One of my favorite readers is a high school science teacher from Kansas who blogs at Lone Pony. She recently sent me an email asking for my opinion on some recent articles about Iran. We thought it would be worth sharing the exchange publicly, so here goes. Question One of my concerns is the ignorance…
Shane and I discuss Peak Oil and the ways that nuclear power can help to alleviate the problems that will result if oil production rate peaks without a more capable alternative available. We specifically mention the work of Kenneth Deffeyes, the author of Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert’s Peak. In addition, we discussed certain…
Navin Nayak posted a provocative comment on the Environmental Action Blog titled Why Does the Nuclear Industry Bother? His premise is based on an assertion that nuclear power cannot compete in the energy business without subsidies. While I am not a nuclear industry spokesman and cannot answer the question that he asks for the industry,…
On 9 March 2006, Unistar Nuclear – a joint venture that includes Constellation Energy and Areva – issued a press release announcing the formation of an advisory board that will assist the company in its efforts to build and deploy a fleet of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Here is how Michael…
Shane and Rod talk about nuclear fuel recycling and ways to reduce the amount of waste that nuclear reactors produce. We also talk about the fact that there are rare materials with unique physical properties locked inside the fuel assemblies that have been removed from nuclear fission reactors. With a proper eye towards converting trash…
Several weeks ago, Shane Brown and I began recording a weekly chat about atomic energy topics for The Atomic Show, which is one of a growing line-up of special interest podcasts hosted by The Podcast Network. Here is the way that we describe the show: A couple of atomic geeks chatting about their favorite technology’s…
The Times-Journal (Ft. Payne Alabama) published a story written by Mark Harrison titled Nuclear plan key for jobs on 8 March 2006. The Tennessee Valley Authority and The Southern Company are discussing a partnership arrangement to develop the Bellefonte power plant site with two Westinghouse AP-1000 nuclear reactors. The project could bring as many as…
Shane explains how he learned how to scuba dive in New Mexico. Shane and Rod talk about biodiesel, alcohol fuel, Fischer-Trospch synthetic fuels, government subsidies for ethanol, using nuclear heat in synthetic fuels processing and some of the reasons for success for the anti-nuclear lobby. We also ended up talking about reasons for our atomic…
In this episode, Rod Adams and Shane Brown introduce themselves and their show concept. As a couple of self-proclaimed atomic geeks, they care deeply about sharing their knowledge with each other and the world of interested people. Shane is a computer programmer who earned his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering. Rod is a US Naval…
One of the rules that I have learned slowly over the years is that the people that write headlines have a very specialized skill that has its own set of rules. Their main job is to attract readers, not to provide information. Many people that are critical of the news media do not understand that…
The web site titled This is North Scotland published a short article about a recent Labor Party resolution favoring the construction of new nuclear power plants. The article stated that the engineering union Amicus and the National Union of Mineworkers support the notion that nuclear power must be included as part of a balanced energy…
One of you – my loyal and fascinating readers – sent in the following question – So what is the burnup limit, and do operators currently burn fuel all the way to the limit? The question follows along with the previous post about the quantity of waste produced by pebble bed reactors and the subsequent…