Global Energy News Roundup: June 28
July 1, 2019The Forum on Energy weekly news roundup brings together a mix of global energy stories from around the web. It is published every week. Please visit our page on Twitter via @forumonenergy
US Department of Energy Announces Additional Funding for National Laboratories and Universities to Advance Nuclear Technology
The US Department of Energy announced this week that it will provide $49.3 million in awards for 58 advanced nuclear technology projects in 25 states. These projects include nuclear energy research, facility access, crosscutting technology development, and infrastructure. Ed McGinnis, DOE’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy stated that “DOE is looking to the future, and that’s why we are investing in advanced nuclear technologies. Nuclear energy is a critical part of our all-of-the-above energy strategy, and early-stage research can help ensure it will continue to be a clean, reliable, and resilient source of electricity for a long time to come.”
The money is awarded through the following DOE programs:
Nuclear Energy University Program
- DOE is awarding more than $28.5 million through its Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) to support 40 university-led nuclear energy research and development projects in 23 states.
- Seven university-led projects will receive more than $1.6 million for research reactor and infrastructure improvements providing important safety, performance and student education-related upgrades to a portion of the nation’s 25 university research reactors as well as enhancing university research and training infrastructure.
Crosscutting Research Projects
- Five research and development projects led by DOE national laboratories and U.S. universities will receive $4.5 million in funding.
Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF)
- DOE has selected two university-, one national laboratory- and three industry-led projectsthat will take advantage of NSUF capabilities to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. DOE will support three of these projects with a total of $1.5 million in research funds. All six of these projects will be supported by more than $10 million in facility access costs and expertise for experimental neutron and ion irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination facilities, synchrotron beamline capabilities, and technical assistance for design and analysis of experiments through NSUF. In addition, two of the abovementioned NEUP R&D projects will be supported with $3 million in NSUF access funds.
Source: US Department of Energy
G20 Meeting Begins in Osaka
The G20 two-day summit has begun in Osaka, Japan and it has brought together 37 presidents, prime ministers, and heads of international organizations. The central concern for many of the participants seems to be the damage that could be caused to the world economy if a trade war escalates between the United States and China. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is the G20 host and is in charge of forging a final agreement among the the participating countries. One of Abe’s main goals of reforming the World Trade Organization seemed to be making progress when a number of the G20 members committed to the idea of revising and updating WTO rules to include e-commerce. On Friday, participants discussed innovation, the digital economy and artificial intelligence as well. Abe told country leaders that “development of the digital economy leads to innovation in a variety of social sectors, and freedom of data is essential, as is securing the trust of consumers and companies on over privacy and security issues…To promote the creation of international rules for the maximum use of data is what I propose under the ‘Osaka Track.'” It remains unclear how to Osaka Track will proceed.
Source: The Japanese Times
Russia’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plan Begins Work
The world’s first floating nuclear power plant has begun work in Russia. The Akademik Lomonosov is run by the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation (Rosatom) and is the first of its kind reactor to begin working. It is able to generate 35 MW of power and has the ability to provide enough electricity to provide a town of up to 100,000 people with power.
Source: Interesting Engineering
