<\/p>\n
I was really looking forward to July 4, and not just because I love a poolside barbecue. This year the American holiday also marked a big symbolic deadline for US nuclear power.<\/p>\n
Last year the Trump administration set a goal to see three new microreactors achieve criticality, a technical milestone establishing that a reactor can sustain a chain reaction, by the nation\u2019s 250th birthday. And just in time, not just three, but four reactors did so.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a positive sign for nuclear technologies at a time of increasing need for electricity and emissions-free energy sources. But achieving criticality doesn\u2019t mean a reactor is ready to provide electricity for the grid (or at all, for that matter).<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what the milestone could mean for nuclear power in the US\u2014and where the four companies might go next.<\/p>\n
This <\/strong>story<\/strong> is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. <\/strong>Sign up<\/strong> to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n 1 China plans to let its top AI firms buy Nvidia H200 chips<\/strong> 2 NATO is building a network to stop Russian attackers in their tracks<\/strong> 3 Researchers have a new idea to fight future El Ni\u00f1os: dimming the sun<\/strong> 5 Chipmakers are going vertical as Moore\u2019s Law slows<\/strong> 8 A judge approved Musk\u2019s $1.5 million Twitter settlement with the SEC<\/strong> 10 A World Cup match drove Google Search traffic to a new record<\/strong> #Download #nuclear #landmark #China #eyes #Nvidia #chips<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was really looking forward to July 4, and not just because I love a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[11524,108,1678,803,2751,980,412,3861,11523],"class_list":["post-16614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-and-china-eyes-nvidia-chips","tag-china","tag-chips","tag-download","tag-eyes","tag-landmark","tag-nuclear","tag-nvidia","tag-the-download-a-nuclear-landmark"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920.jpg",1200,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-300x150.jpg",300,150,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-768x384.jpg",640,320,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-1024x512.jpg",640,320,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920.jpg",1200,600,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920.jpg",1200,600,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Aalo_s-completed-Critical-Test-Reactor-facility-1920-540x340.jpg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Alibaba, ByteDance, and DeepSeek are set to get permission. (Information $)
+ China had previously withheld approval despite US authorization.<\/em> (Reuters $)<\/p>\n
It will use sensors, drones, satellites, and AI to detect them. (Business Insider)
+ Troops are donning odd\u00a0camouflage to elude drones. <\/em>(Economist $)
+ The US wants cheaper\u00a0drones\u00a0as Iran’s\u00a0wrecking its Reapers. <\/em>(Ars Technica)<\/p>\n
Deflecting solar energy could cool the ocean and mitigate the risks. (Wired $)
+ But there could be unexpected consequences.<\/em> (New Scientist $)
+ And geoengineering as a field is getting a reality check.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)
\u00a0
4 Meta is patenting an AI device that records users to analyse emotions<\/strong>
It ostensibly aims to tailor workout plans to the user\u2019s mood. (404 Media)
+ AI memory is privacy\u2019s next frontier. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review)<\/p>\n
They\u2019re stacking transistors to keep chips advancing. (Economist $)
+ IBM is betting on the technique.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)
\u00a0
6 Ivy League students suspected of AI cheating saw scores fall in person<\/strong>
From 96% all the way down to 48%. (Ars Technica)
+ AI giants want to take over the classroom.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review)
\u00a0
7 A new study says parents\u2019 phone addictions damage bonds with kids<\/strong>
It can exacerbate \u201cinsecure attachment\u201d for life. (Bloomberg $)
+ And make children more anxious and avoidant. <\/em>(Gizmodo)<\/p>\n
Despite what she called \u201cserious misgivings\u201d and \u201cred flags.\u201d (Reuters $)
+ Musk was accused of\u00a0skirting stock disclosure rules.<\/em> (Fortune)
\u00a0
9 Shoebox-sized \u201cdetector satellites\u201d could find nuclear bombs in space<\/strong>
Cubesats carrying the detector could sense a bomb\u2019s radiation. (Space)
+ Russia is suspected of developing space-based nukes.<\/em> (Reuters $)<\/p>\n
The milestone came after Argentina\u2019s comeback against Egypt. (CNBC)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n