Clean energy advocates rejoiced as legislation was passed today in New Jersey that will support the development of a massive amount of renewable energy, specifically community solar, energy storage, offshore wind and energy efficiency. The bill also props up nuclear power in the state with the establishment of zero-emission certificates.

The power industry is facing a nuclear power dilemma, according to a report published by The Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS assessed the economic viability and performance of nuclear power plants operating in the United States and concluded that the retirement of these plants will likely result in the adoption of coal and natural gas for baseload power generation, two energy sources that contribute to carbon dioxide emissions.

The U.K. company planning the world’s first tidal-lagoon power station said its next plant may generate electricity at almost half the price.

Japan anticipates that by 2030 clean energy such as solar and hydro will generate slightly more of the nation’s electricity than nuclear power plants.

Does nuclear energy deserve a seat at the table alongside renewable energy technologies in weaning us off of fossil fuels and transitioning into a cleaner energy world? A new report published yesterday suggests not only will newer small modular reactor (SMR) technology be at least as expensive as larger reactors, it won't fit the needs of a more flexible grid system, and its development will siphon away funding from the truly renewable energy options that need it.

Nuclear power, which accounts for 19 percent of the nation's electricity generation, is facing some serious challenges. Not only did its hoped-for renaissance fizzle out, four reactors shut down last year, another is closing this fall, and the nuclear giant Exelon says it will announce plant closings by the end of this year if market conditions don't improve.

It's the environmentalist's third rail question: "Should we promote nuclear power as an expedient way to reduce CO2 emissions?" On the one hand, nuclear power generates electricity with almost negligible CO2 emissions — potentially a good way for our society to reverse the current global warming trends. On the other hand, nuclear power is...well...nuclear. Problems related to waste disposal, proliferation and high costs have not been solved, and we still have the occasional disaster.

Japan anticipates that by 2030 clean energy such as solar and hydro will generate slightly more of the nation’s electricity than nuclear power plants.

By Lora Saalman HONOLULU (14 April 2020)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important component of weapons systems, with both positive and negative implications for nuclear deterrence. Integration of AI into military platforms has the potential to allow weaker nuclear-armed states to reset the imbalance of power, but at the same time it exacerbates fears that stronger states may further solidify their dominance and engage in more provocative actions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

President Moon Jae-in said on August 17, "The denuclearization bid by the current government is not so radical. It will take more than 60 years for us to reach that goal." In an interview in celebration of the 100th day since taking power, President Moon said, "The design life of nuclear reactors that were launched recently or under construction is 60 years. We plan to close reactors one by one as soon as their design life expires." His remarks are in reponse to criticism that his government'...

Moon Jae-in South Korean President and Vladimir Putin Russian President met on September 6 in Far Eastern Federal University in Russia's Vladivostok to discuss issues including the current North Korea nuclear crisis and economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The two leaders agreed that the North's nuclear tests are "unacceptable" but differed in how it must be handled including cutting crude oil supplies to North Korea. President Moon said, "When ...

US President Donald Trump called on Thursday for involving China in new arms control talks with Russia, telling Russian leader Vladimir Putin that they need to avoid a “costly arms race,” the White House said.“President Trump reaffirmed that the United States is committed to effective arms control that includes not only Russia, but also China, and looks forward to future discussions to avoid a costly arms race,” a statement said.Trump and Putin spoke by phone, also discussing the coronavirus…

BEIJING: China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 soon, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on Friday, even as US President Donald Trump repeats his call for China to join an...

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BEIJING: China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 soon, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on Friday, even as US President Donald Trump repeats his call for China to join an arms control treaty, foreign media reported.The Global Times is published by the People’s...

BEIJING: China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 soon, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on Friday, even as US President Donald Trump repeats his call for China to join an arms control treaty, foreign media reported.The Global Times is published by the People’s...

