Timekeeping has officially entered its nuclear age. Two independent teams, one in Vienna, Austria and another in Beijing, China have built working thorium-229 nuclear clock prototypes. Rather than track changes in an atom’s electrons the way that current atomic clocks do, these nuclear versions use a laser that’s tuned to the frequency where a thorium
The U.S. has ambitious plans to triple the capacity of its nuclear power plants by 2050, but that goal might hit a roadblock if plant operators can’t buy fuel at reasonable prices. Prices for yellowcake, a form of unrefined uranium, are up 75% in the last five years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
VIENNA — The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is not expected to attend the annual gathering of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s member nations in Vienna for the first time in years because he is banned from international travel, an official briefed on the matter said. Mohammad Eslami’s exclusion from the IAEA conference is another
The UN nuclear watchdog has referred Iran to the Security Council for “non-compliance” with its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty – the first such move in 20 years. The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution at a meeting in Vienna. It cites a lack of information on Iran’s
Google will buy up to half the electricity produced by one of Finland’s nuclear power plants as part of a record €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) investment in the country’s AI infrastructure, the company announced. The US tech giant said the package would fund three new data centres, expand an existing site and support energy projects to
North Korea has built a new two-storey uranium enrichment facility, the head of the world’s nuclear watchdog said this week, calling it a cause for “serious concern”. The new building is part of the main Yongbyon nuclear complex, and reportedly capable of housing up to 28 centrifuge cascades used to enrich uranium. In a report
