DCOA approves $300,000 in R&D dollars for Abilene Christian nuclear energy project

The Development Corporation of Abilene authorized $300,000 in research and development dollars to a project at Abilene Christian University that potentially could have great importance for the world’s energy future.

And it all relies on something fairly common – salt.

The NEXT Laboratory – the acronym stands for Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing – represents the quest for “the next generation of nuclear power,” said Kim Pamplin, professor and chairman of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at ACU, at the group’s meeting Tuesday.

“A lot of us believe that other forms of energy are not sustainable,” he said. “Solar and wind play certainly important roles, but maybe they won’t be able to provide all of the energy of the world’s needs in the future. So there’s a need for the next generation of advanced nuclear power.”

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