Last year, the Trump administration faced a dilemma: where could the Department of Energy stow a metric ton of surplus, weapons grade plutonium? Efforts to recycle thousands of pounds in unwanted radioactive material had been crippled by cost overruns. Now the government faced a court ordered deadline to remove the plutonium from South Carolina, where it had been stockpiled. For the plutonium’s new home, the administration turned to Nevada. Over the state’s objections, authorities planned to ship some of the radioactive material to a site adjacent to Yucca Mountain, where the federal government has long sought to store dangerous nuclear waste.
CBS News 2nd May 2019 read more »
Dave Elliott: After falling slightly for a time, overall greenhouse gas emissions in the US have started to rise again and there have been job losses, as Trump’s policies have hit solar. With that as a backdrop, much attention has been focused on the Green New Deal proposed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats, which called for a shift to 100% renewables. Quite a big ask.
Physics World 1st May 2019 read more »