving “green” status to pink hydrogen and opens the door to European financing, although Austria continues against and countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands reevaluate their policies. In the midst of this continental debate, the United Kingdom, outside the EU, advances alone with Sizewell C: an EPR that even EDF has relegated in favor of the EPR2, while in Europe the SMR and nuclear fusion gain space. … Read more

Europe and Japan advance unstoppable towards nuclear fusion. His last achievement reminds us why we don’t have it yet

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The experimental reactor of nuclear fusion JT-60SA resides in Naka, a small city not very far from Tokyo (Japan). Its construction began in January 2013, but did not do it from scratch; He did it taking as a starting point the JT-60 reactor, his precursor, a machine that came into operation in 1985 and that for more than three decades has reached very important milestones in the field of merger energy. The JT-60SA assembly ended at the beginning of 2020, and since the end of 2023 it is ready to start The first tests with plasma. This machine is a device Tokamak that like jet and The future iter It resorts to the magnetic confinement of the ionized plasma that contains the deuterium and tritium nuclei to trigger nuclear fusion reactions. Whatever this machine is titanic. Colossal. In fact, it has a height of 15.4 meters and a diameter of 13.7 meters. However, the most shocking are the “specifications” that allow us to train an idea about their performance. And it is able to confine a plasma with a volume of 130 m³, as well as to generate a 2,25 teslas toroidal magnetic field and hold a current inside the plasma of 5.5 mA (5.5 million amps). These figures are shocking, and presumably when Iter is ready to start the first tests with plasma their figures will be even more impressive. Of course, during the next months already measure that the reactor JT60-SA deliver its first results we will develop with great detail. JT-60SA already has one of the most advanced diagnostic systems that exist On April 22, the latest components needed by Japanese and European engineers who work in the reactor to assemble the Thomson dispersion diagnostic system arrived at the JT-60SA facilities. Every time the researchers operating this very complex machine carry out an experiment with it need to know with the maximum possible precision the temperature and density of the plasma electrons. The components of the Thomson Dispersion Measurement Team have been designed and manufactured in Italy, Romania and Japan The main problem they face is that it is not possible to obtain this data taking direct measures. In order for the merger of the deuterium and tritium nuclei to take place, it is necessary that the plasma that contains them a temperature of At least 150 million degrees Celsiusand any sensor that contacts him at this temperature will not survive. This is the reason why the engineers of the JT-60SA reactor have been forced to set up an extraordinarily sophisticated diagnostic system. The components of the Thomson dispersion measurement team have been designed and manufactured in Italy, Romania and Japan. Broadly speaking, this ingenuity manages to measure the temperature and density of plasma electrons analyzing the light that emits with a high -power laser beam dispersed, precisely, by the plasma electrons themselves. Somehow the interaction between the laser and plasma is what allows engineers indirectly calculating temperature and density. The JT-60SA reactor will have two diagnostic systems of Thomson’s dispersion. The nucleus has been developed in Japan, and the edge of the plasma has been devised in Europe. Both are currently being installed, and, if everything goes well, this machine will have in a few months one of the diagnostic and measurement equipment more advanced that exist. The nuclear fusion no longer raises any challenge from the point of view of fundamental physics. If we still have no commercial fusion energy reactors, it is due to the fact that this technology still requires solving several challenges in the field of engineering. The tuning of this diagnostic system was one of them. Image | QST More information | Eurofusion In Xataka | The Jet reactor has successfully completed its final tests with deuterium and tritium. It is a crucial milestone for nuclear fusion

The countries with more nuclear bombs in 2025, gathered in this graph with two protagonists: China and India

