DefenceTalkThe US Department of Energy said Sunday it would announce a “major scientific breakthrough” this week, after media reported a federal laboratory had recently achieved a major milestone in nuclear fusion research. The Financial Times reported Sunday that scientists in the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) had achieved a “net energy gain” from an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-teases-major-science-news-amid-fusion-energy-reports-79667/

DefenceTalkGermany said Monday it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year in a policy U-turn, as the shut-off of Russian gas supplies sends Europe scrambling for energy sources. Following a new network stress test, two of the three remaining power plants would “remain available until mid-April 2023 in case […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-puts-two-nuclear-plants-on-standby-in-energy-u-turn-79341/

DefenceTalkJapan’s prime minister on Wednesday called for a push to revive the country’s nuclear power industry in a bid to tackle soaring imported energy costs linked to the war in Ukraine. Such a move could prove controversial, after the 2011 Fukushima disaster led to the suspension of many nuclear reactors over safety fears. Like many […]https://www.defencetalk.com/japan-eyes-nuclear-power-push-to-combat-energy-crunch-79242/

DefenceTalkChina has gained a major foothold in oil-rich Iraq, shaking up Western domination in fields from energy to construction, even as some warn that infrastructure projects could leave Baghdad in debt. After decades of conflict, Iraq is “badly in need of foreign investment, and specifically investment in energy sector infrastructure”, said John Calabrese of the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-cements-influence-in-iraq-through-oil-infrastructure-deals-79228/

DefenceTalkFour Russian agents have been indicted in the United States for hacking attacks targeting the energy sector around the world, including a US nuclear power operator and a Saudi petrochemical facility. The Russian hackers targeted thousands of computers at hundreds of companies in 135 countries between 2012 and 2018, the Justice Department said Thursday. “Russian […]https://www.defencetalk.com/four-russians-indicted-in-us-for-energy-sector-hacks-78500/

DefenceTalkOver 2,000 Russia-led troops began withdrawing from Kazakhstan on Thursday after being deployed when peaceful protests over an energy price hike in the Central Asian country turned into unprecedented violence claiming dozens of lives. The decision to despatch peacekeepers was a first for the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), often touted by Russia as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-led-troops-begin-pullback-from-kazakhstan-77674/

Think of it as a celestial parlor game: What is the minimum number of satellites needed to see every point on Earth? And how might those satellites stay in orbit and maintain continuous 24/7 coverage while contending with Earth’s gravity field, its lumpy mass, the pull of the sun and moon, and pressure from solar […]

DefenceTalkResearchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the University of Maryland have developed for the first time a lithium-ion battery that uses a water-salt solution as its electrolyte and reaches the 4.0 volt mark desired for household electronics, such as laptop computers, without the fire and explosive risks associated with some commercially available non-aqueous […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-umd-researchers-develop-water-based-lithium-ion-batteries-70435/

DefenceTalkDirected energy weapons have been on the Air Force’s horizon for decades. Defined as a device such as a high energy laser or a high power microwave developmental system, the Air Force has a 40-year history of demonstrating the lethality of directed energy. In the ’70s, an Air Force Research Laboratory team went from testing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/usaf-experts-say-lasers-can-increase-survivability-69339/

DefenceTalkToday’s warfighters may one day find themselves knee-deep in power. The bionic power knee harvester, also known as the PowerWalk, is an energy-harvesting device that is attached to both the upper and lower areas of both legs and generates power from movement. The device is still in development. Field trials will begin in 2017. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/self-generated-power-could-reduce-soldiers-load-68504/