The Atomic Show #138 – Jaco Kriek, CEO PBMR Pty LTD

Jaco Kriek has been the CEO of PBMR Pty LTD of South Africa for five years. On July 7, 2009 he spoke with me for nearly an hour about a wide range of topics. The topics we discussed included the following: History of PBMR as a stand alone company Change in technical direction Customer focused…

The Atomic Show #135 – Tom Sanders – President, American Nuclear Society

Tom Sanders took office as the President of the American Nuclear Society on June 18, 2009. Rod Adams spoke with him on the day before. Tom explained his goals for the year, the importance of nuclear technology to national security and the enthusiasm that he has for “right-sized” reactors. Podcast: Play in new window |…

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 #132 – Ray Squirrel Interviews (Atomic) Rod Adams

Ray Squirrel is the screen name used by a documentary film maker who is collecting material for a film about nuclear power. You can find some of the work he has done so far at RaySquirrel’s youtube site. I am not sure how the film will come out, but I thought you might be interested…

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 #130 – Better Uses for Fissile Material

Kirk Sorensen, Charles Barton and Rod Adams got together for a long distance conversation inspired by President Obama’s speech about his commitment to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles. That action will free up valuable material useful for many power plant applications. It is important to understand – the president’s call is for a world free from…

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 Atomic Show #127 – New Nuclear Plant Public Meetings

On February 3, 2009, I attended a public meeting regarding the future construction of North Anna Unit 3. Several of the people who attended that meeting gathered via Skype last night to share notes. I will add some more notes to this post later today, but now it is time to get ready for my…

The Atomic Show #126 – Wasserman v Moore moderated by Goodman and Adams

On Thursday February 5, 2009, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! moderated a brief debate about nuclear power between Harvey Wasserman and Patrick Moore. The forcing function for holding the debate on that date was the fact that the Senate has included an additional authorization for $50 billion in loan guarantees for clean energy as part…