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In January 2007, the Watch of the Last Judgment remained at five minutes of the devastation. In January this year, I was barely 89 seconds of midnight. This clock represents, symbolically, if we are close to a nuclear devastation, and the data of 2025 was the most bleak in its 78 to those of history. Although the United States and Russia continue to dismantle nuclear arsenal, they are still the powers that more atomic bombs have. However, China is putting the batteries And another country wants to demonstrate that it has no qualms about arming: India. And this graph perfectly represents the situation of world nuclear arsenal in 2025. The photo in 2025. Prepared by Visual Capitalist From data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or Sipriin the graph we can eloquently see the state of the nuclear arsenal until January this year. The United States and Russia evidently dominated The world nuclear arsenal during the Cold War and, although they are still the two nations that have the most ojas in their possession, that arsenal has been diminishing. During the last months, it is estimated that the United States would have discharged eight eyes while Russia would have ‘retired’ another 71. France and the United Kingdom, which recently confirmed actions to combine their arsenalThey are maintained, like Pakistan, Israel and a North Korea that has a secret arsenal, but with an estimated 50 heads. As can be seen in the image, the US and Russia continue to dominate the segment incontestable, but there is a third country that, also evident, is taking leaps and accelerated to get a good arsenal. China. About a year ago, A SIPRI report He surprised everyone by showing that China was increasing its nuclear arsenal at a stupid speed. Now is in a position that allows Ask for both the US and its allies With nuclear arsenal and that Chinese expansion has been the perfect excuse for the “Rearme” that the Pentagon has asked for. Of the 500 estimated heads of China in 2024, we went to 600, which represents 20% more in a few months that allows to see in an evident way that the Asian giant has taken the renewal of its forces seriously. Nuclear weapons investment is not the only thing we have witnessed, since China boasts electromagnetic catapults of his new warships, of latest generationof New combat fighters and Even a huge poaching plane. India puts the batteries. Despite those 600 heads, it is estimated that they have less than 30 strategically deployed (those that are ready to launch). The United States and Russia have less than 2,000 deployed, France has almost all lists to launch and the United Kingdom half, more or less. The one estimated that it has zero deployed bombs is India, but the new SIPRI report shows that the country’s nuclear investment is paying off. In fact, and without knowing really how things are going in North Koreait would be the only country that has increased its arsenal, adding another eight heads in recent months. They have reached 180 and arrive just at a time of high voltage in the Indo-Pacific region, with continuous demonstrations of force As the other big in the contest does, China. New generation of bombs. The current situation is … complex. With the invasion of Russia to Ukraine the Fear of nuclear war. With the recent conflict between Israel and its neighbors, Those drums have sounded again And, meanwhile, China promotes pacts not to attack first with nuclear arsenal while the treaty expiration is approaching START III which limited the amount of strategic weapons deployed by nuclear powers. Russia se He disconnected of that treaty, directly, in 2022. We will see in a few years how graphics of this type evolve, since France confirmed In 2024 a program to produce Nuclear bombs New generation and more recently they bet on new Actions to consolidate your role as one of the pillars of nuclear deterrence in the West, something that blocks with the Objectives of Rearme launched by Europe. In Xataka | In the Cold War, China feared a Soviet nuclear attack: its response was the largest underground nuclear base on the planet

Russia is building a nuclear weapon capable of destroying all satellites in orbit

