Energy Dept. picks 5 startups for plutonium talks

May 27, 2026

Summary

The Energy Department selected five nuclear startups for talks on using U.S. plutonium stockpiles in advanced reactors.

Why this matters

The plan could shape how the U.S. manages Cold War-era plutonium while testing whether advanced reactors can use some of it as fuel. It also raises security and waste-disposal questions tied to former weapons material.

For decades, the U.S. has stored about 100 tons of plutonium produced during the Cold War for nuclear weapons.

On Tuesday, the Department of Energy said it selected five nuclear startups to enter negotiations to receive some of that material for possible use in a new generation of reactors. The department previously identified 34 tons of plutonium for disposal.

The companies are Oklo, Standard Nuclear, Shine Technologies, Flibe Energy, and Exodys Energy.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright previously served on Oklo’s board, but resigned when he joined the administration and said he had divested his shares. Sam Altman served as Oklo’s board chair after its merger with his acquisition company, AltC, and resigned last year.

Plutonium also occurs in nature, but it is more commonly produced by bombarding non-fissile uranium with neutrons. The isotope discussed here has a half-life of 24,000 years.

Oklo is developing a reactor that can run on uranium fuel or plutonium, which could help supply its first reactors. Exodys Energy is developing a reactor that can use plutonium in mixed oxide fuel, which blends uranium and plutonium. Flibe Energy is working on a reactor designed to run on plutonium and other byproducts from fission reactors.

Mixed oxide fuel is produced in France. The U.S. had planned to make it in South Carolina, but the first Trump administration canceled that project after it exceeded budgets and timelines.

More top news

Parris Island lead

Port Royal seeks county support for port financing plan

The 320-acre waterfront property on Battery Creek has been the focus of redevelopment efforts since the South Carolina State Ports Authority closed its terminal in 2004.

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A long-delayed redevelopment of Port Royal’s former state port moved closer in 2025 after the town and Safe Harbor Marinas approved a development agreement, but public financing for infrastructure remains unresolved.

Safe Harbor Marinas bought the site in late 2021 for $20.5 million after the state sold it in 2017 to Grey Ghost Properties.

In June 2025, the town and Safe Harbor endorsed a plan that calls for a marina, shops, housing, parks, a promenade, and public access improvements.

Port Royal had planned to help fund roads, utilities, parks, and other public projects through a tax increment financing district created in 2012. The district generated $400,000, but it is expiring after the town missed a deadline to use the funds.

Town officials are now asking Beaufort County to support a multi-county industrial park, or MCIP, to replace the tax increment financing district. Lawrence Flynn, the town’s bond counsel, told the Beaufort County Council Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee on May 18 that the MCIP could unlock the unused $400,000 and raise $10 million over 20 years.

Under the proposal, Beaufort County would partner with Jasper County, which would receive 1% of the revenue. Beaufort County would receive the rest and distribute it to Port Royal under an agreement. Based on current tax rates, Flynn said Beaufort County School District would contribute $5.5 million over 20 years, Beaufort County $2.025 million, and Port Royal $2.45 million.

School Board Chairman Carlton Dallas and board member Dick Geier raised concerns. Geier said a county-approved MCIP could set a precedent for other municipalities and reduce transparency because fees would be folded into the district’s millage rate.

Dallas questioned using funding tied to Jasper County and the school district and said Safe Harbor, which he described as a $6 billion company, could contribute more. He also suggested the town consider ways to “monetize the asset.”

Town officials rejected the idea of charging residents for access and disputed the suggestion that the financing would subsidize Safe Harbor. Town Manager Van Willis said public access has long been part of the redevelopment vision.

County staff recommended approval. The proposal is expected to return to the County Council committee.
lejeune lead

Emerald Isle records second sea turtle nest

The nest was marked off while the eggs incubate on the beach.

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Volunteers in Emerald Isle found the town’s second sea turtle nest of the year, according to the Emerald Isle Sea Turtle Patrol.

