Today: There is a renewed effort to extract the energy from atomic waste—and even reap the power from Cold War-era bombs; SEC proposes axing climate-disclosure rules; Bill Gates's carefully crafted image is cracking.

Welcome back: The Trump administration is looking to provide nuclear energy companies with weapons-grade plutonium from retired Cold War missiles to make fuel for their advanced reactors, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson writes.

Five companies including Oklo and Shine Technologies were selected for possible inclusion in the project. The effort could help “spur innovation on American recycling technologies” as well as boost the nuclear industry, said principal deputy assistant secretary of nuclear energy Mike Goff last week.

The U.S. has been wrangling with what to do with its radioactive waste for decades. Now, as nuclear energy sees mounting support, some in the industry are looking to squeeze more out of that waste by recycling it—instead of sequestering it for thousands of years.

As well as plutonium from weapons, more than 90,000 metric tons of commercial nuclear waste are stored nationwide. The U.S. government is supposed to move the waste to a permanent repository, but the country hasn’t set up such a site, so instead it reimburses nuclear sites for storing it at their facilities. Nuclear reactions actually produce a relatively small amount of waste, but storing it is expensive and has led to safety concerns.

Earlier this year, the DOE awarded more than $19 million to five U.S. companies, including Oklo and another U.S. company Curio, to research and develop recycling technologies for used nuclear fuel.

• Nuclear power developer Newcleo said it plans to go public through a merger with a blank-check company. (WSJ)
• Trump signed executive orders to boost the nuclear power industry, citing the need to overhaul regulations and fast-track licenses. (WSJ)

The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing to cut rules issued by the Biden administration that would have required companies to disclose climate risks in their public reports.

The Biden administration in 2024 approved the long-beleaguered climate regulations requiring companies to report how they manage climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions. The rules faced legal challenges and the SEC under Trump decided to stop defending them in court. The SEC has since been working on an official proposal to rescind the rules.

Companies aren’t off the hook from such disclosures, however. Those doing business in California must soon start reporting their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks to the state. A similar effort to mandate climate reporting is under way in New York.

Bill Gates’s employees have spent years carefully cultivating his image—down to keeping a custom-size mannequin to test his outfits for different days of the week. The goal: to depict someone calm and approachable.

That kind of attention to detail helped burnish Gates’s profile as a brainy billionaire who successfully traded his Microsoft monopolist past for the soft-knit glow of a global philanthropist, writes the WSJ's Emily Glazer. His Gates Foundation, one of the largest in the world, with an $89 billion endowment, has paved the way on global health and development efforts, including in the fight against childhood mortality and infectious diseases. He is also the founder of the nuclear power company TerraPower and the climate-investment firm Breakthrough Energy, a climate-investment firm.

But Gates's carefully crafted image has been shattered as more details of his association with the late Jeffrey Epstein have spilled into public view, challenging prior efforts by the 70-year-old to downplay his relationship with the sex offender. In a February town hall with employees, Gates owned up to two affairs with Russian women referenced in Epstein’s emails.

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• USA Rare Earth said investments in France could total more than $200 million through 2030. (WSJ)
   
• Only a quarter of Americans think that the world is equipped to address the challenge of climate change. (Bloomberg)
   
• The U.S. grid is in better shape this summer. The credit goes to new solar and storage and a handful of new gas plants. (Canary Media)
   
• Major European airlines are each exposed to at least €1.5 billion hit if Brussels extends carbon pricing to flights leaving the EU. (FT)
   
• Welcome to the world of the neoclouds, a new breed of company that are gobbling up chips — and power infrastructure. (Latitude Media)
   
• The dearth of corporate action on methane has been highlighted by a survey of 23 leading coffee and dairy companies. (Trellis)
   
• The Iberian lynx nearly vanished from the wild. Now travelers are flocking to rural Spain for a chance to see one. (WSJ)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send your comments to editor Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Pro Sustainable Business team on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.