Building “cleaner” nuclear reactors; a French announces plans for a pilot tidal energy program; and get paid to reduce e-waste: sell your old electronics.

US DOE Awards $7.3 million for “Deep-Burn” Nuclear Technology Research & Development: The U.S. government has tapped the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory for a $7.3 million project designed to reduce nuclear waste. The two labs will team up to advance so-called “deep burn” reactors which essentially consume plutonium as they generates energy. (Green Car Congress)

France Plans Groundbreaking Tidal Power Experiment: Electricite de France says they’re building a pilot tidal energy project. The 4 to 6 megawatt system will use up to a half dozen turbines and be operational in 2011. The new EDf turbines will be free-floating, and designed to reduce impact to marine life and habitat. (CleanTechnica)

Review: SimpleTech [re]Drive: Crunch Gear reviews the new eco-friendly SimpleTech [re]Drive. The 500GB external drive comes clad in an aluminum and bamboo case, reducing the amount of metallic material necessary to house the the hard drive. Onboard power management shuts the drive down when not in use. Technically, it performs well, features renewable or recyclable materials, and is priced competitively. It retails for about $150, as tested. (Crunchgear)

Japanese Whiskey Brewer Invents a Fake Soil for Rooftop Forests: Greenroofs are increasingly popular in metropolitan areas, and new buildings in Tokyo are actually required to build rooftop greenspaces. A classic problem is the weight of wet soil. Solution: have a brewery develop a soil substitute with about half the weight of its conventional equivalent. While some brewers are making use of their by-products, Pafcal is mostly composed of urethane foam. Lighter soil weight means that more plants can be wedged into smaller spaces. (Gizmodo)

Got a gadget gathering dust? Gazelle will resell or recycle: Here’s a green way to dump old electronic gear. A company called Gazelle will buy MP3 players, cellphones, eternal drives, and many other types of equipment. They’ll even send you a shipping box. Electronics get resold, reconditioned, or recycled by Gazelle. The company says they’ve kept about 5 tons of e-waste out of landfills so far. (CNET)

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