The US assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has raised fears of nuclear conflict, but Iran has been on the road to building nuclear weapons for some time

If big rocks fall far enough they can explode with more energy than any non-nuclear bomb – and the ensuing shockwave can snap large trees half a kilometre away

A small increase in water temperature near a Japanese nuclear power plant allowed tropical fish to colonise the area, suggesting global warming will drastically alter some marine ecosystems

ABSTRACT

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) have developed mechanisms to manipulate cellular antiviral measures to ensure proper DNA replication, with detailed processes far from being understood. Host cells repress incoming viral genomes through a network of transcriptional regulators that normally control cellular homeostasis. The nuclear domains involved are promyelocytic leukemia protein nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), interferon-inducible, dot-like nuclear structures and hot spots of SUMO posttranslational modification (PTM). In HAdV-infected cells, such SUMO factories are found in close proximity to newly established viral replication centers (RCs) marked by the adenoviral DNA binding protein (DBP) E2A. Here, we show that E2A is a novel target of host SUMOylation, leading to PTMs supporting E2A function in promoting productive infection. Our data show that SUMOylated E2A interacts with PML. Decreasing SUMO-E2A protein levels by generating HAdV variants mutated in the three main SUMO conjugation motifs (SCMs) led to lower numbers of viral RCs and PML-NBs, and these two structures were no longer next to each other. Our data further indicate that SUMOylated E2A binds the host transcription factor Sp100A, promoting HAdV gene expression, and represents the molecular bridge between PML tracks and adjacent viral RCs. Consequently, E2A SCM mutations repressed late viral gene expression and progeny production. These data highlight a novel mechanism used by the virus to benefit from host antiviral responses by exploiting the cellular SUMO conjugation machinery.

IMPORTANCE PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) are implicated in general antiviral defense based on recruiting host restriction factors; however, it is not understood so far why viruses would establish viral replication centers (RCs) juxtaposed to such "antiviral" compartments. To understand this enigma, we investigate the cross talk between PML-NB components and viral RCs to find the missing link connecting both compartments to promote efficient viral replication and gene expression. Taken together, the current concept is more intricate than originally believed, since viruses apparently take advantage of several specific PML-NB-associated proteins to promote productive infection. Simultaneously, they efficiently inhibit antiviral measures to maintain the viral infectious program. Our data provide evidence that SUMOylation of the viral RC marker protein E2A represents the basis of this virus-host interface and regulates various downstream events to support HAdV productive infection. These results are the basis of our current attempts to generate and screen for specific E2A SUMOylation inhibitors to constitute novel therapeutic approaches to limit and prevent HAdV-mediated diseases and mortality of immunosuppressed patients.

Consider consumption of annonacin-containing plant products, including pawpaw, as a possible environmental risk factor for atypical parkinsonism.

Upon infection, the highly structured 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of picornavirus is involved in viral protein translation and RNA synthesis. As a critical element in the 5' UTR, the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) binds to various cellular proteins to function in the processes of picornavirus replication. Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an important member in the family Picornaviridae, and its 5' UTR contains a functional IRES element. In this study, the cellular heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (hnRNP L) was identified as an IRES-binding protein for FMDV by biotinylated RNA pulldown assays, mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, and determination of hnRNP L-IRES interaction regions. Further, we found that hnRNP L inhibited the growth of FMDV through binding to the viral IRES and that the inhibitory effect of hnRNP L on FMDV growth was not due to FMDV IRES-mediated translation, but to influence on viral RNA synthesis. Finally, hnRNP L was demonstrated to coimmunoprecipitate with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (3D^pol) in an FMDV RNA-dependent manner in the infected cells. Thus, our results suggest that hnRNP L, as a critical IRES-binding protein, negatively regulates FMDV replication by inhibiting viral RNA synthesis, possibly by remaining in the replication complex.

IMPORTANCE Picornaviruses, as a large family of human and animal pathogens, cause a bewildering array of disease syndromes. Many host factors are implicated in the pathogenesis of these viruses, and some proteins interact with the viral IRES elements to affect function. Here, we report for the first time that cellular hnRNP L specifically interacts with the IRES of the picornavirus FMDV and negatively regulates FMDV replication through inhibiting viral RNA synthesis. Further, our results showed that hnRNP L coimmunoprecipitates with FMDV 3D^pol in a viral RNA-dependent manner, suggesting that it may remain in the replication complex to function. The data presented here would facilitate further understanding of virus-host interactions and the pathogenesis of picornavirus infections.

