Enrique Abeyta:

U.S. Particle Accelerators Turn Nuclear Waste Into Electricity, Cut Radioactive Life by 99.7%

Researchers at the DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are advancing two high-stakes projects aimed at optimizing Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS). 

The initiative focuses on a dual-purpose breakthrough: generating additional carbon-free electricity from spent nuclear fuel while drastically reducing its radioactive lifespan.

The researchers' ADS system uses a particle accelerator to fire high-energy protons at a target (such as liquid mercury), triggering a process called “spallation.” This releases a flood of neutrons that interact with unwanted, long-lived isotopes in nuclear waste.

The technology can effectively “burn” the most hazardous components of the waste by transmuting these elements. While unprocessed fuel remains dangerous for approximately 100,000 years, partitioning and recycling via ADS can reduce that window to just 300 years.

The process also generates significant heat, which can be harnessed to produce additional electricity for the grid.

These projects offer a potential solution to the long-standing debate over permanent geological repositories, shifting the paradigm from long-term burial to active, productive reuse.

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Greg Guenthner:

Bitcoin Falls Below $65,000 in Latest Bout of Tariff Uncertainty

Bitcoin briefly slid below $65,000 on Monday for the second time this month, roiled by uncertainty over the status of U.S. tariffs.

The original digital asset fell as much as 4.8% to nearly $64,300, its lowest since Feb. 6. Other tokens fared worse, with Ether, the second-largest token, retreating as much as 5.2%. Bitcoin later pared some of those losses, trading above $66,300 by early morning in New York. Ether was trading at around $1,915.

The losses come after U.S. officials on Sunday said trade deals already negotiated with partners remain in place, despite a Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s use of emergency authority to impose tariffs.

In a social-media post on Saturday, Trump said he would increase the global 10% tariff he announced one day earlier to 15%, stirring up more economic turbulence. The dollar and U.S. stock futures dropped in early trading on Monday, with contracts for the S&P 500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq 100 down 1%. A gauge of Asian equities climbed 1%.

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Ray Blanco:

NASA Says It Needs To Haul the Artemis II Rocket Back to the Hangar for Repairs

A day after NASA officials expressed optimism that they could be ready to launch the Artemis II mission around the Moon next month, the space agency’s administrator announced Saturday that a new problem will require the removal of the rocket from its launch pad in Florida.

The latest issue appeared Friday evening, when data showed an interruption in helium flow into the upper stage of the Space Launch System rocket, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote in a post on X. Isaacman posted a more thorough update Saturday, writing that engineers are still examining the potential cause of the problem, but any fixes must take place inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

That means NASA and contractor ground teams will immediately begin preparing to roll the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) SLS rocket off of Launch Complex 39B and back to the VAB. The rocket and its mobile launch platform will ride NASA’s crawler-transporter for the four-mile journey.

NASA officials were eyeing a launch attempt for Artemis II as soon as March 6, the first of five launch opportunities available in March. The next series of launch dates begins April 1.

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