nuclear energy

Italy's parliament has approved a law paving the way for the country's return to nuclear energy, decades after Italians voted to shut down nuclear power following the Chernobyl disaster. Supporters see it as a step toward energy security and lower emissions, while critics point to Italy's history of seismic risk and the 1987 referendum that closed the country's reactors.

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 proposal that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened and nuclear talks resumed within a week. The plan, reported by Al Jazeera via GeoWire, links easing the strategic waterway's closure to a fresh round of diplomacy. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical artery for global oil shipments, so any move toward reopening it and restarting negotiations is drawing close international attention.

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.

Italy has approved a law allowing the country to produce nuclear energy again, nearly four decades after a referendum banned it following the 1987 vote. The move restarts nuclear power in one of the few European countries to have abandoned it, as governments across Europe reconsider atomic energy to secure supplies and cut emissions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.