Construction of new, modern reactors seemed to herald a new era of nuclear power expansion in the U.S. Now all but one of those projects have been canceled.
The nuclear industry is struggling with aging plants and competition from cheaper natural gas. Now, touting itself as another form of "clean" energy, it's lobbying state lawmakers for help.
A company has submitted a design for what it describes as a "modular" nuclear power plant — a radical departure from other nuclear plants. Each module would be small enough to fit on a flat-bed truck.
The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska shuts down Monday, 17 years ahead of schedule. It is just the latest U.S. nuclear plant to close because it can't compete with other cheaper energy.
Japanese regulators say an underground refrigeration system at the nuclear power plant can be activated. The facility was damaged five years ago, and the ice wall is a year behind schedule.
Researchers have been using muons to take a peek inside the nuclear reactors in Japan that melted down in 2011. The results could aid the continuing cleanup operations.