Author: Fission Today

Judge’s gavel, Themis sculpture and collection of legal books on the brown background. On August 8, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion (Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission, S284614 (August 7, 2025)) on a single issue of law specific to the degree of deference afforded to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in interpreting the Public Utilities Code.  Specifically, “whether the highly deferential approach of Greyhound continues to apply…” in light of the Legislature’s acts to revise and expand judicial review of CPUC actions as part of the deregulation process of the 1990s under Public Utilities…

A number of advanced energy technologies — including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and an emerging class of low-power electronics — use protons as the key charge carrier. Whether or not these devices will be widely adopted hinges, in part, on how efficiently they can move protons.One class of materials known as metal oxides has shown promise in conducting protons at temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius. But researchers have struggled to find the best materials to increase the proton conductivity at lower temperatures and improve efficiency.Now, MIT researchers have developed a physical model to predict proton mobility across a wide range of metal…

(Photo credit: United States Air Force) NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and UK defence minister Al Carns are stoking fears of war with Russia and another round of incitement to nuclear proliferation across Europe is underway in response to President Trump’s latest anti-European rhetoric that accompanied the new US National Security Strategy. When the US announced a new National Security Strategy last week that said Europe was in danger of “civilisational erasure” and questioning its ability and will to defend itself, it was bound to produce another spasm of panic among European politicians.. The fact that Trump followed up by using…

New Jersey-based Thea Energy has unveiled the preconceptual design of Helios, its stellarator-based fusion power… Source link

Evergy is proposing to the KCC, two fossil gas plants in Reno and Sumner County with a price tag of $2 Billion Dollars – leaving Kansans with the bill. Tell the KCC we don’t want dirty gas! Evergy is a for-profit monopoly which means it has no free-market competition to provide us – the rate payers – the best and most affordable sources of electricity. We have no choice but to be Evergy customers for electricity. So Evergy does not have to earn our business, but it does earn a profit from us. Read the Evergy docket number: 25-EKCE-207-PRE Profits…

The post Tribune Chronicle: FirstEnergy continues duplicitous behavior appeared first on Energy and Policy Institute. Source link

Energy Sector Under AttackOn February 24, 2022, at exactly 00:00, Ukraine began a critical “island energy mode” test— temporarily disconnecting from the Russian and European power grids as part of requirement and plan to join to ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity). And after that, just three hours later, the first missiles struck. Ukraine’s energy infrastructure became a primary target.In 2024 alone, more than 1,100 missiles and thousands of heavy drones targeted energy infrastructure across the country. Substations connecting regions were destroyed, cutting off energy flows and fragmenting the national grid. Entire regions were left with either…

This is a follow up to my previous blog post on the California Supreme Court’s Opinion that remitted the Center for Biological Diversity v. CPUC (A167721; S283614) to the 1st Appellate District. With supplemental and responsive briefing filed on November 21, 2025 and supplemental responsive briefing due on January 12, 2026, many questions remain related to net billing tariff (NBT) and how it will shape future cases involving a less deferential judicial review standard when CPUC actions are challenged under Public Utilities Code §§ 1757 and 1757.1. This post will look at two potential inquiries the Court of Appeals may…

This article may be updated.Nuno Loureiro, a professor of nuclear science and engineering and of physics at MIT, has died. He was 47.A lauded theoretical physicist and fusion scientist, and director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Loureiro joined MIT’s faculty in 2016. His research addressed complex problems lurking at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe.Loureiro’s research at MIT advanced scientists’ understanding of plasma behavior, including turbulence, and uncovered the physics behind astronomical phenomena like solar flares. He was the Herman Feshbach (1942) Professor of Physics at MIT and was named…

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II at Idaho National Laboratory. Several companies are now pursuing experimental reactor designs in the hopes of upending the nuclear power industry. Idaho National Laboratory hide caption toggle caption Idaho National Laboratory In May, President Trump sat in the Oval Office flanked by executives from America’s nuclear power industry. “It’s a hot industry. It’s a brilliant industry,” the president said from behind the Resolute desk. It’s also an industry that’s having a moment. Billions of dollars in capital are currently flowing into dozens of companies chasing new kinds of nuclear technologies. These are small modular designs…