Technical job opportunities at American nuclear power plants

I remain baffled about why so many people who consider themselves to be political liberals fight the use of nuclear energy. It is not only an emission-free, reliable, low cost power source with a demonstrated record of safety, it is also a source of some excellent, career employment at wages that allow people to raise…

Is the NRC the “gold standard” of nuclear regulation or the “DMV standard”?

On October 13, 2011 the Reuters news service published an article titled NRC delays reactor certification to study Japan damage that led with the following paragraph. WILMINGTON, N.C., Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification of new reactor technology has been delayed by the agency’s evaluation of the earthquake and tsunami damage to…

95% disagree with “Beyond Nuclear”. Let’s make it 99%

One of the more powerful concepts that I studied in college was called “groupthink.” The curriculum developers in the history department at the US Naval Academy thought it was important for people in training to become leaders in the US Navy learn to seek counsel and advice from as broad a range of sources as…

Ed Markey, LNG and antinuclear activity

I have frequently wondered why Representative Ed Markey is such a powerful antinuclear activist. The mystery has not been just trying to understand why he is so actively opposed to nuclear energy, but how he accumulated so much legislative power so early in his career. A few days ago, I started piecing together some interesting…

Journalism reviewer “frustrated” by AP series on nuclear plant aging issues

The Columbia Journalism Review has published an article titled A Frustrating AP Series on Nuclear Safety that analyses the four part series of “investigative” reports published during June of 2011. Here is an example quote from the article: But the AP series, while it tackles a critically important public policy issue, suffers from lapses in…

Is Opposition to the Nuclear Renaissance Unwittingly Assisting Al Qaeda?

Daniel Yergin is one of the most informed and perceptive energy analysts in the world. His recently released book titled The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World is a densely packed political and economic history lesson. It is a worthy follow-on to one of the most dogeared and frequently reread books…

SQUG spent decades on seismic (earthquake) risk evaluations – effort continues

The six months since Fukushima has brought out a certain class of professional worriers who ignore history to fret about topics that have already been the source of concern for many years. In this particular case, the worriers want to assert that nuclear power plants are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of earthquakes, which are…

Smoking gun part 26 – Coal lobbies versus National Reactor Testing Station

Smoking gun part 26 – Coal lobbies versus National Reactor Testing Station

Proving the Principle provides some wonderful and inspiring stories about the days when the United States had a place where atomic tinkerers could explore new ideas and test those ideas with real reactors and real materials. It also provides some insights about the economically and politically motivated reasons that a place with those characteristics no…