The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) is a hallmark of a number of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, and testing is usually performed as part of the initial diagnostic workup when suspicion of an underlying autoimmune disorder is high. The indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) technique is the preferred method for detecting ANAs, as it demonstrates binding to specific intracellular structures within the cells, resulting in a number of staining patterns that are usually categorized based on the cellular components recognized and the degree of binding, as reflected by the fluorescence intensity or titer. As a screening tool, the ANA patterns can guide confirmatory testing useful in elucidating a specific clinical diagnosis or prognosis. However, routine use of ANA IFA testing as a global screening test is hampered by its labor-intensiveness, subjectivity, and limited diagnostic specificity, among other factors. This review focuses on current efforts to standardize the nomenclature of ANA patterns and on alternative methods for ANA determination, as well as on recent advances in image-based computer algorithms to automate IFA testing in clinical laboratories.

In vitro approaches for predicting drug-drug interactions (DDIs) caused by alterations in transporter protein regulation are not well established. However, reports of transporter regulation via nuclear receptor (NR) modulation by drugs are increasing. This study examined alterations in transporter protein levels in sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes (SCHH; n = 3 donors) measured by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry–based proteomic analysis after treatment with N-[4-(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)phenyl]-N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)benzenesulfonamide (T0901317), the first described synthetic liver X receptor agonist. T0901317 treatment (10 μM, 48 hours) decreased the levels of organic cation transporter (OCT) 1 (0.22-, 0.43-, and 0.71-fold of control) and organic anion transporter (OAT) 2 (0.38-, 0.38-, and 0.53-fold of control) and increased multidrug resistance protein (MDR) 1 (1.37-, 1.48-, and 1.59-fold of control). The induction of NR downstream gene expression supports the hypothesis that T0901317 off-target effects on farnesoid X receptor and pregnane X receptor activation are responsible for the unexpected changes in OCT1, OAT2, and MDR1. Uptake of the OCT1 substrate metformin in SCHH was decreased by T0901317 treatment. Effects of decreased OCT1 levels on metformin were simulated using a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. Simulations showed a clear decrease in metformin hepatic exposure resulting in a decreased pharmacodynamic effect. This DDI would not be predicted by the modest changes in simulated metformin plasma concentrations. Altogether, the current study demonstrated that an approach combining SCHH, proteomic analysis, and PBPK modeling is useful for revealing tissue concentration–based DDIs caused by unexpected regulation of hepatic transporters by NR modulators.

Infection with the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may remain asymptomatic, leading to under-recognition of the related disease, coronavirus disease, 2019 (COVID-19), and to incidental findings in nuclear imaging procedures performed for standard clinical indications. Here, we report about our local experience in a region with high COVID-19 prevalence and dynamically increasing infection rates. Methods: Within the 8-d period of March 16–24, 2020, hybrid imaging studies of asymptomatic patients who underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT or ¹³¹I SPECT/CT for standard oncologic indications at our institution in Brescia, Italy, were analyzed for findings suggestive of COVID-19. The presence, radiologic features, and metabolic activity of interstitial pneumonia were identified, correlated with the subsequent short-term clinical course, and described in a case series. Results: Six of 65 patients (9%) who underwent PET/CT for various malignancies showed unexpected signs of interstitial pneumonia on CT and elevated regional ¹⁸F-FDG avidity. Additionally, 1 of 12 patients who received radioiodine for differentiated thyroid carcinoma also showed interstitial pneumonia on SPECT/CT. Five of 7 patients had subsequent proof of COVID-19 by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The remaining 2 patients were not tested immediately but underwent quarantine and careful monitoring. Conclusion: Incidental findings suggestive of COVID-19 may not be infrequent in hybrid imaging of asymptomatic patients in regions with an expansive spread of SARS-CoV-2. Nuclear medicine services should prepare accordingly.