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In 1962, the world looked on the edge of the nuclear abyss when the United States discovered the installation of Soviet missiles in Cubaa few kilometers from its coasts. The tension derived from that geopolitical pulse symbolized the fragility of the strategic balance and the ease with which a technological advance or risky play could precipitate the planet towards a total confrontation. Today, more than sixty years later, United States evokes That historical episode when warning about a similar threat, although transferred to space. A new crisis. The announcement that Russia would be developing a Orbital nuclear weapon Able to disable the totality of the satellites in land low orbit has turned on alarms in Washington, with direct comparisons to That crisis of the missiles of Cuba that we commented. According to the declassified data For the US Congress, this system would combine an initial physical attack that would generate a reaction in orbital destruction chain with a nuclear pulse destined to fry the electronics of all affected satellites. The result. It would be, in his opinion, devastating: With the collapse of GPS, communications, intelligence and early missile alert systems, all critical elements for global safety and economy. The United States argues that the weapon, not yet operational, could be unusable for orbit for a whole yeargenerating an unprecedented strategic vacuum in which both Washington and its allies would be exposed to conventional or even nuclear threats without the coverage of their space constellations. The role of satellites. Today orbit More than 12,000 satellites that fulfill vital functions for modern life: from television and navigation services to international military and economic architecture. In fact, the war in Ukraine has already demonstrated its vulnerability when the Russian attack against Viasat In 2022 he left tens of thousands of users without service in much of Europe. More recently, the kidnapping of a satellite signal to issue the Victory Day Parade In Ukraine he showed how cyberspace and outer space are intertwined as new battlefields. The experts They warn that it is enough to exploit outdated software or insecure communication links to disable key satellites, which makes space a Achilles heel of Western democracies. The new space race. We have gone counting. The announcement of the possible Russian weapon coincides with the resurgence of the Spatial competition for the domain of the extraterrestrial resources. The moon has become The centerpiece Of this rivalry: its wealth In Helio-3fuel potential for future nuclear fusion reactors, has triggered plans to establish permanent bases. NASA advertisement the installation of a small nuclear reactor as an initial step to consolidate presence before they do so Russia or Chinathat they already project their own lunar plants. The control of strategic areas of the lunar surface is perceived as a determinant to define the next global hegemony in energy and technology, in a context where the growing demand for energy for artificial intelligence accelerates competition. China between half. While Russia is silent about the alleged antisatellite weapon, China has reacted denouncing Washington for “militarizing space” and accusing it to expand military alliances that convert spatial domain into a war zone. Beijing insists that he opposes an arms race outside the earth, although in parallel promotes projects of space mining and Bases on the Moon that place it on the same competitive board as the United States and Russia. Chinese rhetoric is presented as a guarantor of the international order against a United States accused of exacerbating tension, although the simultaneous development of Technological capabilities of Great reach It reveals a broader power game. Washington’s response. Created In 2019the US space force has assumed the task of protecting national interests in orbit, from communications constellations to military intelligence and navigation satellites. Its fleet includes The X-37ban unmanned ferry that executes prolonged secret missions In orbit and symbolizes Washington’s will to dominate this area. Although small compared to branches such as the army or the navy, the space force It expands and the pentagon Plan to consolidate Soon its headquarters. For US military controls, safe access to space is already a vital interest in national security. The perspective of Russia deploying a space nuclear weapon raises the challenge to a Unpublished scale: The possible paralysis of world satellite infrastructure, with military, economic and psychological consequences comparable to a strategic nuclear attack. A turning point. Be that as it may, the ghost of a “missile crisis in space” reflects that the competition is no longer limited to land, sea and air, not even to cyberspace, but reaches the orbital and lunar domain as new power scenarios. If the United States is right and Russia is allowed to advance with An antisatellite weaponthe global strategic balance could be altered radically, inaugurating an era in which the great powers dispute not only territories, but also access to the infrastructure that sustains modern life. The urgency, both for some and for others, seems clear: or firm limits are established in the military use of space, or the risk that the next great international crisis explodes hundreds of kilometers above our heads will be increasingly real. Image | Steve Jurvetson In Xataka | Bombard the poles with nuclear weapons or build a giant magnet: the most reposted ideas to terraft Mars In Xataka | China has just taken another step in the technological and spatial conquest: an orbital computing network designed for AI

The largest Russian nuclear cruise has returned to the sea after 28 years. What is not clear is how modern its technology

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Russia has returned to the sea to its largest nuclear cruise For the first time since 1997. The Admiral Nakhimov began the trials on August 18, 2025 at the White Sea, the first concrete sign for a program that has been prolonged for decades. According to Tassthe two nuclear reactors were reactivated in early 2025 and the ship moves again by their own means. However, the return of this 28,000 tons ship It raises the background question: To what extent has modernization fulfilled what is announced by Moscow? Its recent history is marked by a sequence of breeding deadlines. Although modernization was raised more than two decades ago, The War Zone pointsthe works did not really begin until 2014. Since then, the dates were postponed: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023 … The exit to the sea is a tangible advance, but also the end of a stage full of dilated promises that must now translate into real capabilities. What has really modernized and what follows in the air The return occurs in a context where information about the ship does not abound and, as we see, there are many questions. At the moment, says the aforementioned medium, it can be said that the ship has received at least A new radar systemas well as a new main Caño AK-192m. Modernization aspired to place it as the ship with the most vertical pitchers in the world: 174 cells in total, of them 78 for attack missiles (Kalibr, Oniks, Zircon) and 96 for S-300FM air defense. Today, the only unequivocal is the new main cannon; The rest must demonstrate in evidence and, eventually, in official images and documents. His return to service is not only technical, also symbolic. Everything indicates that he will assume the role of flagship of the northern fleet when Complete trials And be accepted by the Navy, in relief of the Pyotr Velikiy, also a nuclear propulsion cruise. The difference? It began to be built in the Soviet era and was thrown in 1996, but has received minor modernizations. In parallel, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov Keep on the wire. In statements collected by Reutersthe president of the State Naval Construction Corporation came to affirm that it is most likely to sell or tear it, which would further raise the weight of the cruise on the Russian surface. The admiral Nakhimov still has a lot to prove. That it has navigate again does not imply that modernization is complete or fully operational. The real state of sensors, combat systems, data links and integration with other naval units remains unconfirmed. Beyond the official story, what happens in the sea will say if this return to the activity is a change of cycle or a maneuver without real impact. Images | RSS_40 In Xataka | Ukraine has entered a phase so deranged with the drones that his drones are knocking themselves to themselves

