Keith Ridler

Associated Press

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U.S. Officials Eye Fuel Supply for Advanced Nuclear Reactors

About 20% of the nation's energy comes from nuclear power produced at just under 100 nuclear power plants.

The earth's shadow covers the full moon during a partial lunar eclipse, early Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. NASA and the nation's top federal nuclear research lab on Friday, Nov. 19, put out a request for proposals for a fission surface power system.

NASA Seeks Ideas for a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon

If successful, the next objective would be Mars.

In this Sept. 23, 2021, file photo, flames consume a house near Old Oregon Trail as the Fawn Fire burns north of Redding in Shasta County, Calif. U.S. officials have approved a long-lasting fire retardant that could significantly aid in fighting increasingly destructive wildfires.

Fire Retardant Could be 'Game-Changer' in Fighting Wildfires

It’s similar to the company’s red-dyed retardant dropped from aircraft.

Avionics mechanic Mike Luong inspects the control panel of Sikorsky Firehawk helicopter at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Sacramento Aviation Management Unit based at McClellan Airpark in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, July 23, 2021.

New Technology Propels Efforts to Fight Western Wildfires

There have been 730 more wildfires in California so far this year than last.

This photo provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry shows a firefighting tanker making a retardant drop over the Grandview Fire near Sisters, Ore., Sunday, July 11, 2021. The wildfire doubled in size to 6.2 square miles (16 square kilometers) Monday, forcing evacuations in the area, while the state's biggest fire continued to burn out of control, with containment not expected until November.

Fuel Shortage Could Ground Firefighting Aircraft

The worry is that multiple bases go dry simultaneously.

This Nov. 14, 2017, file photo, provided by the Idaho National Laboratory, shows the Idaho National Laboratory Transient Reactor Test Facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Military Wants to Build Mobile Microreactor

It wants to reduce reliance on local electric grids.

This Nov. 29, 2018, file photo shows the Transient Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls, in eastern Idaho. The director of the Idaho National Laboratory says the U.S. Department of Energy and Idaho will need another supplemental agreement involving spent nuclear fuel so the lab can continue its mission past 2035. Mark Peters on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, told lawmakers on the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee that the 1995 agreement between the Energy Department and Idaho could stop nuclear research.

Nuclear Lab Needs 2035 Deadline Extended

The lab's nuclear research work is part of a strategy to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by generating carbon-free electricity with nuclear power.

In this May 11, 2015 file photo, nuclear waste is stored in underground containers at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Idaho, Energy Department Ink Deal

The future is clearer for a test reactor that develops fuel for the nation's fleet of nuclear-powered warships.

This May 11, 2015 file photo shows nuclear waste stored in underground containers at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Federal authorities want to store the partially melted core from one of the United States' worst nuclear power accidents for another 20 years in Idaho. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday, Sept. 16, 2019 it's considering a request from the U.S. Department of Energy to renew a license to store the radioactive debris from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The core of a reactor south of Harrisburg, Pa., partially melted in 1979.

Nuclear Debris Stay in ID

The core from Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania partially melted in 1979, an event that changed the way Americans view nuclear technology.

Illuminated Nuclear Power Plant At Night 146807010 2971x1975

First Smaller Nuclear Reactors

The small modular reactors will usher 'in a new generation of smaller, safer, more flexible, less expensive, carbon-free nuclear energy.'

Progress Made at Nuclear Waste Plant

They are removing high-level liquid radioactive waste stored in tanks above a massive aquifer.

In this Nov. 29, 2018 photo, J.R. Biggs stands in front of the Transient Test Reactor he manages about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The test reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory has been restarted to test nuclear fuels as the U.S. tries to revamp a fading nuclear power industry with safer fuel designs and a new generation of power plants.

Test Reactor is Pivotal to US Nuclear Strategy

Officials face two main challenges: making plants economically competitive and changing public perception among some that nuclear power is unsafe.