Nuclear workforce Archives - Atomic Insights

Atomic Show #200 – Celebrating atomic communicators

Rod Adams · March 18, 2013 · 11 Comments

On March 9, 2006, Shane Brown and I recorded the first episode of The Atomic Show. We formatted the show as a couple of geeks chatting about atomic energy and published it on Cameron Reilly’s The Podcast Network. On March 17, 2013, I hosted and recorded Atomic Show #200 as a roundtable discussion that included seven talented participants. As Lawrence Welk might have said – “It’s a really good show!” (Yes, I am old enough to have enjoyed Welk’s variety show in its original broadcast form.)

The Atomic Show has traveled a meandering course over the past 7 years. There’ve been some periods where they come fast and furious, other times there have been several quiet months in a row. That is not uncommon in the podcast world where much of the work is done by passionate amateurs.

The Show has been on a pretty good roll in the past several months turning into an almost regular weekly conversation among the growing group of talented and excited pronuclear communicators. This week, besides a some rather humbling congratulations from my friends, we talked about a number of interesting topics including:
Read more »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Is an employee buyout a win-win-win solution for Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station?

Rod Adams · March 10, 2013 · 22 Comments

Dominion’s October 2012 announcement that it is closing the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant took the nuclear industry by almost complete surprise. My friends who write about nuclear topics on a regular basis had no clue about the possibility before it was announced. None of the contacts that I have developed over the past few decades [...]

San Onofre steam generators – honest error driven by search for perfection

Rod Adams · March 9, 2013 · 22 Comments

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the supplier that sold four new steam generators to Southern California Edison (SCE) for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), has issued a redacted version of its root cause analysis of the u-tube failures that have kept both of the station’s 1100 MWe units shut down since January 31, 2012. [...]

Atomic Show #188 – Wheeler and Harding discuss ANS Utility Working Conference

Rod Adams · August 15, 2012 · Leave a Comment

During the first week of August each year, the American Nuclear Society hosts a conference called the Utility Working Conference (ANS-UWC). It is one of my favorite ANS meetings because it draws a crowd of professionals whose daily employment is focused on safely operating electricity production facilities powered by atomic fission. Those facilities produce 20% [...]

Atomic Show #187 – Women In Nuclear (US WIN) 2012

Rod Adams · August 3, 2012 · 5 Comments

During the period from July 15-18 2012, more than 440 nuclear professionals attended the annual U. S. Women In Nuclear (US WIN) conference held in Orlando, FL. I spoke to three of the attendees – Julie Ezold, Sandy DePirro, and Savannah Fitzwater – about the conference and about the organization. The women work in three [...]

Different Perspective on Nuclear Construction Project Costs

Rod Adams · July 12, 2012 · 11 Comments

There are many stories on the web this week about cost overruns at Vogtle and VC Summer, the two active new nuclear power plant projects in the United States. TVA has also had well publicized cost increases and schedule delays at Watts Bar II, a construction project that was started more than 30 years ago [...]

Advice to Fairfield County SC – DO NOT expunge criminal records

Rod Adams · June 17, 2012 · 12 Comments

I noted a disturbing comment in an article titled Fairfield County hopes reactors will boost economy The article is about the understandable desire among leaders in Fairfield County, SC to ensure that the construction of VC Summer units 2 and 3 result in local benefits. They want local people to have a shot of landing [...]