Mutations in protein-coding genes are well established as the basis for human cancer, yet how alterations within noncoding genome, a substantial fraction of which contain cis-regulatory elements (CRE), contribute to cancer pathophysiology remains elusive. Here, we developed an integrative approach to systematically identify and characterize noncoding regulatory variants with functional consequences in human hematopoietic malignancies. Combining targeted resequencing of hematopoietic lineage–associated CREs and mutation discovery, we uncovered 1,836 recurrently mutated CREs containing leukemia-associated noncoding variants. By enhanced CRISPR/dCas9–based CRE perturbation screening and functional analyses, we identified 218 variant-associated oncogenic or tumor-suppressive CREs in human leukemia. Noncoding variants at KRAS and PER2 enhancers reside in proximity to nuclear receptor (NR) binding regions and modulate transcriptional activities in response to NR signaling in leukemia cells. NR binding sites frequently colocalize with noncoding variants across cancer types. Hence, recurrent noncoding variants connect enhancer dysregulation with nuclear receptor signaling in hematopoietic malignancies.

For years, clinical and basic researchers have been aware of the presence of PTEN in the nucleus in cell culture, animal models, and both healthy and diseased human tissues. Despite the early recognition of nuclear PTEN, the understanding of the mechanisms of its nuclear localization, function in the nucleus, and importance in biology and human disease has been lacking. Over the last decade, emerging concepts for the complex involvement of nuclear PTEN in a variety of processes, including genome maintenance and DNA repair, cell-cycle control, gene expression, and DNA replication, are illuminating what could prove to be the key path toward a full understanding of PTEN function in health and disease. Dysregulation of nuclear PTEN is now considered an important aspect of the etiology of many pathologic conditions, prompting reconsideration of the therapeutic approaches aimed at countering the consequences of PTEN deficiency. This new knowledge is fueling the development of innovative therapeutic modalities for a broad spectrum of human conditions, from cancer and metabolic diseases, to neurological disorders and autism.

Within months researchers will attempt to create a ball of plasma hotter than the sun inside the Joint European Torus, a doughnut-shaped machine in south-east England

Ironbark is one of 2020’s anticipated movies. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the MI6 handler of a Russian spy who may have helped prevent nuclear war

Businesses, individuals with land, and local governments are competing to host an underground nuclear waste facility in the UK, and receive a yearly £2.5 million incentive

Safety fears derail plan to import reactors.

Workers at ‘most toxic place in America’ are terrified to return to a site where there has been very little protection from the outbreak

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For more than a month, coronavirus has brought cleanup of a 586-square-mile decommissioned nuclear production complex in south-eastern Washington state to a near standstill.

Most of the more than 11,000 employees at the Hanford site were sent home in late March, with only essential workers remaining to make sure the “most toxic place in America” stays safe and secure.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission keen to allow material to be disposed of by ‘land burial’ – with potentially damaging effects

The federal agency providing oversight of the commercial nuclear sector is attempting to push through a rule change critics say could allow dangerous amounts of radioactive material to be disposed of in places like municipal landfills, with potentially serious consequences to human health and the environment.

Related: Coca-Cola and Pepsi falling short on pledges over plastic – report

Forest fires are raging in the contaminated area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but officials insist there is no radiation threat.

Three new wildfires have broken out in the radiation-contaminated evacuation zone around the wrecked Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

I’m no stranger to forced isolation. For the better part of my 20s, I served as a nuclear submarine officer running secret missions for the United States Navy. I deployed across the vast Pacific Ocean with a hundred other sailors on the USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class ship engineered in the bygone Cold War era to be one of the fastest, quietest, and deepest-diving submersibles ever constructed. The advanced reactor was loaded with decades of enriched uranium fuel that made steam for propulsion and electrical power so we could disappear under the waves indefinitely without returning to port. My longest stint was for two months, when I traveled under the polar ice cap to the North Pole with a team of scientists studying the Arctic environment and testing high frequency sonar and acoustic communications for under-ice operations. During deployments, critical-life events occur without you: holidays with loved ones, the birth of a child, or in my case, the New York Giants 2011-2012 playoff run to beat Tom Brady’s Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time. On the bright side, being cut off from the outside world was a great first job for an introvert.

It’s been a month since COVID-19 involuntarily drafted me into another period of isolation far away from home. I’m in Turkey, where a two-week trip with my partner to meet her family has been extended indefinitely. There were no reported cases here and only a few in California in early March when we left San Francisco, where I run a business design studio. I had a lot of anticipation about Turkey because I’d never been here. Now I’m sheltering in a coastal town outside of Izmir with my partner, her parents, their seven cats, and a new puppy.

