Following a flurry of news reports about the renomination of Ms. Kristine Svinicki, one of his colleagues at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko decided to hold a previously unscheduled press conference at the National Press Club. Inquiring minds, like mine, are wondering why he made that decision. First of all, I [...]
Important public events related to nuclear energy scheduled for week of April 23
Meredith Angwin, the energetic and caring pronuclear blogger at Yes Vermont Yankee shared the following message. It deserves wider notice so that the individual events attract the kinds of audiences that can make a difference in direction that the discussions take. Three upcoming events need your attention and support. The local (New England) grid depends [...]
Another blogger for nuclear energy – things worse than nuclear power
I happened across a link to a fascinating blog that started publishing in March titled things worse than nuclear power. The bloggers behind the site provide a hint about their identity with a cryptic subtitle “the take from a couple of MIT engineers”. The profile linked to the site provides more details indicating that the [...]
As the world turns at the NRC
The latest episode in the distracting soap opera at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has provided more fodder for the political pundits in their efforts to turn nuclear energy deployment and regulation into a partisan issue. Fortunately, some of the players seem to understand that the subject is too important and has too many nuances [...]
ExxonMobil is betting that natural gas will NOT remain cheap
During my recent low production periods for new posts on Atomic Insights, I received some well intentioned advice from a frequent commenter – he told me that it would be less frustrating for me to maintain Atomic Insights if I focused more on innovations in nuclear energy than on the efforts of competitive energy suppliers [...]
Times-Dispatch publishes uranium mining op-ed from someone with professional knowledge
One of the more contentious political issues in south central Virginia is whether or not to allow mining at the largest known deposit of uranium east of the Mississippi River. That deposit, at Coles Hill in Chatham is located just slightly more than an hour’s drive from my current residence. It is estimated to contain [...]
Nuclear Literacy Project goes live
The Nuclear Literacy Project has officially opened its virtual doors for visitors. This collaborative effort has been several months in the making with a number of talented hands ensuring that the the unveiling would be a real success. The site is designed to appeal to curious people who do not have preconceived notions, but really [...]
Why is natural gas such a popular answer to energy challenges?
Ben Heard at DecarboniseSA.com posted a thought-provoking question on April 4, 2012 – Why Gas? Good Question… Here is the introduction of Ben’s post. “Why gas?” Good question… It was meant to be a jingle, not a prophecy… In Australia back in 1990, we were subjected to a saccharine , family friendly bit of advertising [...]
Proud – but often frustrated – nuclear professional
Kevan Crawford has published well-written op-ed titled Nuclear power answer to clean energy. He described some nuclear energy’s impressive benefits and compared them to the available alternative power sources, which were exposed as being vastly inferior based on an objective evaluation of their characteristics and limitations. Here is the disclaimer associated with Kevan’s opinion piece. [...]
Another blogger for nuclear energy – Hitchhiker’s Guide to Nuclear
It has been quite a while since I welcomed a new blog and podcast to the pro-nuclear virtual world. I recently heard about a worthwhile effort being undertaken in the UK at Manchester University called Hitchhiker’s Guide to Nuclear. Here is a quote from their “About Us” page: As part of the Nuclear Society at [...]