On April 28, 2011, Roland Kupers, a former Royal Dutch Shell executive and current visiting fellow at Oxford University, published an opinion piece titled The end of nuclear power that exposed his dislike of nuclear energy. Here is an example quote from that piece: That dream always contained the seeds of a nightmare. While the…
I am in a snarky mood this morning. Please forgive me while I try to explain the sources of my wry amusement – and my continuing worries that keep me from getting a good night’s sleep. Yesterday, I was in a conversation with a man who was explaining the recent changes in Nuclear Regulatory Commission…
On the 25th anniversary of the explosion that destroyed unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ralph Nader published a commentary in which he strongly supported the book titled Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment. As part of his opinion piece, he made the following statement: “Dr. Yablokov, you are…
Twenty-five years ago today, the operators at unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power station violated enough procedures and by-passed enough safety systems to cause their water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor to suffer a nuclear power excursion large enough to cause a steam explosion. The force of that steam explosion was strong enough to lift the lid…
Yesterday, I received a copy of a letter from Ted Rockwell, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), to the leaders of that organization. After a year of counseling others to be patient while he works through channels, he has decided to take off the gloves and directly challenge the decision processes…
This is a guest post by Ted Rockwell. He wrote it in 1998, but the information and opinions remain valid today. The words between the lines below are Ted’s. Begin guest post FEAR OF RADIATION IS KILLING PEOPLE AND ENDANGERING THE PLANET TOO Theodore Rockwell MPR Associates, Inc., U.S.A. ABSTRACT We are permitting tens of…
From April 14-16, I spent time with some amazing people getting reenergized about nuclear energy technologies. The occasion was the American Nuclear Society (ANS) 2011 Student Conference, held in Atlanta, GA, right in the heart of the continuing nuclear energy revival movement in the United States. More than 600 students from as far away as…
Mark Hertsgaard, the author of Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth, appeared on Democracy Now on Friday, April 15, 2011. He made several important statements that lead me to believe that he might be one of the next influential environmental writers to be swayed by evidence to become a nuclear energy supporter….
An old friend shared this classic speech on a nuclear energy focused email list. I tracked down Margaret Maxey and obtained her permission to reprint it for you. The thoughts expressed are too important to keep hidden in private emails. Begin guest post. The LNT Hypothesis: Ethical Travesties Presenter: Margaret N. Maxey, Ph.D. Professor, Biomedical…
Steve Kirsch is Silicon Valley entrepreneur (inventor of the optical mouse) and philanthropist who was once strongly opposed to the use of nuclear energy. About three years ago, he began seriously studying the technology and has completely changed his mind. I spoke with him on the Atomic Show in December 2008 and have maintained contact…
The overreaction and stoked fears about the events at Fukushima continues. One month ago today, I wrote an article titled Nuclear plant issues in Japan are the least of their worries that exposed my ignorance of the differences between various kinds of containment designs and was a bit too optimistic about the eventual releases of…
Inspired by Steve Aplin’s excellent post titled Nuclear exceptionalism: why is a nuclear fatality more noteworthy than a non-nuclear one? show # 165 focuses on the reasons why nuclear exceptionalism exists. We also talk about ways to change the tone of the discussion and actions that are already being done. Guests on this episode of…