France’s Atomic Energy Commission has decided to restart its Phénix
fastbreeder reactor, built for research in the 1970s and shut down in 1994
because of safety concerns. The move coincides with the closure of its
successor, Superphénix, used to study nuclear waste since 1994. This was
judged commercially unviable and will be dismantled by 2005 at a cost of
£1 billion. The commission says Phénix is better suited to the
waste experiments.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Humans
Iron Age Britons may have removed the brains of the dead
News
Life
Frozen squirrel scat preserves ancient DNA from hundreds of species
News
Environment
The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction
Features
Earth
Dinosaur-killing asteroid impact site stayed hot for millions of years
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally
2
Dinosaur-killing asteroid impact site stayed hot for millions of years
3
Escher: The paradoxical artist beloved by mathematicians
4
The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction
5
Flood of AI 'garbage' is pushing open-source developers to the limit
6
What is a ‘normal’ memory slowdown, and when should I worry?
7
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
8
Understanding anorexia’s grip on the brain could unlock new therapies
9
What really happened when ancient humans migrated out of Africa
10
Mysterious ‘cold blob’ in the Atlantic suggests the AMOC is weakening