The patrol said volunteer walker Julie Edwards found 29-inch loggerhead sea turtle tracks during an early morning patrol. The tracks led the team to Nest No. 2 of the season.

Nest Response Team members Cheryl Balthrop and Monica Probst helped locate the eggs, collect DNA samples, complete state paperwork, and secure the nesting area.

The Emerald Isle Sea Turtle Patrol said it conducts its work under authorization from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
North Carolina

Elizabeth City man charged in early morning shooting

A suspect faces four counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

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An Elizabeth City man was charged after a shooting early Tuesday, police said.

Officers responded about 2:30 a.m. May 26 to a shooting call near 700 Washington St., according to the Elizabeth City Police Department.

When officers arrived, they found a 34-year-old woman with a gunshot wound. Police said officers rendered aid and began an investigation at the scene.

The woman was taken to Sentara Albemarle Medical Center and later transferred to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for additional treatment. Her condition was not released.

Investigators identified the suspect as Dashan Allen Lewis, 35, of the 800 block of Bunnells Avenue in Elizabeth City. Police later located Lewis in the 800 block of Bunnells Avenue.

After additional interviews and evidence collection, Lewis was arrested and taken to the Albemarle District Jail, where he was held without bond.

Lewis made his first court appearance Tuesday in Pasquotank County District Court.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the Elizabeth City Police Department at 252-335-4321, Crime Line at 252-335-5555, or FUSUS Text-a-Tip anonymously at 252-390-8477.
China

China executes man convicted in Lin Qi poisoning

Lin was hospitalized in December 2020 and died days later at age 39. Several others became sick but recovered.

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Chinese authorities executed a man convicted of poisoning billionaire gaming executive Lin Qi in a case tied to rights for “The Three-Body Problem,” local media reported Tuesday.

Xu Yao was found guilty of killing Lin, founder of Shanghai-based Yoozoo Games, which held film adaptation rights to the science-fiction trilogy by Chinese author Liu Cixin.

The trilogy has been translated into more than 40 languages and adapted for television and games, including Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” released in 2024.

Xu, a former head of a Yoozoo Games subsidiary, poisoned Lin in 2020 after being sidelined by the founder shortly after Xu helped secure the Netflix deal, according to local media reports. Xu was convicted in 2024, and Yicai Global and other outlets reported he was executed May 21.

Lin’s company confirmed the execution in a statement Tuesday on the Weibo social media platform.

According to local media reports, Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan, or tens of thousands of dollars, to buy toxic substances online, including alpha-amanitin, a compound found in some poisonous mushrooms. The reports said he disguised the poisons as probiotic pills and put them in coffee capsules, water containers, and whiskey bottles shared with Lin and other employees.

Liu became the first Chinese writer to win the Hugo Award, and his works helped drive growth in China’s science-fiction sector, including films, video games, books, magazines, and exhibits.
Middle East

Israeli strikes kill 31 in south Lebanon, army expands

The ministry said 31 people, including at least four children and three women, were killed and 40 wounded.

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Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed 31 people Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, as Israel said it was intensifying attacks despite a truce with Hezbollah.

It said 14 people were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh, and two in Salaa.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said one strike hit near a public hospital, causing “significant damage to the hospital’s departments.”

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for at least 50 towns and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon, including Nabatieh.

Hezbollah said its fighters confronted Israeli troops trying to advance into Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, a town overlooking Nabatieh. In a statement, the group said it repelled an Israeli force early Tuesday after airstrikes and artillery fire, and claimed drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces there.

In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said an Israeli strike Monday on Mashghara in West Bekaa killed 11 people, including two girls and a woman, and wounded 15 others, including a child.

Israel’s military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon overnight. It also said it “intercepted several explosive drones launched by the Hezbollah terrorist organization toward Israeli territory,” after Hezbollah said it targeted an army barracks in northern Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was intensifying operations in Lebanon.

