Five Atomic Geek Lunch at ANS Meeting

I am in Atlanta, GA for the American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting. Though the use of Twitter, email and face to face communications, five active atomic geeks with web presences got together for lunch. We had a wide ranging conversation that only true geeks could love. People at the table included: John Wheeler – This…

The Atomic Show #133 – Todd Tucker, Author Atomic America

Atomic America has a thought provoking subtitle – “How a Deadly Explosion and a Feared Admiral Changed the Course of Nuclear History”. The unifying story through the book is one that most nuclear trained people know a little about – the accident at the Army’s SL-1 that took place on January 3, 1961. In Atomic…

The Atomic Show #131 – View from the Left on Atomic Energy

David Walters from Left Atomics and Daily Kos joins Rod Adams for a discussion about atomic energy from a far left point of view. It is well known that much of the opposition to nuclear power in the US, Europe, and Australia comes from people who are normally considered to be on the political left….

The Atomic Show #128 – Celebrating 30 Years

As most people who keep up with nuclear trivia know, March 28, 1979 was a bad day for the industry. As a result of a series of mechanical and operational issues, the reactor at Three Mile Island experienced a loss of coolant accident through a stuck open relief valve. When all was said and done,…

The History of Light Water Reactor Market Dominance – Part 2

(Like all parts in this series, the reference book is Light Water: How the Nuclear Dream Dissolved written by Irvin C. Bupp and Jean-Claude Derian and published in January 1978 by Basic Books, Inc. of New York.) One of the primary themes running through Light Water is the fact that the economic predictions associated with…

The History of Light Water Reactor Market Dominance – Part 1

Every once in a while, I like to curl up with a good story that has villains, well meaning good guys, international intrigue, and perhaps even a moral. Sometimes those stories have happy endings, other times they leave you hanging and waiting for the next installment. I just finished such a book – Light Water:…

The Atomic Show #121 – LFTR with Kirk Sorensen and Charles Barton

Kirk Sorensen and Charles Barton are some of the world’s most vocal advocates of the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) concept. Together, they operate Energy from Thorium, one of the richest veins of energy knowledge available on the web. During our conversation, they provide a lot of food for thought with their detailed descriptions and…

The Atomic Show #115 – Nuclear Power is Not a Faustian Bargain. It is a Timely Gift.

Ted Rockwell, Robert Margolis, Kelly Taylor and Rod Adams talk about Ted’s recent advice article aimed at nuclear professionals. Ted Rockwell is a nuclear industry pioneer. He served as Admiral Rickover’s Technical Director during the formative years of the Navy Nuclear Power Program. He wrote the book on reactor shielding design and has continued to…

The Atomic Show #111 – Chat With Dan Yurman – Nuclear Developments October 2008

Dan Yurman of Idaho Samizdat and Rod Adams of Atomic Insights chat about nuclear power developments from the third week of October 2008. Dan Yurman, who produces the excellent blog titled Idaho Samizdat visited the Atomic Show for a discussion about the exciting world of nuclear power developments. We talked for well over an hour…

Atomic Show #103 – PBMR Engineering Contract

Kelly Taylor, Rod Adams and Joe Montague discuss nuclear news, including PBMR’s announced EPC contract Kelly Taylor, Joe Montague and I meet to chat about PBMR, nuclear events and nuclear industry history. Hope you enjoy the show. If you want to find out more about careers in the nuclear industry, please visit nuclearenergycareers.com. Podcast: Play…