nuclear energy

Italy's parliament has approved a law paving the way for the country to return to nuclear power, decades after a referendum shut down its nuclear programme following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The move would allow new nuclear technology to be developed to complement renewable energy, reigniting debate over safety, cost and Italy's energy strategy.

The US dollar is trading near its strongest level in two months. A deadlock in US-Iran nuclear talks has pushed up oil prices, adding to inflationary pressure, while traders increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates. Higher rate expectations typically strengthen the dollar, and rising energy costs reinforce those bets, keeping the currency firm against major peers.

Iran has put forward a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping route for global oil supplies, alongside a proposal to resume nuclear talks within the same week. The offer, reported by Al Jazeera, is drawing attention from governments and observers watching tensions in the Gulf. Details of conditions or responses from other parties remain unclear.

President Trump said the United States will "win this war very soon" and that oil prices should fall sharply once the conflict ends. He framed the key objective as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The remarks come amid ongoing fighting and continued attention to energy markets, with analysts watching how quickly oil prices might react to any resolution.

Mike Waltz says the United States offered to sell Iran uranium for its civilian nuclear programme. The disclosure sheds light on negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for energy-related supplies. The offer suggests Washington was willing to accommodate Iran's stated need for civilian nuclear fuel while seeking limits on enrichment. Reactions to the reported proposal are not yet detailed.

Italy has approved a law allowing the country to produce nuclear energy again, nearly four decades after nuclear power was banned in a 1987 referendum. The move marks a major shift in Italian energy policy, reopening the door to nuclear plants as the government seeks low-carbon sources and greater energy independence.

Reference materials and explainers are laying out how a hypothetical 2026 Iran war could unfold, covering the roles of the United States and Israel, the Strait of Hormuz, global oil flows, and maps of the potential conflict zone. The content frames the scenario as a geopolitical and energy-security question, walking through what an escalation involving Iran would mean for markets and the region.

JP Morgan says Europe's push to expand data centre capacity for AI is driving fresh investment in nuclear energy across the EU. The bloc is betting on nuclear power to meet surging electricity demand from data centres while pursuing decarbonisation and energy security goals, with the bank expecting the trend to trigger a wider nuclear energy boom.

Politico reports on a nuclear power startup taking a page from SpaceX: moving fast, iterating on hardware, and pursuing rapid test cycles in an industry long defined by slow regulation and massive upfront costs. The piece highlights how Silicon Valley-style engineering culture is being imported into nuclear energy as demand for clean, always-on power surges.

The US Navy's W93/Mk7 nuclear warhead program has moved into a new development phase. The W93 is intended as a future replacement warhead for the Navy's submarine-launched ballistic missile arsenal. The milestone signals continued progress in the Pentagon and Department of Energy's long-term effort to modernize the US nuclear weapons stockpile, a costly and politically sensitive undertaking.

Politico examines whether the fast-moving, iterative development approach that made SpaceX dominant in rockets could be applied to nuclear power, an industry long slowed by regulation and cost overruns. The piece weighs SpaceX-style rapid prototyping against the safety demands of reactors, as new nuclear startups and government support for advanced reactors draw renewed attention in the United States.

Scientists are highlighting a proposal to use particle accelerators to transmute long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear energy, potentially reducing its hazardous lifespan from around 100,000 years to just a few centuries. The idea, known as accelerator-driven transmutation, is being discussed as a way to ease one of nuclear power's biggest drawbacks: the need to store spent fuel safely for many millennia.

The first commercial nuclear-powered satellite has been launched aboard a SpaceX mission, according to the American Nuclear Society's Nuclear Newswire. The milestone marks the first time a nuclear-powered spacecraft has flown on a commercial basis, combining private spaceflight with nuclear energy technology in orbit. Details about the satellite's operator, reactor design and mission goals remain limited in the available reporting.

Qatar has launched a program to train nuclear engineers, drawing concern from the Middle East Media Research Institute, which flagged the initiative. The program's scope, partners and intended civilian applications have not been detailed publicly, prompting questions about the Gulf state's nuclear ambitions at a time of heightened regional scrutiny of nuclear development.

The Albuquerque Journal takes readers inside Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine in New Mexico, the world's most powerful pulsed-power facility. Originally built to study materials under nuclear weapons conditions, the device is now central to research on fusion energy, exploring how the same physics that powers warheads could one day deliver clean, abundant power.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its environmental review for the planned restart of the Crane Clean Energy Center, the former Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor in Pennsylvania. The review is a key regulatory step toward restarting the plant, which is slated to supply power to Microsoft under an agreement with owner Constellation Energy.

French technology group Thales, computer maker Bull and the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) are working together on software for quantum computers intended for use by the French armed forces. The collaboration links France's leading defence electronics firm, its flagship computing company and its national nuclear research body around military applications of quantum technology.

Jaguar Uranium announced it will take part in Roth Capital Partners' Emerging Nuclear Technology Conference in New York. The event brings together companies and investors focused on nuclear energy and advanced reactor technology. Interest in uranium and nuclear-related firms has been growing as governments and markets look for low-carbon baseload power and as nuclear power regains policy support in several countries.