Robert Rapier, a Dutch renewable energy advocate who blogs on The Energy Collective made a comment on a post titled Nuclear Power in Tiny Package Versus Nuclear is Huge that was cross posted from Atomic Insights (with permission) to that site. Robert suggested that I take part in a discussion on Salon.com associated with an…
According to a detailed report by Bloomberg.com titled Obama Rejects Nuclear Waste Site After 20-Year Fight (Update1) the current Administration has determined that Yucca Mountain will never open. I am not shedding any tears about that development; I have thought it was a huge waste of time, talent and money for many years. However, it…
Michael is a good friend and a dedicated, caring man who works hard to make the world a better place. He is also a nuke. Recently he shared a story about an occasion where he had the opportunity to meet and talk with young Iranian engineers and scientists that needs to be shared more widely….
Jeremy Whitlock is an old friend from my earliest days as a web based atomic energy advocate. We first met online in the early to mid 1990s before either of us began publishing our first web sites (his is a terrific resource on CANDU reactors called Canadian Nuclear FAQ). Dr. Whitlock and I have met…
A friend sent me a link to an NY Times Green Inc. blog post titled The Coen Brothers Do Clean Coal with a new commercial from Reality.org. Since the clip is from YouTube, I figured there is no reason for them to have all of the fun. Let me know what you think:
It does get frustrating sometimes to engage in civil conversations with ideologically static people who refuse to recognize illogic. The other day I was trying to explain to someone that nuclear fission has the demonstrated potential for be the lowest cost source of reliable electricity outside of hydroelectric power. After all, the numbers are readily…
A few days ago, I stumbled into a discussion on Green Party Watch about Progress Energy’s proposed plant in Levy County Florida. That discussion turned rather interesting, especially once I was able to get my comments through the spam filter. One of the commenters, who turned out to be one of the major contributors on…
One of the debate challenges that pro-nuclear advocates face is that the forces opposed to using nuclear energy have some glib spokesmen who have been able to insert so much chaff into the argument that casual observers get completely befuddled. One of the more difficult rhetorical tools to overcome is the idea that nuclear power…
One of the arrows often slung against nuclear fission power is that the technology is only useful in extra large sizes. For people of the small is beautiful mentality, that thought provides a strong negative connotation and a reason for battling against the forces of wealth and power represented by centralized power stations. (Of course,…
It continues to frustrate me that mainstream environmental groups cannot bring themselves to change their political alignment to include acceptance that nuclear fission power is a real alternative to fossil fuel combustion. I feel like I have so much in common with most members of the Sierra Club – I love the mountains, spend as…
Melanie Warner wrote a 2000 word article for the business section of the New York Times titled Is America Ready to Quit Coal, that was published online on February 14, 2009. (There is also a note on the article that indicates that a version of it appeared in the print edition on February 15, 2009…
The Guardian UK Observer has an article in the February 15, 2008 edition titled Coal at centre of fierce new climate battle. According to this article, some energy “experts” believe that countries like China and India are destined to burn coal in ever increasing quantities simply because it exists. But last week British energy experts…