My professional work habits and standards were formed by 33 years in the US naval service, an organization with a proud tradition of developing independent decision makers who could be entrusted with billions of dollars worth of national assets and thousands of lives. Our tradition includes demanding training, strong mentoring programs, regular competitive evaluations and…
I rarely, if ever, open email that is obviously part of a chain letter. I have never ever, passed them along to anyone else. However, this morning I received the following message that seems quite timely because if it was in effect, people like Harry Reid and Ed Markey would have never developed the clout…
John Wheeler who blogs at This Week in Nuclear started a petition on Change.org titled President Barack Obama: Remove Gregory Jaczko from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Here is the description from the “why this is important” tab on the petition page. Gregory Jaczko, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has lost the confidence of…
It is a four against one war. On one side is the Chairman, a man armed with essentially no experience or professional training associated with the effective use of the gift of nuclear energy. On the other side are four experienced and well-educated nuclear energy professionals who among them can count close to 100 years…
Businessweek published an article titled Nuclear Reactor License Renewals May Be Slowed, Jaczko Says that made my heart race and made me (silently) string together a whole bunch of 4-letter words that I learned from my sailors. One of my favorite candidates has made a lot of headway in his presidential bid by proposing that…
My continuing discussion with Robert Bradley at Master Resource provides an opportunity to concisely document information about energy market competition gathered over several decades. I hope you continue to enjoy it, but part of the reason for publishing it here is to add to a growing web log (blog) about the topic that may be…
I have been fascinated by radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs), aka nuclear batteries, ever since I saw a display at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor sometime in the early 1990s. In that energy exhibit, there was a tiny RTG that was designed to power a cardiac pacemaker. What impressed me the most was…
This is a Public Service Announcement. November 30 Film and Panel at the Gund Institute The Energy Education Project of the Ethan Allen Institute has two members of our Board of Advisors on the panel at an event sponsored by the Gund Institute at University of Vermont (UVM). The film and panel start at 4…
The Richmond-Times Dispatch hosted a debate on November 15, 2011 titled Public Square: The debate over nuclear energy in Va.. Since I recently moved to Virginia specifically because of nuclear energy, I figured that attending the debate was a good way to invest my time. Aside: . I am one of several hundred people who…
On November 12, 2011, USA Today published an article titled Media allowed in tsunami-hit nuke plant that contained some classic elements of slant by selectively highlighting certain facts while ignoring others. The situation was a good news story. Tepco, the electric power utility company that owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station has reached a…
On November 3, 2011, Thalia Assuras of EnergyNow conducted an extended interview with NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko regarding Yucca Mountain, used fuel storage, the lengthening process of getting a license from the NRC, the reasons why nuclear license applicants are getting discouraged, and the possibility that the courts might direct the NRC and the DOE…
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran a story titled Exelon’s Rowe an unlikely booster for shale gas. The headline writer was wrong; John Rowe is one of the most motivated natural gas salesmen in the United States right now. Though he will not receive any commission checks for his efforts, he stands to profit immensely if…