Fuel loading begins at 1st nuclear plant in Belarus

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Loading of nuclear fuel started Friday at Belarus' first nuclear plant, which has raised concern in neighboring Lithuania. The plant in Astravets near the border has been built by Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom. Rosatom and Belarusian authorities have insisted that the...

4 Ohio operatives plead not guilty in $60M bribery probe

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Four Ohio lobbyists and political operatives pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges they conspired as part of what one defendant called an “unholy alliance” aimed at bailing out two aging Ohio nuclear power plants. Former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and...

Correction: Bribery Investigation-Ohio story

CLEVELAND (AP) — In a story Aug. 5, 2020, about groups named in an FBI affidavit regarding an alleged Ohio corruption scheme, The Associated Press erroneously reported that D. Eric Lycan is currently the counsel for the Republican Party of Kentucky. He left the position in April 2019.

Nuclear bailout tied to bribery scandal was years in making

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A $1 billion bailout for Ohio’s two nuclear plants that’s now entangled in a state bribery scandal had little support when the idea came up three years ago. It was all but dead until the spring of last year, when the new leader of the Ohio House stepped up with a...

Emirati nuclear plant successfully starts up first reactor

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates successfully started up its first reactor, authorities said Saturday. The Barakah nuclear power plant in the Emirates' far western desert near the border with Saudi Arabia reached what scientists called its “first...

AP EXPLAINS: A look at $60M bribery probe unfolding in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The arrest July 21 of powerful Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates in a $60 million federal bribery case has upended both politics and policy-making in Ohio. The Ohio House removed Householder from his post Thursday in a unanimous, bipartisan vote and...

Ohio House sets Thursday vote to remove disgraced speaker

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House plans to vote Thursday on the removal of the disgraced House speaker arrested last week in connection with a $60 million federal bribery probe, after Republicans took a secret vote on the matter Tuesday that was prompted by Larry Householder's refusal to resign. It...

France's global nuclear fusion device a puzzle of huge parts

PARIS (AP) — A hugely ambitious project to replicate the energy of the sun is entering a critical phase, as scientists and technicians in southern France begin assembling giant parts of a nuclear fusion device, an international experiment aimed to develop the ultimate clean energy source. World leaders...

'Unholy alliance' of power, money fueled corruption scheme

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An accused co-conspirator called it an “unholy alliance" — dealings between a longtime Ohio politician seeking to restore his power and an energy company in desperate need of a billion-dollar bailout to rescue two nuclear plants in the state. Both the politician, current...

US eyes building nuclear power plants for moon and Mars

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that. The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that...