https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Engineers must manage a maelstrom in the core of operating nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactions deposit an extraordinary amount of heat in the fuel rods, setting off a frenzy of boiling, bubbling, and evaporation in surrounding fluid. From this churning flow, operators harness the removal of heat. https://phys.org/news/2019-04-high-fidelity-simulations-optimizing-current-next-generation.html General Physics Tue, 23 Apr 2019 08:21:38 EDT news475226487 A new method for capturing radioactive waste from nuclear power plants is cheaper and more effective than current methods, a potential boon for the energy industry, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2017-10-molecular-radioactive-nuclear-fuel-rods.html Materials Science Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:01:40 EDT news426420091 In the aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was initially driven into shutdown by the magnitude 9.0 quake; its emergency generators then failed because they were inundated by the tsunami. But the greatest damage to the complex, and the greatest release of radiation, may have been caused by explosions of hydrogen gas that built up inside some of the reactors. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-nuclear-fuel-rod-cladding-safer-power.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:50:01 EDT news293970840 Photos and mementoes that were snatched up and blown hundreds of miles during tornados in the south of the United States two years ago are giving researchers new insight on how debris is carried by the storms and how it could threaten the public. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-tornado-debris.html Earth Sciences Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:23:57 EDT news282806630 Imagine the mess if we mined one ton of coal, burned five percent of it for energy, and then threw away the rest. https://phys.org/news/2012-06-nuclear-fuel-recycling-plentiful-energy_1.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:35:03 EDT news259821253 Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, says Professor Alexandra Navrotsky of the University of California, Davis. https://phys.org/news/2012-01-seawater-corrode-nuclear-fuel.html Materials Science Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:05:43 EST news246812720 Atmospheric chemists at the University of California, San Diego, report the first quantitative measurement of the amount of radiation leaked from the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima, Japan, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. https://phys.org/news/2011-08-quantitative-leaked-fukushima-reactor.html Environment Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:00:31 EDT news232637236 (PhysOrg.com) -- When working properly, nuclear reactors produce large amounts of heat via nuclear fission reactions. The heat converts the surrounding water into steam, which turns turbines and generates electricity. But if you remove the water, you also remove the most important cooling element in a nuclear reactor and open up the possibility for nuclear meltdown. https://phys.org/news/2011-03-nuclear-meltdown-video.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:19:52 EDT news219575973 While exposed spent fuel rods at the failing nuclear reactors in Japan pose new threats, the worst-case scenario would still be unlikely to expose the public to catastrophic amounts of radiation, says a University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor who is an expert on this particular kind of reactor. https://phys.org/news/2011-03-japan-worst-case-scenario-catastrophic-expert.html Environment Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:55:30 EDT news219563709