Latest news with #nuclearpower
Russia Today
4 hours ago
- Business
- Russia Today
BRICS driving ambitious development push
BRICS countries have launched large‑scale joint projects in nuclear power, aviation, AI and other sectors, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The economic group is 'setting the bar in the development of so-called human-centric industries,' Putin noted, speaking on Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The group is mobilizing 'major projects to improve the living environment' and 'implementing large-scale initiatives in nuclear energy and aviation, in the field of new materials and the IT industry, in robotics and artificial intelligence,' the Russian president said. BRICS was initially established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. In 2024, the bloc extended full membership to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and, later, Indonesia. Over 30 more nations have applied to join the group. The collective trade turnover of BRICS nations has 'already exceeded a trillion dollars and continues to grow,' Putin told a SPIEF plenary session. The Russian leader underlined the platform's core principles – consensus, parity, mutual interest, and openness – saying it will strengthen as more countries join. 'Russia invites partners to contribute to shaping a new global growth model, to jointly ensure the prosperity of our countries and the stable development of the entire world for many, many years to come,' he said. Today's global challenges require a global response, Putin stressed. 'Solving problems alone, especially at someone else's expense, is simply impossible – it is an illusion. Only joint actions within an organization such as BRICS and some other formats can ensure the movement of the entire civilization forward,' the president told the gathering. This year, SPIEF has drawn participants from 137 countries and territories, including global leaders, major corporations, international organizations, and policy experts.
CNA
6 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Russia's Rosatom to explore construction of high-capacity nuclear plant in Uzbekistan
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia :Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed an agreement on Friday with Uzbekistan's atomic energy agency to study the feasibility of building a large-capacity nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country. Rosatom, which signed the agreement with the Uzbek government at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, already has plans to construct smaller nuclear units in Uzbekistan. The Russian energy company was also tapped over the weekend by the government of Kazakhstan to lead a consortium to build the first nuclear power plant there. There are currently no nuclear power plants in any of the five ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, although Uzbekistan and its neighbour Kazakhstan, both uranium producers, have long said their growing economies need them. The Uzbekistan plant will employ two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors, with the possibility to scale up to four. Last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev agreed on a deal for Rosatom to construct smaller-capacity plants with a capacity of 55 megawatts each in Uzbekistan. On Friday, Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said Rosatom was discussing building two low-power and two high-power nuclear units in Uzbekistan. "The small modular nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan is the first export product of modern small power plants on the planet," Likhachev told reporters in St. Petersburg. He said the plants would help Uzbekistan respond to its growing electricity needs. He also told journalists the firm had approved a preliminary roadmap with Kazakhstan for two units there using Russian-made VVER-1200 reactors.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Russia's Rosatom to explore construction of high-capacity nuclear plant in Uzbekistan
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed an agreement on Friday with Uzbekistan's atomic energy agency to study the feasibility of building a large-capacity nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country. Rosatom, which signed the agreement with the Uzbek government at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, already has plans to construct smaller nuclear units in Uzbekistan. The Russian energy company was also tapped over the weekend by the government of Kazakhstan to lead a consortium to build the first nuclear power plant there. There are currently no nuclear power plants in any of the five ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, although Uzbekistan and its neighbour Kazakhstan, both uranium producers, have long said their growing economies need them. The Uzbekistan plant will employ two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors, with the possibility to scale up to four. Last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev agreed on a deal for Rosatom to construct smaller-capacity plants with a capacity of 55 megawatts each in Uzbekistan. On Friday, Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said Rosatom was discussing building two low-power and two high-power nuclear units in Uzbekistan. "The small modular nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan is the first export product of modern small power plants on the planet," Likhachev told reporters in St. Petersburg. He said the plants would help Uzbekistan respond to its growing electricity needs. He also told journalists the firm had approved a preliminary roadmap with Kazakhstan for two units there using Russian-made VVER-1200 reactors.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia goes nuclear — company joins Bill Gates in backing TerraPower, a company building nuclear reactors for powering data centers
