A couple of weeks ago, I participated on theWatt Podcast. One of the other participants on that show, Mark Seall, is the founder of TalkClimateChange.com and also writes for Green Options, Pro Blogger, and Eco Worldly. He is a Brit living in Switzerland, has his MBA and normally writes about environmental issues in Switzerland, the…
Janis Mara of the Contra Costa Times published a summary article about the conflicted response to nuclear power in California titled Nuclear War in California. It is worth a read. Please remember as you read it, however, that good journalists work very hard not to reveal their own stance on an issue. That is why…
As a child of the 1970s, I vividly remember waiting in gas lines during the 1974 Arab Oil Embargo – in my Dad’s car – and during the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis induced gasoline shortage. That second time was when I was in my second year at the Naval Academy and I was living about…
I will admit it – I am a NIMBY when it comes to certain kinds of power projects. I do not like soot, smog, or endless coal trains. Natural gas pipelines have scared me since I watched a friend get scorched while lighting a pilot light and that concern really increased when I learned about…
According to a March 24, 2008 article in the Guardian titled We need more nuclear plants to avoid blackouts, say German power chiefs, German power industry executives are working to encourage discussion of the current agreement to phase out nuclear power. They point out future supply challenges and state that shutting down their already operating…
Robert Hargraves, the man behind the Pebble Bed Reactor Blog, has been putting a lot of time and energy into developing an adult continuing education course for Dartmouth College’s ILEAD program. The course is titled Energy Policy and Environmental Choices: Rethinking Nuclear Power. Bob started teaching the course last week and will be posting his…
The Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ is a highly anticipated new aircraft with an advertised fuel consumption that is about 20% lower than competitive aircraft. Its designers claim that success based on replacing a large portion of the aircraft’s most weighty components with carbon fiber composite materials that have higher specific strengths – the same strength for…
Ben Kenney is the host of theWatt Podcast a well established and popular discussion show about all things energy. We talked about power decisions in Canada, CANDU technology, and New Brunswick’s electricity export plans. Ben Kenney is studying for his PhD in chemical engineering, with a focus on solid oxide fuel cells. He expects to…
Marysville California is about 20 miles due north of Sacramento, the state capitol. Not surprisingly – based on the paper’s name and location, it is a publication that notices when politicians speak, especially when they say something newsworthy. In a recent editorial, the paper talked about the changing public perception regarding nuclear power and the…
My Google Alert on new nuclear power plants pointed me to a very useful article by Jack Spencer titled What Finland Can Teach US About Power. It is worth a close read. Unfortunately, I have run out of time this morning – instead of blogging I spent the time processing another episode of The Atomic…
Howard Shaffer is a Rickover selected former Navy nuclear officer, he helped to build and operate several plants in the US and Taiwan, and volunteered throughout his career to share nuclear information with anti-nuclear advocates. Howard Shaffer is a retired nuclear engineer who received his initial nuclear training and experience as a member of the…
Dr. Patrick Moore of the CASE (Clean and Safe Energy) Coalition is a former Greenpeace leader who is now a strong pro-nuclear power advocate. The popular blog Capitol Valley – Views on technology and public policy from both coasts recently interviewed Dr. Moore in a Dupont Circle cafe. You can read the comment and hear…