“The Department of Energy has made public a set of new rules that slash environmental and security requirements for experimental nuclear reactors.

Last month, NPR reported on the existence of the rules, which were quietly rewritten to accelerate development of a new generation of nuclear reactor designs.

The rule changes came about after President Trump signed an executive order calling for three or more of the experimental reactors to come online by July 4 of this year — an incredibly tight deadline in the world of nuclear power. The order led to the creation of a new Reactor Pilot Program at the Department of Energy.”

From NPR.

“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a construction permit for the Bill Gates-backed small modular reactor startup TerraPower’s flagship project to convert an old coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, to a next-generation nuclear station. The approval marked the first time a commercial-scale fourth-generation nuclear reactor — the TerraPower design uses liquid sodium metal as a coolant instead of water, as all other commercial reactors in the United States use — has received the green light from regulators this century.”

From Heatmap.

“In New Zealand’s compact capital Wellington, a small group of scientists and engineers just got a little closer to replicating the power of the sun.

OpenStar Technologies on Tuesday successfully floated a half-tonne magnet in a 5-meter-wide vacuum chamber of glowing gas heated to more than a million degrees Celsius. A select audience — among them Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and All Blacks great Richie McCaw — looked on from a room above the chamber as the local start-up marked a breakthrough in its bid to achieve sustained nuclear fusion.”

From Bloomberg.

“SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi reported that the region’s average electricity access rate has reached 56 percent — ahead of the East African Community’s 39 percent and the Economic Community for West African States’ 53 percent.”

From APA News.