E. F. Schumacher published a book titled Small is Beautiful in 1973 that has become one of the reference sources for ecologists and people interested in living on a human scale. In part, that book was inspired by the steady trend in the post-war era in which Schumacher lived towards building bigger and bigger companies…
MarketWatch.com posted a article titled Nuclear power plant operators rise on center-right win. Here is the article lede: FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — German stocks and nuclear power plant operators in particular rose, while solar-related companies dropped Monday after election results indicated that a center-right coalition will be formed. The September 27 German election provided Angela Merkel…
According a Reuters article titled Merkel wins German vote, on track for center-right government, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the leader of the Social Democrat Party, has admitted that his party has suffered a “bitter defeat”. The initial results indicate that Angela Merkel will be able to form a coalition that unites her center-right party with the Free…
A couple of days ago, I blogged about the interesting way that National Public Radio (NPR) produced a three part feature piece on natural gas that portrayed the extraction businesses involved in natural gas as powerless “little guys”. That blog post, like all Atomic Insights blog posts, was republished at The Energy Collective, where it…
The Thorium Energy Alliance is having a meeting in Washington, DC on October 19 and 20, 2009. I spoke to some of the people who plan to attend the meeting for Atomic Show #141 and also to one of the primary organizers of the meeting for Atomic Show #143. If you are interested in discussing…
There is little doubt that flying at high speeds in private or commercial aircraft is a power hungry endeavor that produces a large quantity of polluting emissions. This is one area where certain climate activists expose their hypocrisy because they are so addicted to flying that they do not recognize that their own activities have…
I learned a lot time ago that it can be difficult, but not impossible to change the course of a very large vessel that has momentum going in a particular direction. Even when someone determines the necessity of a course change, the safe rate of change for the turn will be dependent upon the speed…
John Kutsch is one of the key organizers for the Thorium Energy Alliance and is heading up preparations for the organization’s first face to face meeting in Washington on October 19 and 20. During our conversation we talked about the technology opportunity that brings the group together. They have a vision for a world with…
Clean Skies TV’s afternoon report for Friday, September 25, 2009 includes a substantial discussion between Tyler Suiter and Alex Flint, Senior Vice President of the Nuclear Energy Institute, about the politics of the Senate’s climate bill, also known as the Boxer-Kerry bill. It is encouraging to recognize that NEI has such a well informed and…
Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat often provides some terrific interviews with dignitaries who visit the Idaho National Laboratory. His most recent is a wide ranging interview with Dale Klein, the former Chairman of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Dr. Klein has remained on the Commission and continues his efforts in a number of key…
Tom Sanders is an advocate of building right sized reactor power systems to meet human needs. He is a leader of a team working on that technology at Sandia National Laboratory. He is also the President of the American Nuclear Society. He has been doing a lot of traveling lately, answering questions about his vision…
I have spent many hours listening to NPR radio stories while commuting back and forth from Annapolis to Washington since the summer of 2001. I enjoy the in-depth coverage and the lack of the usual kind of shouting commercials. There are times, however, when I get disappointed. This past week has been one of those…