Shuttered in a house on foreign soil where I don’t speak the language, I have found myself snapping back into submarine deployment mode. Each day I dutifully monitor online dashboards of data and report the status of the spread at the breakfast table to no one in particular. I stay in touch with friends and family all over the world who tell me they’re going stir crazy and their homes are getting claustrophobic. But if there is one thing my experience as a submarine officer taught me, it’s that you get comfortable being uncomfortable.

My training began with psychological testing, although it may not be what you think. Evaluating mental readiness for underwater isolation isn’t conducted in a laboratory by clipboard-toting, spectacled scientists. The process to select officers was created by Admiral Hyman Rickover—the engineering visionary and noted madman who put the first nuclear reactor in a submarine—to assess both technical acumen and composure under stress. For three decades as the director of the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program, Rickover tediously interviewed every officer, and the recruiting folklore is a true HR nightmare: locking candidates in closets for hours, asking obtuse questions such as “Do something to make me mad,” and sawing down chair legs to literally keep one off balance.

Rickover retired from the Navy as its longest-serving officer and his successors carried on the tradition of screening each officer candidate, but with a slightly more dignified approach. Rickover’s ghost, though, seemed to preside over my interview process when I applied to be a submariner as a junior at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. I was warned by other midshipmen that I would fail on the spot if I initiated a handshake. So, dressed in my formal navy blue uniform and doing my best to avoid tripping into accidental human contact, I rigidly marched into the Admiral’s office, staring straight ahead while barking my resume. When I took a seat on the unaltered and perfectly level chair in front of his desk, the Admiral asked me bluntly why I took so many philosophy classes and if I thought I could handle the technical rigors of nuclear power school. My response was a rote quip from John Paul Jones’ “Qualifications of a Naval Officer.” “Admiral, an officer should be a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.” My future boss looked at me, shook his head like he thought I’d be a handful, and told me I got the job.

Confinement opened something up in my psyche and I gave myself permission to let go of my anxieties.

Nuclear power training is an academic kick in the face every day for over a year. The curriculum is highly technical and the pedagogy resembles a cyborg assembly-line without even a hint of the Socratic method. Our grades were conspicuously posted on the classroom wall and a line was drawn between those who passed and those who failed. I was below the line enough to earn the distinguished dishonor of 25 additional study hours each week, which meant I was at school at 5 a.m. and every weekend. This is how the Nuclear Navy builds the appropriate level of knowledge and right temperament to deal with shipboard reactor operations.

I finally sat down for a formal psychological evaluation a few months before my first deployment. I was ushered into a room no bigger than a broom closet and instructed to click through a computer-based questionnaire with multiple-choice questions about my emotions. I never did  learn the results, so I assume my responses didn’t raise too many red flags.

During my first year onboard, I spent all my waking hours either supervising reactor operations or learning the intricacies of every inch of the 350-foot tube and the science behind how it all worked. The electrolysis machine that split water molecules to generate oxygen was almost always out of commission, so instead we burned chlorate candles that produced breathable air. Seawater was distilled each day for drinking and shower water. Our satellite communications link had less bandwidth than my dial-up modem in the 1990s and we were permitted to send text-only emails to friends and family at certain times and in certain locations so as not to risk being detected. I took tests every month to demonstrate proficiency in nuclear engineering, navigation, and the battle capabilities of the ship. When I earned my submarine warfare qualification, the Captain pinned the gold dolphins insignia on my uniform and gave me the proverbial keys to the $4 billion warship. At that point, I was responsible for coordinating missions and navigating the ship as the Officer of the Deck.

Modern submarines are hydrodynamically shaped to have the most efficient laminar flow underwater, so that’s where we operated 99 percent of the time. The rare exception to being submerged is when we’d go in and out of port. The most unfortunate times were long transits tossing about in heavy swells, which made for a particularly nauseated cruise. To this day, conjuring the memory of some such sails causes a reflux flashback. A submariner’s true comfort zone is beneath the waves so as soon as we broke ties with the pier we navigated toward water that was deep enough for us to dive.

