The Energy Department says a small nuclear reactor under development at a national lab has reached a crucial milestone that could allow it to produce electricity within a few years. The microreactor being developed by Antares Nuclear Inc. at the Idaho National Lab reached “criticality” on Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. The milestone occurs when...
Author: AP News
US set to hold latest oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday, with the latest lease sale set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Opponents of drilling in the refuge’s coastal plain have pointed to a lack of industry interest in the prior two sales held there and ongoing changes in Alaska’s arctic region due to...
Trump makes changes to steel, aluminum and copper tariffs
President Donald Trump on Monday adjusted tariffs on some steel, aluminum and copper imports, lowering some tariffs on farming equipment and extending the lower rate to other equipment. In an executive order, Trump lowered tariffs on agricultural equipment, including combines and harvesters, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, to 15% from 25%. Read...
California’s new plastic recycling rules spark fights from all sides
California just gave plastic producers until 2032 to make all their packaging recyclable or compostable — the most ambitious deadline in the country. Advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Producers say it goes too far. At least one of them is threatening to sue. The sweeping regulations, finalized at the start of the month,...
Trump administration to pay 2 more companies to walk away from US offshore wind leases
The Trump administration announced two more payouts Monday for energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects under development. Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects...
Trump administration invests in another US rare earth miner to loosen China’s grip on supply
AP News reporter Michelle Chapman writes about how the U.S. government is stepping directly into the rare earths market. Read more in AP News here.
Trump is reviving large sales of coal from public lands. Will anyone want it?
U.S. officials in the coming days are set to hold the government’s biggest coal sales in more than a decade, offering 600 million tons from publicly owned reserves next to strip mines in Montana and Wyoming. The sales are a signature piece of President Donald Trump’s ambitions for companies to dig more coal from federal lands and burn it for...
South Africa starts injecting rhino horns with radioactive material to curb poaching
A South African university launched an anti-poaching campaign on Thursday to inject the horns of rhinos with radioactive isotopes that it said were harmless for the animals but which can be detected by customs agents. (AP Video: Alfonso Nqunjana)
A look inside a lab making the advanced fuel to power growing US nuclear energy ambitions
Near signs that warn of radioactive risk at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a half-dozen workers from the nuclear power company X-energy are making what appear to be gray billiard balls. Inside, they’re packed with thousands of tiny black spheres that each contain a speck of uranium enriched beyond what today’s power plants use. The United...
Congo and Rwanda sign a US-mediated peace deal aimed at ending decades of bloody conflict
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decadeslong deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. “Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new...








