Iran has crossed a new nuclear threshold, but it's one the Obama administration isn't worried about. On Saturday, technicians began loading low-enriched uranium fuel supplied by Russia into Iran's first civilian nuclear reactor, and if all goes smoothly, the Bushehr plant could start producing electricity under United Nations monitoring late this year or early next.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency regularly inspects the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran. Iran began moving fuel assemblies to the plant's reactor compartment on 21 August 2010," Ayhan Evrensel, a press officer for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a statement Saturday. "The agency is taking the appropriate verification measures in line with its established safeguards procedures."
Iran begins fueling nuclear reactor — and that's good news
Who's blowing up Iran's gas pipelines?
In the past few weeks Iran’s gas infrastructure, which is central to the country’s energy requirements, has been hit by a series of unexplained explosions.
The series of mysterious explosions began at the end of July when the state-owned Tehran Times reported that a pipeline carrying gas from Iran to Turkey had exploded near the eastern Turkish town of Dogubayazit. Iranian officials blamed the blast on Kurdish rebels.
Those roadside flowers could be used to produce biofuels
In conjunction with a national program known as "FreeWays to Fuel" ( freewaystofuel.org), researchers at N.C. State University are working to grow canola and sunflower crops along the wasted edges of highways and other marginal areas.
The national program, which began in Utah and has spread across the United States, originally used municipal zones to plant crops for biofuels. Utah's first harvests are now being used to power Department of Transportation vehicles in Salt Lake County.
Tony Hayward to step down from BP, reports say

Citing unidentified sources, the BBC and Sunday Telegraph reported detailed talks regarding Hayward's future had taken place over the weekend. The BBC said a formal announcement on Hayward's exit is expected in the next 24 hours.
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Senate panel approves plug-in hybrids, expanded loan program for fuel-efficient vehicles
A Senate committee approved two proposals today to boost plug-in hybrid vehicles and expand a $25-billion loan program for fuel-efficient vehicles to include commercial trucks and possibly more money.
Design unveiled for first 1,000 miles an hour car
A British team aiming to smash the current land speed record has unveiled the design of a pencil-shaped car that it hopes will travel at more than 1,000 miles an hour.
After three years of aerodynamic research, construction is about to begin on the Bloodhound Supersonic Car which will be powered by a jet engine and a rocket with the record attempt slated for 2012 in South Africa.
Aircraft completes first solar-powered night flight
A giant glider-like aircraft has completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy, organizers said on Thursday.
Solar Impulse, whose wingspan is the same as an Airbus A340, flew 26 hours and 9 minutes, powered only by solar energy stored during the day. It was also the longest and highest flight in the history of solar aviation, organizers said.
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