It’s unnatural to stuff humans, torpedoes, and a nuclear reactor into a steel boat that’s intentionally meant to sink. This engineering marvel ranks among the most complex, and before we’d proceed below and subject the ship and its inhabitants to extreme sea pressures, the officers would visually inspect thousands of valves to verify the proper lineup of systems that would propel us to the surface if we started flooding uncontrollably and sinking—a no-mistakes procedure called rigging for dive. Once we’d slip beneath the waves, the entire crew would walk around to check for leaks before we’d settle into a rotation of standing watch, practicing our casualty drills, engineering training, eating, showering (sometimes), and sleeping (rarely). The full cycle was 18 hours, which meant the timing of our circadian cycles were constantly changing. Regardless of the amount of government-issued Folger’s coffee I’d pour down my throat, I’d pass out upon immediate contact with my rack (the colloquialism for a submarine bunk in which your modicum of privacy was symbolized by a cloth curtain).

As an officer, I lived luxuriously with only two other grown men in a stateroom no bigger than a walk-in closet. Most of the crew slept stacked like lumber in an 18-person bunk room and they all took turns in the rack. This alternative lifestyle is known as hot-racking, because of the sensation you get when you crawl into bedding that’s been recently occupied. The bunk rooms are sanctuaries where silence is observed with monastic intensity. Slamming the door or setting an alarm clock was a cardinal sin so wakeups were conducted by a junior sailor who gently coaxed you awake when it was time to stand watch. Lieutenant Weiner, it’s time to wake up. You’ve got the midnight watch, sir. Words that haunt my dreams.

The electrolysis machine was out of commission, so we burned chlorate candles that produced breathable air.

I maintained some semblance of sanity and physical fitness by sneaking a workout on a rowing erg in the engine room or a stationary bike squeezed between electronics cabinets. The rhythmic beating of footsteps on a treadmill was a noise offender—the sound could be detected on sonar from miles away—so we shut it off unless we were in friendly waters where we weren’t concerned with counter-detection.

Like a heavily watered-down version of a Buddhist monk taking solitary retreat in a cave, my extended submarine confinements opened something up in my psyche and I gave myself permission to let go of my anxieties. Transiting underneath a vast ocean in a vessel with a few inches of steel preventing us from drowning helps put things into perspective. Now that I’m out of the Navy, I have more appreciation for the freedoms of personal choice, a fresh piece of fruit, and 24 hours in a day. My only regrets are not keeping a journal or having the wherewithal to discover the practice of meditation under the sea.

Today, I’m learning Turkish so I can understand more about what’s happening around me. I’m doing Kundalini yoga (a moving meditation that focuses on breathwork) and running on the treadmill (since I’m no longer concerned about my footsteps being detected on sonar). On my submarine, I looked at photos to stay connected to the world I left behind, knowing that I’d return soon enough. Now our friend who is isolating in our apartment in San Francisco sends us pictures of our cat and gives us reports about how the neighborhood has changed.

It’s hard to imagine that we’ll resume our lifestyles exactly as they were. But the submariner in me is optimistic that we have it in us to adapt to whatever conditions are waiting for us when it’s safe to ascend from the depths and return to the surface.

Steve Weiner is the founder of Very Scarce, a business design studio. He used to lead portfolio companies at Expa and drive nuclear submarines in the U.S. Navy. He has an MBA from The Wharton School and a BS from the U.S. Naval Academy. Instagram: @steve Twitter: @weenpeace

Lead image: Mike H. / Shutterstock

The debate over nuclear technology is a controversial one, yet many leaders in the field believe it's time for an open and calm discussion about the energy alternative.

The Justice Department today announced that a scientist and his wife, who both previously worked as contractors at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, have been indicted on charges of communicating classified nuclear weapons data to a person they believed to be a Venezuelan government official and conspiring to participate in the development of an atomic weapon for Venezuela, among other violations.

The Department of Justice today announced that it will not challenge a proposal by seven nuclear power plant operators to share resources and coordinate best practices and other operational activities through a proposed venture to be named the STARS Alliance LLC.

Peter Picone, 40, of Methuen, Mass., has been charged with importing counterfeit semiconductors from China for sale in the United States.

The Justice Department announced today that General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GE Hitachi) has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that it made false statements and claims to the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concerning an advanced nuclear reactor design.

Apr 27, 2020

The authors conducted a study which highlights how the U.S. public as a whole and various demographic groups view President Donald Trump's positions on nuclear weapons.