U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said U.N. peacekeepers recorded 91 airspace violations Monday, “the highest number since the cessation of hostilities came into effect,” along with 399 firing incidents attributed to the Israeli army and 11 projectile trajectories attributed to Hezbollah.
Finance & Markets

Oil falls below $100 as U.S.-Iran tensions persist

Gasoline prices were more than 40% higher than a year earlier, though they declined by about 5 to 6 cents a gallon over the past few days.

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Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel even as clashes between the United States and Iran complicated talks between the two sides.

Brent crude traded below $100 a barrel after being at $103 on Friday. West Texas Intermediate also moved lower. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump signaled that a deal was largely negotiated.

After that, the U.S. carried out strikes in southern Iran. Iran then struck a U.S. drone and also targeted an unmanned F-35 jet. Those developments added uncertainty, but markets still pointed to optimism that some kind of deal could eventually be reached.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Navy was quietly guiding ships out of the Strait of Hormuz. The ceasefire remained fragile, but stocks rose and oil prices eased, though they stayed above levels seen before the war began.
Health

Appeals court faults Georgia Medicaid care policy

The ruling could affect how Medicaid is administered in Georgia and elsewhere in the 11th Circuit, which includes Alabama and Florida.

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A federal appeals court ruled that Georgia’s policies for approving or denying Medicaid services for children did not meet federal requirements for adequate care.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a district court order requiring the Georgia Department of Community Health to provide at least 100 hours a week of in-home nursing care to a 3-year-old boy identified as L.W.

L.W. has a rare metabolic disease that affects his body’s ability to store and use glycogen. He must be fed every three hours through a tube inserted into his stomach.

Before moving from Virginia to Georgia in 2023, Medicaid covered 56 hours of nursing care a week and paid the boy’s mother to provide another 40 hours. After the move, Alliant Health Solutions, a contractor that manages Medicaid for the state, approved 21 hours of nursing care and no payment for his mother because Georgia does not have that program.

In a May 18 opinion, the judges wrote: “Over the months that L. W.’s parents and physician were asking Georgia to increase L.W.’s nursing hours, L.W.’s parents managed to keep L.W. alive. But their success came at a tremendous cost to L.W.’s parents and L.W.’s health.”

The opinion said the boy’s mother, who was fatigued, sometimes slept through alarms set to wake her to feed him at night. On several occasions, she found his glucose levels dangerously low. He also was hospitalized for about a week when his parents could not maintain those levels.

In 2024, his mother requested more nursing hours. After Alliant denied the request, she sued in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia. U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. ruled that 21 hours a week was inadequate and ordered the state to cover at least 100 hours.

The Department of Community Health appealed.

Under the federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment standard, states must cover medically necessary services for children that “correct or ameliorate” a physical or mental condition.

Agency lawyers argued that limiting L.W.’s nursing hours was lawful because it followed department policy. The appeals court ruled that the policy did not satisfy the state’s obligation to review each case and provide the minimum care required under the federal Medicaid Act.
Tech & Artificial Intelligence

DuckDuckGo reports rise in installs after Google AI shift

“Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out,” DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said Tuesday in a statement.

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DuckDuckGo said U.S. app installs rose after Google outlined major changes to Search at its annual I/O developer conference.

At the event, Google said its traditional list of links would be replaced by an artificial intelligence agent that answers queries, executes tasks, and runs background monitoring agents. Critics said the changes could reduce user control and surface inaccurate responses.

DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine with about 2% of the U.S. search market, said U.S. app installs increased an average of 18.1% week over week from May 20 to May 25, compared with May 13 to May 18. The company said growth lasted six consecutive days and peaked at 30.5% on May 25.

On Apple’s iOS, DuckDuckGo said installs rose 33% on average week over week, peaking at 69.9%. It also said visits to its AI-free search page, noai.duckduckgo.com, rose 22.7% on average week over week, peaking at 27.7% on May 24. The page disables AI features, including AI-assisted answers and AI-generated images, by default.

