The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has entered into a partnership this week with the nuclear fusion startup Inertia Enterprises to explore and develop new fusion technology.
According to LLNL’s Tuesday press release, the partnership consists of a cooperative research and development agreement focused on laser development and two strategic partnership projects. The first will look to improve on fusion target design, while the second one explores target-fabrication technologies, LLNL said.
Inertia Enterprises, based in Livermore, Calif., was founded in 2024. The company said it aims to commercialize fusion energy based on the work completed at LLNL. In 2022, LLNL became the first lab to achieve fusion ignition.
Japan has approved a study to survey the feasibility of one of its Ogasawara Islands to serve as a permanent repository for high-level radioactive waste, according to a Monday Japan Times article.
The selected island of Minamitorishima, which houses several government facilities, is Japan’s easternmost island and is 1,250 miles from Tokyo. The island also has no permanent residents and is closed off to the public. Ogasawara Mayor Masaki Shibuya approved the Japanese government’s literature study for Minamitorishima in a Monday meeting.
According to the article, the survey will include a review of available scientific data about the island’s geology, but will not conduct a field survey. A field survey will be conducted during the next phase of the process.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), whose district abuts Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said this week he plans to resign from Congress and withdraw from the California governor’s race following a series of sexual misconduct allegations.
At this point at least four women, including a former staffer, accused Swalwell, with one saying he drugged her before assaulting her, according to BBC.
Swalwell’s lawyer says Swalwell denies “each and every” allegation, calling them “false, fabricated, and deeply offensive,” according to the statement on Swalwell’s Facebook page.
Cruise lines are considering nuclear power in an effort to reach net-zero carbon emissions, according to an article in the April edition of Lloyd’s Register.
According to the article, cruise lines are looking at methanol, natural gas, hydrogen and now advanced nuclear for baseload energy to power its many operations on a cruise ship. Lloyd’s Register, an United Kingdom-based technical and professional services company in the maritime sector, said that nuclear power offers high energy density and can generate continuous years without refueling.
“With nuclear, a ship effectively becomes its own self-contained microgrid,” Jez Sims, Lloyd’s Register director of nuclear technologies, said in the article. “You can remain alongside with zero emissions, keep hotel services running without interruption, and access ports or regions that are currently constrained by local power availability or environmental limits.”