Atomic Show #193 – Nuclear Wrap Up 2012

On Sunday, December 30, 2012, I gathered a group of atomic advocates to talk about their favorite nuclear energy stories from 2012. Participants in the discussion included: Gwyneth Cravens, author of Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy Will Davis from Atomic Power Review, ANS Nuclear Cafe and Fuel Cycle Week Meredith…

Dieter Helm – Coal Critic, Atomic Agnostic, Natural Gas Enthusiast

Dieter Helm’s The Carbon Crunch: How We’re Getting Climate Change Wrong–and How to Fix It has the potential to be an influential energy policy book, not just for the UK but for the rest of Europe and the United States. Helm has been making the rounds to promote the book and recently gave a concise…

NRC Chairman writes about enhancing safety after a visit to Fukushima, Japan

On December 21, 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) blog posted a letter from Chairman Macfarlane titled A Visit to Japan: Reflections from the Chairman. She has recently returned from a trip to Japan and a visit to the evacuated areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Here are her concluding thoughts: On…

Radioimmunontherapy (RIT) for follicular lymphoma

Andrew Schorr, the founder and host of Patient Power, interviewed Dr. Anton Hagenbeek of the University Medical Center Utrecht Netherlands about the result of clinical trials of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) to combat follicular lymphoma. The treatment uses a monoclonal antibody that is covalently bound to Y-90, which is a beta emitter. The monoclonal antibody selectively binds…

Continuing the battle against climate skeptics in the nuclear community

My post about fighting climate skeptics in the nuclear community has attracted some rather passionate discussion. I encourage you all to visit that post and read through the comments to learn a little more about several different points of view. This discussion is not about picking a side in a bipolar battle, but about making…

Fighting climate change skeptics in the pro nuclear community

Discussions about science and technology are often colored by opinion, world views, and political alliances. Though everyone is entitled to their opinion but not their own facts, it is nearly impossible to remove bias, even in a technical discussion, because everyone has a tendency to pick which facts they prefer to introduce into an argument….

LFTR story told from the perspective of a bright 7th grader

Though I believe that Katie has received some inaccurate technical information about solid fueled reactors, I cannot argue with the effectiveness of her presentation skills. Please enjoy the below series of videos about the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR). It is one of many alternative ways to use the incredible energy density available in the…

Used Nuclear Fuel Is Not Waste; It Can be Recycled – Argonne Video

The ANS Nuclear Cafe recently posted the above video in a post titled Nuclear Cafe Matinee: Nuclear Recycling in 4 Minutes. It is a useful example of the kind of information that needs to be made more accessible to the public. I hope you share it widely, but more importantly, I hope it inspires you…

NRC believes 1-2 year grid collapse in USA is credible scenario

On December 18, 2012, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a notice in the Federal Register (74788-74798 vol, 77, No. 243) announcing that it would consider in the rulemaking process the issues raised in a petition (Docket No. PRM-50-96: NRC-2011-0069) asserting that existing regulations for civilian nuclear power facilities are inadequate to assure…

Merchants of Doubt about nuclear energy

The vast majority of technical specialists in the field of energy production favor the use of nuclear energy and recognize that it is a safe source of power that produces no direct greenhouse gases. Even when measured on a complete lifecycle basis, CO2 emissions from nuclear energy are roughly equal to the emissions from wind…

Atomic Show #192 – Zero Carbon Options for South Australia

Ben Heard is one of the growing number of environmental professionals who have seriously evaluated all options for reducing mankind’s annual production rate of carbon dioxide and discovered that the best tool available is nuclear fission energy. As a part of his continuing journey of discovery, he worked with Brown and Pang to produce a…