DuckDuckGo said the trend was stronger in the U.S. and continued through Memorial Day weekend, when it usually sees lower traffic.

“Google is force-feeding AI with no way to opt out,” DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said Tuesday in a statement. “As a result, their results are getting worse, not better. We want to be the place that puts users in charge and allows them to decide how much or how little AI they want.”

During Google’s 2023 antitrust trial over search, Weinberg testified that Google’s exclusive default search contracts limited DuckDuckGo’s ability to become the default search option on other browsers.

DuckDuckGo also offers its own AI product, Duck.ai, which is free and does not require an account. The company said it gives users access to models including Anthropic’s Claude 4.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 4 Scout, Mistral’s Small 3 24B, and OpenAI’s GPT-5 mini. DuckDuckGo said it strips users’ IP addresses before requests reach model providers, deletes conversations within 30 days, and does not allow chats to be used for training.
Military & National Security

1 killed, 2 survive U.S. boat strike in eastern Pacific

Earlier this month, the White House said Trump approved a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy that made eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere the administration’s highest priority.

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A U.S. strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific killed one person and left two survivors, U.S. Southern Command said Tuesday night.

On social media, U.S. Southern Command said the boat was “operated by Designated Terrorist Organization,” was “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes” and was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” Video posted by the military showed a strike on a boat that appeared to break into two burning pieces.

U.S. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.”

The Trump administration began striking boats it says are trafficking drugs in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, in early September. At least 193 people have been killed in the campaign.

President Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has described the attacks as necessary to curb the flow of drugs into the U.S.

Trump has also pressed regional leaders to work more closely with the U.S. to target cartels and take military action against drug traffickers and transnational gangs that he says pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security.
Military & National Security

DARPA seeks battlefield medic robots for casualties

DARPA said the robots would ideally be small enough to fit in an Individual First Aid Kit or light enough to deploy by drone swarm.

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking proposals for robotic systems that could help treat and move wounded troops when battlefield medical care is overwhelmed during heavy combat.

In a Small Business Innovation Research solicitation, DARPA described an “autonomous, self-deploying, wound assessing, swarm-capable, self-linking, mobile robotic solution to assist reaching and moving casualties and perform life-saving interventions at the point-of-need.” The deadline is June 3.

DARPA said the current battlefield medical system, built around smaller counterinsurgency operations, may not meet the demands of large-scale combat. “Future Large Scale Combat Operations predict massive casualty incidents, delayed evacuation, and insufficient capacity of the medical system,” the agency said.

The solicitation said delayed treatment creates a “high chance of dying due to lack of hemorrhage control which is the leading cause of potentially survivable death in both battlefield and civilian trauma cases prehospital.” DARPA added: “We believe this is achievable due to the recent advancements in swarm, self-assembling, and mobile robotics, as well as robotics for medical applications.”

Any proposed system must meet at least two of four requirements. One calls for a robot able to drag an injured service member 10 meters onto a litter. If one robot cannot do so alone, multiple robots must be able to combine their strength.

DARPA also wants systems that can stabilize injuries during movement. The solicitation said multiple robots should be able to wrap around an injured limb, and swarms should be able to form tourniquets that would “self-arrange and reassemble into shapes to provide massive hemorrhage control.” The agency said the goal is to create a “smart tourniquet” that can autonomously clamp around injured limbs or apply pressure to a junctional wound.

In phase one, companies would demonstrate capabilities including swarming, injury identification, movement over rough terrain and across the human body, and “interlocking units, shape-changing, and rigid stability,” in a lab or on a medical manikin.

Phase two calls for a prototype for field testing using “perfused cadavers, animal models, or high-fidelity medical training phantoms,” along with a manufacturing plan that meets U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements.

DARPA said the technology could also have civilian uses, including in collapsed buildings, fires, and hazardous chemical incidents where robots may reach casualties before medical teams can.