Author: Fission Today

Survey begins to determine remote island’s suitability for nuclear disposal site But while the local leaders of the municipalities in Hokkaido and Genkai approved the literature reviews, the Hokkaido and Saga governors, whose permission NUMO will seek to go on to the next stage — a preliminary on-site survey — are opposed By Eric Johnston, STAFF WRITER, May 21, 2026, A survey to determine the suitability of a remote island in the Ogasawara Islands chain as a final disposal site for radioactive nuclear waste began Wednesday. The National Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) will carry out a review of the scientific literature on…

Gas and electric utilities and their trade associations have contributed tens of millions of dollars over the past decade to a small set of political organizations known as “527s,” which are groups that can raise and spend unlimited funds to influence elections. These organizations, including governors’ associations, attorneys general groups, and legislative campaign committees, play a major role in state-level politics by funding advertising campaigns and providing access to key policymakers on certain issues. Major 527 groups that utilities contribute to include the Republican Governors Association (RGA), Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), Democratic Governors Association…

The election victory of Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party raises hopes for a long-delayed energy transition in Hungary. However, the road ahead is complex – shaped by Russian oil, gas and nuclear dependency, frozen EU funds, and a new government that is pragmatic rather than progressive. Péter Vigh reports. Credits Olivier Malard | Shutterstock, all rights reserved. On 12 April 2026, Hungarian voters delivered a political earthquake. Péter Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party defeated Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz after 16 years in power, ending the longest-running illiberal government in the European Union. For those watching Hungary’s climate and energy trajectory, the result opens…

Finnish energy group Steady Energy has signed a letter of intent with Alva-yhtiöt, the city of Jyväskylä’s water and energy group, to study the suitability of small-scale nuclear power as a source of district heating for the city. Steady Energy on May 19 said it could supply Jyväskylä with between two and six LDR-50 reactors, which would produce 100 MW to 300 MW of heat underground to serve the city’s needs. The companies said the letter of intent supports a study to address the suitability of Steady Energy’s LDR-50 small nuclear heating plant for producing the city’s district heating, and…

America’s largest electric utility NextEra Energy announced on May 18th its plans to buy the Virginia-based utility Dominion Energy in a $67 billion deal. If federal and state regulators approve the acquisition, NextEra’s history indicates that 3.6 million customers in Virginia and the Carolinas could pay even more for electricity in the long-term as NextEra seeks to increase profit margins it can wring from Dominion’s current customer base, and positions itself to capitalize off the unprecedented demand coming from data centers. NextEra contends the deal will unlock the efficiencies needed to meet overwhelming data center demand while “delivering low bills,”…

Philanthropy Giants Focus on Africa in Support of Nuclear Power Africa Emerges as a Focus for New Nuclear Power Plants Holtec and Rwanda Ink Development Plans for SMR-300s Ghana Sets Plans to Build a 1,000MW Nuclear Plant Kenya Announces Ambitious Plans for 2,000 MW of Nuclear Power South Africa’s Eskom Reveals Talks with World Bank Philanthropy Giants Focus on Africa to Support Nuclear Power The newly formner Global Coalition for Nuclear Philanthropy aims to mobilize and coordinate philanthropic capital to accelerate efficient, safe, secure, and equitable nuclear energy deployment globally. The Coalition seeks to expand and align philanthropic support for…

For many graduate students, waking up at noon after a 4 a.m. bedtime is a sign of a night well spent. For a group of MIT students, it was simply the start of their workday — timed not to the sun, but to the aurora.Their goal was simple: to study plasma phenomena using the aurora borealis as a natural laboratory. The process, less so; working largely in darkness in Fairbanks, Alaska, the students conducted experiments in temperatures that dipped as low as -25 degrees Fahrenheit, using red headlamps for visibility. The sun set before 3 p.m., and even at its…

Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has been targeted four times since the United States-Israel war on Iran began more than a month ago. And the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of “catastrophic” risks if a radioactive release occurs. Interview with Alicia Sanders-Zakre Source link

A super PAC that spent at least $333,000 on television ads supporting North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s unsuccessful primary campaign received $200,000 from a nonprofit funded entirely by Duke Energy Carolinas, the regulated utility subsidiary serving much of the Piedmont and western parts of the state. The money trail — documented in IRS filings, NC State Board of Elections disclosures, and Duke Energy’s own corporate political expenditure reports — runs from Duke Energy Carolinas’ corporate treasury through a political nonprofit called Citizens for a Responsible Energy Future (CREF) that has been funded solely by Duke Energy, then…

The American epoch of oil is collapsing. What comes next could be ugly democracies across the planet are now threatened by what might be called fossil fuel fascism – an extremist political movement that breaks laws, spreads lies and threatens violence in an increasingly desperate attempt to maintain markets for oil, gas and coal that would otherwise be replaced by cheaper renewables. In the short term, the biggest windfall from the Iran conflict has gone to companies, executives and shareholders in the US petroleum industry China is dominating the energy transition with astonishing result, while fossil fuel fascists in the US try to…