France promised them happy with the Grand Nuclear Power Plant. Until the jellyfish swarms arrived

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In France, jellyfish have knocked out one of the country’s largest nuclear centrals. Yes, the same jellyfish you are on the beach. Although it sounds delusional, the company Électricité e France (EDF) has acknowledged that an incident with these jelly and transparent celentéreos has forced to pause four of the production units of The Gravian Plantlocated north of the country. The most surprising thing is that it is not something exceptional. What happened? The news has been given by EDF itself, which in A statement Posted yesterday explains that the Gravelines Nuclear Power He has seen how four of his six production units went out for a peculiar motive: jellyfish. The first three units (2, 3 and 4) were automatically disconnected on Sunday night following security protocols to protect the reactor. The fourth (unit 6) also automatically went out on Monday. What happened exactly? EDF is quite clear In this regard. The stops are explained by “the massive and unpredictable presence” of jellyfish in the drums of the pumping stations, located in the non -nuclear part of the plant. What happened is best understood by remembering that gravoras, a of the largest centrals From France, it is refrigerated with the help of a channel connected to the North Sea. The plant has water pumping stations that allow it to refrigerate the reactors. The jellyfish were located precisely in filters that are responsible for aspiring sea water to control its temperature. The four units that went out automatically (2, 3, 4 and 6) are also added to production units 1 and 5, which already They were disabled For maintenance work. Was there any danger? EDF too It is clear At that point. He assures that at no time there was danger and that what happened did not affect the safety of the facilities or meant any risk for the template or the environment. “The plant equipment has mobilized and perform the necessary diagnoses and interventions to restart the production units safely,” guarantees. At first He pointed out that the affected units could be operational again on Thursday, but Reuters slides That the schedule may not be fulfilled: the idea was to restart the four units today, but in principle it will only one. The rest will resume the activity little by little, progressively, until Friday. What jellyfish were they? The operator has not clarified it, but the Reuters agency holds that is about Pulmo rhizostomaalso known as Aguamala. Its presence in Gravelines could be explained by two factors: first the temperature of the sea, higher this summer, which favors jellyfish flowers and that these remain longer in the North Sea; Second, the force of the currents, which would have pushed the banks towards the channel and the central. Is it the first time that happens? No. It is not usual, but neither was it out of the ordinary. Gravelines already lived something similar In the early 90s and there are other plants distributed throughout the world that have encountered similar problems. Swiss Info appointment Specifically, US facilities, Scotland, Sweden and Japan, which would also have suffered them last decade. Its proliferation is explained by water warming and The overfishingwhich has punished tuna banks. In this case, jellyfish have affected a relevant plant for France, equipped with six units that produce 900 megawatts of energy each, near 5.4 Gigawatts in total. The idea is that from 2040 shelter two EPR2 reactors. Images | Joel Filipe (UNSPLASH), EDF and Wikipedia In Xataka | SMR reactors were supposed to save nuclear energy. The first of the West for now is far from it

install a nuclear reactor on the moon before China and Russia create its exclusion zone

