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"Nuclear startups celebrate hitting criticality."

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com.

View in browser   |  Your newsletter preferences 07.06.26

How did you celebrate America’s big 250? I hosted a barbeque and watched Oakland’s illicit fireworks displays. Pretty standard stuff. But a trio of nuclear startups took a different route: They celebrated hitting criticality. Criticality is akin to lighting the fuse on a Roman candle. It means they started a sustaining chain reaction. The companies are part of a federal program to accelerate the development of new nuclear reactor designs. The program, created by President Donald Trump via executive order last year, laid out a July 4 deadline to hit criticality.  It’s a very flashy moment on America’s big birthday. But it doesn’t mean you’ll see these reactors out in the wild anytime soon. That’ll take years more development, safety checks, and billions of dollars to build facilities to house them. Also on my radar: the World Cup. After each of Erling Haaland’s two goals for Norway against Brazil yesterday, the city of Bergen almost certainly felt some serious seismic shocks courtesy of fans. We also now know why players are shredding their socks prior to taking the pitch—and the dubious benefits doing so provides. And yes, I will be watching the US-Belgium match later today, and not just to see whether Flo Balogun gets to play.

Brian Kahn Science Editor

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