Valar Atomics is focused on creating 'gigasites', which are expansive industrial campuses designed to accommodate hundreds or thousands of small, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. These reactors utilize helium as a coolant and TRISO fuel encased in graphite, enabling them to operate at significantly higher temperatures than traditional light-water reactors.
The launch of xU3O8-based lending on the DeFi aggregator Oku allows investors to access liquidity in USDC without selling their underlying physical uranium positions, enhancing capital efficiency.
Cohen led the group through a technical conversation about licensing nuclear reactor designs, he repeatedly downplayed health and safety concerns. When staff brought up the topic of radiation exposure from nuclear test sites, Cohen broke in.
In recent years, particularly under the current administration as of early 2026, the U.S. government has shifted toward some direct equity investments and partnerships in strategic private companies, often framed as efforts to bolster national security, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains (especially from China), and support key industries like semiconductors and critical minerals. This approach has been likened across Wall Street to an informal "American sovereign wealth fund" and has led the government to acquire significant stakes in certain publicly traded firms.
In terms of making things happen, energy is an indispensable consideration. Systems spontaneously tend towards the lowest-energy state. When a system reaches equilibrium, no further energy can be extracted. That maximum entropy, lowest energy state is the inevitable end-state of the Universe. But until that moment arrives, reactions of all kinds will occur, continuing to liberate energy. In our bodies, chemical bonds break and reform: releasing energy.
Manuel Lozano Leyva, a Spanish physicist, emeritus professor and advisor to Spain's Council of Nuclear Security, turns 77 this year and says he's too old to be afraid of speaking his mind. Which is why he'll bluntly tell you that [Donald] Trump is deranged, advocate for the return of mandatory military service and defend nuclear energy. The grandson of a carriage driver from whom Lozano Leyva inherited
This morning, the S&P 500 is up 17 points. The SPDR S&P 500 ( SPY) is up $2.55. The Dow is up about 100 points, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq tacks on 68 points. Most of these gains are attributed to speculation that job gains could prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. That was after the December jobs report showed slight weakening, but a stable jobs market that could push the Fed to cut again.
You may be surprised to learn electricity only accounts for 21 percent of the world's energy consumption. Fossil fuels and the rest all play their part to make the world go around, but their role is likely to diminish no matter what happens. The International Energy Agency believes electricity's share of global energy consumption is going to in the next decade alone.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Bardella told the BBC's Nick Robinson he believed the "extremely resilient" Reform UK leader would become the UK's next prime minister. The 30-year-old French MEP is leading in opinion polls to win the first round of the next presidential election due in 2027. A Reform source said the two politicians discussed small boat crossings and energy policy, particularly nuclear energy. Farage has in the past kept his distance from NR, the successor party to the National Front (FN), formerly led by Marine Le Pen.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
He came to power in 2019, promising to tackle state corruption. But he's found himself this week, uncomfortably close to a $100m corruption scandal. A group of officials, government ministers and businessmen are accused of arranging kickbacks using the state nuclear energy firm. One of them is the co-owner of the television production company founded by Zelenskyy.
It's the latest move by Google and other tech companies to revitalize nuclear energy in the US, which has struggled to compete with falling costs for gas, solar, and wind power over the years. As power grids scramble to keep up with growing electricity demand from AI, nuclear energy has become a more attractive option for generating carbon-free energy around-the-clock for data centers.
