Changing coverage of nuclear power

Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes published a blog on Sunday, February 10, 2008 titled News media sees nuclear in a new light that is worth a look. In the article, he provides several links to stories supporting his thesis of the fact that the mainstream media is starting to take a new look…

Atomic Show 81 – More than 100 years of nuclear experience on a phone call

On Sunday, February 10, I got together with four of my favorite nuclear industry correspondents for a chat about the current state of affairs in the electric power industry. You can listen to the show at The Atomic Show #081 – Five friendly atomic geeks. The guests on the show included: John Wheeler – host…

The Atomic Show #081 – Five friendly atomic geeks

John Wheeler, Kirk Sorensen, Kelly Taylor, Robert Margolis and Rod Adams talk about nuclear news as of February 10, 2008. Topics include Indian Point, dash to gas, new plants, anti-nuclear antics Virtual round table discussion with four guests whose total nuclear experience is more than 100 years. John Wheeler – host of This Week in…

Atomic Rod planning a visit to ANS Student Conference 2008

One of my favorite memories from my continuing quest to share my ideas about small, inherently safe nuclear power plants was a time in 1994 when I visited the University of Wisconsin in Madison for an ANS student conference. To this day, I keep in touch with several people that I met during that conference….

NRU shows the need to replace legalist focus with technical focus

During the last three months, there has been a significant controversy in Canada about the National Research Universal (NRU) – a fifty year old 135 MWth nuclear research reactor that is a primary source of several important medical isotopes. The story is a complicated one that deserves some thoughtful investigation and understanding. It is also…

Finnish industry planning for 2-3 more nukes

Even though the Olkiluoto plant in Finland has experienced the typical first of a kind project delays and budget expansions, Finnish industry is working on plans for an additional 2 or 3 new nuclear power plants. According to an article titled Two More Nuclear Units To Be Sought published by YLE.fi the main reason for…

Heritage Foundation comments on 2009 Energy Budget

The Heritage Foundation published a blog titled Less Is More for Energy In Bush’s Budget on February 4, 2008. The entry talks about the budget items submitted by the Administration for energy in 2009. Heritage likes the idea of spending large sums of money on Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and likes the fact that…

MidAmerican Nuclear Energy finishes due diligence in Idaho

I have published a couple of comments about MidAmerican Nuclear Energy, a company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle. The unit was investigating the possibility of building a nuclear power plant in western Idaho that would probably sell most of its power output in the Pacific Northwest markets. Last week, MidAmerican Energy Holdings…

Constellation Energy tells Maryland that it wants fair treatment

CNNMoney published an article on January 30, 2008 that would surprise anyone who was active in nuclear politics in the 1990s and then stopped paying attention. The brief article, titled Constellation Energy Challenges Md’s Regulatory Environment informed readers that the company was going to take a proactive stance about any delaying tactics that might impede…

Two interpretations of the fight against the plutonium economy

Why does anyone oppose nuclear fuel recycling and breeder reactors? The vocal arguments against recycling nuclear fuel focused on weapons and the concept of nuclear nonproliferation. It was a major topic in the mid 1970s with a large political impact. Part of the stimulus that brought the issue center stage was a test conducted in…

Depleted Cranium – The Top Ten Things Environmentalists Need to Learn

A friend sent me a link to a well written and thought provoking post on Depleted Cranium titled The Top Ten Things Environmentalists Need to Know. I encourage you to go read it and the lengthy discussion that follows. (Thanks DV8 2XL) Here is an example from the thread of responses. (Of course, I have…