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The Space race has warm upthis time in the heat of a nuclear reactor on the surface of the moon. And as already happened in the 60s, the urgency is not scientific, but fundamentally geopolitical. The Duffy directive. The break between Elon Musk and Donald Trump trunciated Jared Isaacman’s career as future NASA administrator. The current acting administrator of the Space Agency, Sean Duffy, is in turn Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, faithful to the priorities of the White House. In a movement that will mark the priorities of the agency, Duffy has launched an accelerated plan to build a small nuclear power plant on the moon. The directive urges NASA to have a satellite functional reactor by 2030. Why 2030. The main motivation is get ahead of the Chinese and Russia Alliance to build your own lunar reactor. “We are in a race towards the moon, a race with China. And to have a base on the moon, we need energy,” Duffy explained In a later press conference. The fear of Washington is explicit in the directive itself: “The first country to do so could declare an exclusion zone, which would significantly limit the United States for establishing the Presence of Artemis If I will not arrive first. “ A new plan. NASA was already working on a project called Fission Surface Power (FSP) with the intention of installing a 40 kW reactor on the surface of the moon at the beginning of the next decade. The new directive, published entirely By NASA Watch, raise the bet to a more efficient Bryton cycle turns and a minimum power of 100 kW. The dates are also more ambitious. The United States government requires NASA to be installed for the first 2030 quarter using a launch system of at least 15 tons of capacity. The reactor and all transportation logistics and installation will be open to the American private industry through a future public tender. More astronauts, less science. Nuclear energy will be crucial for any manned lunar base. The moon has a day and night cycle of approximately 29.5 terrestrial days, which means that any type of lunar colony faces two weeks of icy darkness. Solar energy is unfeasible to feed the life support equipment and heating that will keep astronauts alive. A fission reactor, on the other hand, would provide a constant and reliable source of energy. This Directive is the first important movement of Sean Duffy as an acting administrator, and reflects the change of course that began the 2026 Budgets of the White House: an increase in the funds for human exploration of deep space, especially if they can prevent China from getting to Marsand cuts of up to 50% in purely scientific areasincluding many of the probes that study the solar system. In Xataka | The United States was going to send the first woman to the moon. China is getting it more and more difficult

New generation nuclear energy is still extremely expensive

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The future of fission energy is unquestionably linked to Modular and compact nuclear reactorsknown as SMR for its English denomination (Small Modular Reactor). They carry out more than two decades, and some of them are being designed according to The principles and requirements established for equipment Fourth Generation Nuclear Fission. In fact, they are being devised for the purpose of not being weighed down by the deficiencies introduced in the previous generations. One of the characteristics that, in theory, allows them to outdo conventional nuclear reactors is that their commissioning and maintenance costs have to be comparable to the expenses required by other energy sources. However, for the moment they are not. Csiro, the National Scientific Agency of Australia, has prepared a report in which it analyzes the cost of the energy sources currently used, and the renewables are the cheapest. This conclusion was predictable, but the surprising thing is that next -generation nuclear reactors are the most expensive energy generation technology. To reach this conclusion CSIRO has analyzed the costs of the Darlington (Canada) SMR Nuclear Nuclear Plan SMR plan, which in principle will ascend to 23.200 million dollars. China and Russia already have SMR reactors In operation, but Darlington’s will be the first built in a western country. The shocking thing is that, According to Csirothis project will be much more expensive than any other option, including a conventional nuclear power plant. Cheaper energy generation technologies are photovoltaic and wind solar. Secondly, the gas resides, and then the nuclear on a large scale, the coal, and, finally, the SMR reactors. Despite all SMR reactors are the future of nuclear energy Before moving forward it is important that we keep in mind that the costs derived from the Darlington nuclear project will probably be reduced in other posterior SMR reactor facilities. This plan is a pioneer in the West, and, therefore, everything is new and presumably expensive. Even so, for the moment it is not clear if this technology will really equate its costs with those of other generation sources. It is currently difficult to anticipate that in the future an SMR reactor plant will have costs similar to those of a photovoltaic or wind solar installation. 4th generation designs can be very different from those of previous generations In any case, the SMR reactors that respect the established principles for fourth -generation nuclear fission equipment have other advantages that are worth not overlooked. On the one hand they have to reach the maximum possible sustainabilityso that the fuel is maximized to produce energy, the amount of radioactive waste resulting from the process is minimized and its management is as efficient as possible. In addition, modular and compact reactors can be installed in locations where it would be unfeasible to build a conventional nuclear power plant, such as, for example, On a floating platform. And finally, something also very important: their safety and reliability must be high enough to minimize the probability that the reactor core suffers damage. In addition, if an accident occurs, it should not be necessary to take emergency measures beyond the facilities of the nuclear power plant. Image | Nuclear forum More information | Indaily In Xataka | European historical milestone in nuclear fusion: the JET reactor has broken a crucial record on the road to commercial fusion energy

Ukraine has stolen the confidential information of the last nuclear submarine of Russia. And then he has published all his failures

