The Washington Post: The first application in 30 years to build a new U.S. nuclear power plant has been filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the Washington Post. The new 1,600-megawatt reactor would be built at the Calvert Cliffs site in Lusby, MD, which is home to two existing reactors owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group. The licensing process will take up to 2.5 years and may cost as much as $100 million before Constellation starts construction.
The New York Times: NASA is about to launch a scientific laboratory to Mars that will be the first spacecraft to land in the northern polar region of the planet and dig for evidence of water or other conditions that could support some form of life.
ABC News: Scientists say a new era of research is being launched with the opening of Australia’s first synchrotron in Melbourne.
Nature: Space agency hit by claims of theft, sabotage and drunkenness.
The Washington Post: U.N. inspectors visited a nuclear reactor Monday being built in central Iran, a facility that has been off-limits since April, state media reported.
The Register: American boffins reckon they may have found a way to build landmine-detecting equipment more cheaply, possibly offering hope to dispossessed people in warzones around the world.
BBC: A new analysis of Atlantic hurricanes says their numbers have doubled over the last century.
The Christian Science Monitor: In sessions at the American Institute of Math, geniuses munch food and crunch numbers, contemplating labyrinthine ideas.
The New York Times: Three years after President Bush urged global rules to stop additional nations from making nuclear fuel, the White House will announce on Friday that it is carving out an exception for India, in a last-ditch effort to seal a civilian nuclear deal between the countries.
Science: An earthquake that roughed up a nuclear power plant last week has Japan once again debating nuclear safety.