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Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors.
Nuclear power plants are base load stations, which work best when the power output is constant (although boiling water reactors can come down to half power at night). Their units range in power from about 40 MWe to over 1200 MWe. New units under construction in 2005 are typically in the range 600-1200 MWe. As of 2006 there are 442 licensed nuclear power reactors in operation in the world, operating in 31 different countries. Together they produce about 17% of the world's electric power.
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Matter & Energy News
July 11, 2026
July 11, 2026 Researchers discovered that electricity can dramatically reshape how heat flows through certain ceramic materials, increasing heat conduction by almost threefold in a preferred direction. The unexpected result could lead to much more efficient ...
July 11, 2026 Researchers have achieved a major milestone by creating a long-sought two-dimensional quantum material and confirming its unusual conducting edge states. The ability to control these states through ...
July 10, 2026 Researchers solved the mystery of how soft lithium dendrites crack the hard ceramic inside solid-state batteries, triggering short circuits. The breakthrough could help engineers build safer, longer-lasting batteries for smartphones, electric ...
July 8, 2026 Water’s odd behavior becomes even more dramatic when it is supercooled, but scientists have struggled to compare the many different ways of describing its microscopic structure. Researchers at the University of Osaka used an AI model trained on ...
July 7, 2026 A newly developed material can control and "program" heat, allowing it to direct thermal radiation, switch modes, and remember its settings without continuous power. The innovation could lead to smarter infrared sensors, better energy technologies, ...
July 7, 2026 Scientists have taken an important step toward building quantum detectors that could reveal some of the universe’s biggest secrets. Using a prototype device with two clouds of ultracold atoms, ...
July 7, 2026 Scientists have combined machine learning with quantum physics to discover two new superconductors and create a much faster way to search for many more. The technique could bring researchers significantly closer to the long-sought goal of a ...
July 5, 2026 Quantum mechanics has journeyed from a strange and controversial idea to the foundation of some of humanity’s most advanced technologies. Now researchers are pushing its boundaries even further, with potential breakthroughs in energy, medicine, ...
July 3, 2026 Scientists have uncovered new evidence that fireworks can pollute both the air and water in ways that extend beyond the visible smoke. The findings show that leftover debris, fine particles, and airborne chemicals may affect ecosystems and increase ...
July 3, 2026 Researchers have created quantum control techniques that can make a system appear to run backward in time. By precisely managing quantum measurements, they can reshape the system's arrow of time and even harvest energy from the measurement process ...
July 2, 2026 A major breakthrough in quantum technology has turned magnons, tiny magnetic waves once considered too short-lived for practical use, into promising carriers of quantum information. Researchers extended their lifetime by nearly 100 times, reaching ...
July 1, 2026 A new quantum device can generate precisely controlled bursts of sound-like particles, or phonons, by forcing electrons through an ultra-thin crystal at extremely low temperatures. The surprising behavior pushes beyond the limits predicted by ...
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July 9, 2026 Scientists have rewritten the story of gallium after discovering that its unusual atomic bonds re-form at high temperatures, contradicting decades of accepted theory. The finding changes how ...
July 8, 2026 A new quantum theory bridges two rival models of how impurities behave inside many-particle systems, resolving a problem that has challenged physicists for decades. The findings could reshape ...
July 7, 2026 A centimeter-sized crystal has revealed clear signs of quantum entanglement, showing that large, everyday objects can display surprisingly deep ...
July 7, 2026 What if one of the biggest assumptions in cosmology is wrong? New research suggests the universe may not be perfectly uniform in every direction, as scientists have long believed. A puzzling mismatch ...
July 6, 2026 Engineers at a deep underground research facility noticed something strange during major rainstorms: airflow underground sometimes reversed direction. Using new sensors and mathematical modeling, ...
July 4, 2026 Researchers have proposed that black holes stop evaporating at the last moment, leaving behind tiny remnants that preserve all the information they contain. The same seven-dimensional geometry behind ...
July 4, 2026 Physicists have developed a new optical centrifuge that can precisely spin molecules inside a superfluid for the first time. The advance could help unravel some of the biggest mysteries of quantum ...
July 2, 2026 An unusual gravitational wave signal has renewed hopes that primordial black holes, long considered purely theoretical, may finally be within reach of discovery. If confirmed, they could solve one of ...
July 1, 2026 A decades-old puzzle about water has finally been unraveled. Researchers found that water trapped in tiny nanoscale spaces is not inherently more reactive. Instead, the intense pressures created ...
July 1, 2026 A surprisingly simple fuel modification could help tackle one of diesel engines’ biggest problems: pollution. Researchers reviewing studies from around the world found that mixing small amounts of ...