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Two news in just a few days offered a summary of the importance of Nuclear deterrence of Russia and its need to update it. On the one hand, Moscow advertisement which will cease to respect the limitations of the treaty of nuclear forces of intermediate scope. On the other, The New York Times confirmed through satellite images that its nuclear submarine base had is damaged After an earthquake. Now Ukraine has just added another asterisk. The end to the treaty. The first news occurred two days ago. Moscow advertisement which will set aside the limitations of the treaty of nuclear forces of intermediate scope (Inf), signed in 1987 to eliminate land missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers and considered a milestone of the cold war. Although the pact was already broken after the United States withdrawal In 2019, Moscow maintained a unilateral moratorium that is now terminated, claiming that Washington plans to display missiles of this type in Europe and Asia. The decision also coincides with the entry into service of the Missile Orshnikcapable of carrying nuclear eyes and unfold in Belaruswhich increases fear in the West to a new arms race in which European capitals would be minutes from a Russian attack. While Medvedev launches direct warningsKremlin seeks to clarify the tone, although the definitive breakdown of the INF confirms the setback of nuclear control mechanisms and raises strategic tensions in Europe and Asia. The “touched” nuclear base. We count the fear And finally it has been confirmed. The earthquake that made the Russian nation tremble caused damage to the strategic base of Nuclear Submarines of Rybachiy, in the Kamchatka Peninsula, according to planet labs satellite images cited By The New York Times. The photos show that a section of a floating dock He got rid of of its anchor, although there are no major damage to the facilities. The Rybachiy base, vital for the Russian nuclear fleet in the Pacific, thus maintains its operation despite the damage located in its infrastructure. Before and after earthquakes in nuclear infrastructure Filtration. A few hours ago, Ukrainian military intelligence (Hur) has announced obtaining internal documents classified from the K-55 Knyaz Pozharskythe most more modern Russian nuclear nuclear submarine in the Borei-A classessential piece of the Kremlin nuclear triad. This ship, officially incorporated to the northern fleet On July 24, 2025 at a ceremony chaired by Putin, he is armed with 16 intercontinental missiles R-30 Bulava-30each capable of carrying up to ten nuclear eyelets. According to kyivthe material obtained includes complete lists of the crew with details of functions, physical preparation and qualifications, combat manuals, schemes of survival systems, organizational structure, internal regulations for life on board, protocols for evacuation and transfer of injuries, as well as Technical documents on failed communication equipment and engineering records. It would even have secured an excerpt from the daily service book, which regulates routine tasks and submarine combat operations. Part of the classified documents filtered The failures. The most surprising thing about the case is that Filtration now published represents a significant coup for the operational security Russian, as it offers Ukraine and its allies critical information on technical vulnerabilities not only of Knyaz Pozharskybut of the entire series of borei-a submarines, considered the more modern nucleus of Moscow nuclear deterrence. These data, according to The intelligence of Ukrainethey will allow identify From design limitations to safety protocols and resistance capabilities, eroding, in addition, the perception of invulnerability that Russia tries to project with its strategic fleet. Hur itself He stressed That this intelligence dismantles the “imperial myth” on the strength of the Russian nuclear arsenal, by exposing the fragilities of systems that Kremlin presents as unwavering. Part of the classified documents filtered The naval context in the war. Plus: the revelation arrives at a time when the Russian navy has suffered a palpable deterioration of its prestige and effectiveness, especially In the Black Seawhere the fleet has lost several key ships at the hands of Ukrainian naval drones and Western missiles. He sinking of the landing ship Caesar Kunikov, of the Patrol Sergei Kotov and of the Ivanovets Corvetteamong others, has weakened an instrument that until 2022 was perceived as dominant in the region. The NATO careMeanwhile, it moves towards the Arctic and North Atlanticwhere Russian underwater activities are closely monitored and have motivated the display of new forces Maritime Allied. In this context, know the specifications and vulnerabilities of the Borei-A class, which constitutes the strategic arm of the northern fleet in Gadzhievo, results from An incalculable value to calibrate nuclear balance and reinforce allied deterrence. The information in the modern war. If you want also, the Hur operation It is more than a espionage success: it symbolizes how, in the war of the 21st century, information can have both power as a precision missile. Ukraine, confronted with an adversary with palpable material, converts intelligence into An asymmetric weapon able to undress the vulnerability of the jewel of the Russian strategic fleet. On the other sidewalk, the lesson for Moscow seems clear: not even its nuclear submarines, designed to guarantee the survival of the State in case of total war, are immune, not only Natural disastersbut to Information War. Image | Ukrainian intelligencePlanet Labs In Xataka | It is not that Russia does not find the F-16 of Ukraine, is that kyiv has discovered the perfect hiding place for the future of wars In Xataka | A new challenge has arrived to Ukraine: it measures 4 meters, it has 75 kilos of explosives and uses AI to hit Russia

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