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Nvidia, through its venture capital arm NVentures, has joined Bill Gates and HD Hyundai in raising $650 million to back TerraPower, Gates' nuclear power startup founded in 2006 that's been working on small modular reactor (SMR) technology to standardize, miniaturize, and scale nuclear power. The startup is developing a 345-megawatt Natrium plant in Wyoming that uses liquid sodium for cooling and molten salt to store excess generated heat of up to one gigawatt for later storage. According to The Register, the nuclear power plant is being developed as part of the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program of the Department of Energy, as it's looking to push the next generation of clean and reliable energy sources. This isn't the first time that a tech company has put money into nuclear power, as several others have already invested in competing projects. For example, Oracle has secured permits to build three SMRs that can push out a total of one gigawatt for its AI data centers, while Microsoft plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. Google soon followed suit, signing a deal with Kairos for seven SMRs for its operations, as Amazon is pouring money into three different energy companies — two of which work with nuclear reactors — to help secure its future power demands. Surprisingly, Meta is a bit late to the game, opening its doors for nuclear solutions only late last year. After all, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said that now that the AI GPU bottleneck has eased, it's power — or the lack thereof — that will limit the growth of AI. The Natrium plant has already begun construction of its non-nuclear portions in Wyoming, but it has yet to receive regulatory approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for it to start working on the power-producing parts of the plant. The company says that it does not expect to get this until 2026, and that it won't start producing power for consumption until 2030. Another project that's already in the initial construction phase is Kairos' Hermes non-power demonstration reactor, which is being built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This is a non-light-water reactor that uses molten fluoride salt for cooling and can produce about 35 megawatts of heat, but not electricity. The purpose of this test plant is to test the safety and viability of the technology before the company gets full approval and deploys it for power generation. Westinghouse, a pillar in the nuclear power industry, is also pushing for SMRs with its eVinci micro nuclear reactor. This tiny unit can be easily carried on the back of a semi-truck and deployed in the field as a single unit. It's designed to work 24/7 for eight years without refueling — once its nuclear fuel is spent, Westinghouse would just deploy another SMR to minimize downtime and ensure that the site is continuously powered. All these projects are part of the massive amount of investments that AI companies and data centers are pouring into the system. As AI data centers deliver more performance, they also require more electrical power, so much more than what the current national grid can deliver. Recently, AMD revealed zettascale supercomputers will need half a gigawatt to operate, equivalent to the power of 375,000 homes. So, tech giants are hedging their bets by building their own SMRs and ensuring that they have enough power to keep their expensive data centers continuously running. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Nuclear power plant warning as heatwave hits France
France 's electricity supply faces potential disruption as soaring river temperatures, driven by an impending heatwave, threaten to curtail nuclear power generation along the Rhone. Nuclear operator EDF announced on Friday that high water temperatures are expected to impact electricity production from 25 June, particularly at the 3.6-gigawatt Bugey nuclear power plant in eastern France. This marks the first such warning for high river temperatures in France for 2025. The issue stems from environmental regulations governing the discharge of cooling water, which can be breached when river temperatures become excessively high due to heatwave conditions. The alert comes as state forecaster Meteo France predicts a significant heatwave will sweep across the country this weekend. Temperatures in southern France are anticipated to reach as high as 38 degrees Celsius (100.4F). The 3.6 GW Cruas nuclear plant and the 2.6 GW Saint-Alban nuclear plant are down river of the Bugey plant but were not mentioned in the bulletin. One of the 1.3 GW reactors at Saint-Alban and one of the reactors at Cruas are currently offline for maintenance. EDF can often lower production at individual reactors rather than taking the whole nuclear plant offline, so if reactors are off for maintenance than the current operating reactors can be left unaffected. Nuclear power accounts for about 70 per cent of total French power consumption annually. The summer is usually maintenance season as demand is generally lower. Climate change blamed for heatwave Searing temperatures of 32C hitting the UK this week have been made 100 times more likely due to human-caused climate change, scientists have warned. A rapid study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group found the current heatwave in the south-east of England was around 10 times more likely than without human activity warming the planet. Dr Fredi Otto, from Imperial College London, underscored the severity, warning that heatwaves are "silent killers" and that the impacts of heat are "severely underestimated", leaving the UK unprepared for the conditions expected to persist into the weekend. Japan has also been hit by a heatwave, with temperatures of up to 35C recorded and four people dying from suspected heatstroke.
