Businessweek published an article titled Nuclear Reactor License Renewals May Be Slowed, Jaczko Says that made my heart race and made me (silently) string together a whole bunch of 4-letter words that I learned from my sailors. One of my favorite candidates has made a lot of headway in his presidential bid by proposing that…
There have been a number of recent articles about the evacuated area that surrounds the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. One in particular that caught my attention was an article published in the Washington Post titled Around the Fukushima plant, a world left behind. The problem is that the contamination levels outside of the gate…
My continuing discussion with Robert Bradley at Master Resource provides an opportunity to concisely document information about energy market competition gathered over several decades. I hope you continue to enjoy it, but part of the reason for publishing it here is to add to a growing web log (blog) about the topic that may be…
My discussion with Robert Bradley at Master Resource regarding the relative value of investments in natural gas generation versus nuclear generation continues to result in some interesting exchanges worth additional visibility and comment. Here are some of the recent posts: Robert Bradley { 12.03.11 at 9:47 pm } Rod: $4/MMBtu natural gas–how can nuclear compete…
By: Cal Abel (submitted for publication on December 2, 2011, but slightly delayed by an inept editor.) Today marks the 69th anniversary of CP-1 criticality and 54th anniversary of Shippingport criticality. Perhaps with too much time to think I wrote some thoughts and observations about my brief experience with nuclear power. It began in 1996…
By: Ted Rockwell Introduction: This op-ed was originally submitted to the Washington Post. The editors determined that the proper place for it was as a letter to the editor, but of course it is much too detailed and lengthy for that venue. Since the Post did not choose to do anything with it, Ted gave…
The advertiser supported media cannot bring itself to admit that the hype and fear mongering that they indulged in for weeks after the Great North East Japan earthquake and tsunami were based on wild “worst case scenario” fantasies. Here is a recent report that carried the following attention grabbing headline: In meltdown, Japan dodged even…
Robert Bradley at Master Resource has responded to my criticism of his continued dismissal of nuclear energy in favor of burning more hydrocarbons. He kindly visited the Atomic Insights comment thread to let me know that he had responded. Here is his response from a comment that he posted on his blog titled Remembering ‘Green’…
On December 2, 1942, a small team of scientists and technicians methodically pulled neutron absorbing rods out of a carefully stacked pile of graphite bricks and natural uranium/uranium oxide spheres. The pile has been assembled in just a few weeks with a total project budget in the range of a few hundred thousand dollars. The…
I have an important request for Atomic Insights readers. Our old friend, Arnie Gundersen, has once again violated the admonition that it is better to remain silent and thought to be a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. In this recent video, he describes how he was commissioned by a group…
By: Donald Jones, P.Eng. There is a widely held belief that commercial nuclear-electric plants are only capable of baseload operation when in fact they can be more flexible than a natural gas-fired generating station. This belief has led the Ontario government to restrict nuclear generation to 50 percent of total demand, in its Long-Term Energy…