Making Deserts Bloom – Nuclear Power in the Middle East Shane and I chatted about recent announcements by Morocco, Algeria, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia that they have been talking with the International Atomic Energy Agency about developing nuclear power programs. All of the countries have indicated that they are interested in using nuclear…
Yesterday I stumbled across a great headline from an unusual source Nuclear Power for Everyone!. (The stumbling occurred via one of my usual methods – the link to the story was delivered to me by my daily Google alert which searches news sources on the web for “new nuclear power plants”.) The fact that I…
On November 2, 2006, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Rodney Ewing, a professor in the Nuclear Engineering and Geological Sciences Departments at the University of Michigan. We had a wide ranging conversation starting with his research involving materials for packaging used nuclear materials. The impetus of my invitation to Dr. Ewing was…
Interview with Professor Rodney Ewing – Department of Geological Science and Nuclear Engineering at the University of Michigan On November 2, 2006, I chatted with Professor Rodney Ewing of the University of Michigan. Dr. Ewing has been studying methods for disposal of used nuclear materials for more than 25 years. He made a recent speech…
In Northwest Alabama there is growing interest in the prospect of new jobs tied to the Second Atomic Age. According to an article titled Nuclear future published on November 6, 2006, there is the potential for 90,000 new jobs associated with building new reactors during the period from 2007-2011. The source of that estimate, according…
The TimesOnline published an article on November 4, 2006 titled Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear with the following by-line: “Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor”. After reading the article, I realized the significance of the fact that the author of the story was the diplomatic editor. The six countries mentioned in the article –…
It has been a tantalizing target for more than two years. In the early fall of 2004, China let it be known that it was interested in purchasing four large nuclear power reactor plants from international suppliers. The identified field of competitors from the early stages of the project included Westinghouse, Areva, and Atomstroyexport. (See,…
Interview with Dr. Regis Matzie – Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Westinghouse. On November 2, 2006, Rod Adams talked with Dr. Regis Matzie, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Westinghouse. Dr. Matzie has been a key participant in the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor and several other advanced nuclear power system development…
On November 2, 2006, I had the privilege of talking with Regis Matzie, Westinghouse Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. The occasion was an interview conducted for The Atomic Show, a weekly (most of the time) podcast hosted by The Podcast Network. Dr. Matzie talked to me about the current status of the Pebble…
Now here is a headline that makes it fun to wake up in the morning and turn on the computer – Atomic jobs explosion. The story was published on November 3, 2006 on the web site of The Australian in the Features section. Interestingly enough, a link to the story shares the publication’s home page…
Wattenblog: I do not ignore it, at all… Ben Wattenberg, the host of Think Tank, a PBS show, has been blogging since mid summer, 2006. He has some interesting ideas on a lot of topics including nuclear energy. Here is a quote from one of his posts from August, when such thoughts generally pass through…
The Bulgarian Belene nuclear power plant facility was begun in 1984, but never completed. In 2005, Bulgaria decided to renew construction and finish the planned dual unit plant. It invited international bids and received packages from two consortia, one led by the Russian firm Atomstroyexport that includes Siemens and Areva, and one led by the…