My friends who advocate for increased beneficial use of nuclear energy often engage in discussions about techniques for responding to critics who frequently make up their arguments as the go along. We were taught in school that it is impolite and ineffective to engage in “ad hominem” attacks during a debate and to keep our…
Another Friday, Another Episode of “As the Chairman of the NRC Turns” On Friday, April 27, 2012, Congressman Fred Upton, Chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, released a letter addressed to Chairman Jaczko of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That letter, cosigned by 23 fellow US Congressmen, asked Chairman…
I just spent a fascinating couple of hours watching an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) documentary titled I Can Change Your Mind About..Climate. Aside: Before that turns you off by making you think that the documentary lasts for hours, please understand that it can take me a long time to watch a show while preparing a…
Barry Brook and Cory Bradshaw are the co-directors of the Global Ecology Lab. In less than three minutes, they provide an understandable picture of the lab’s mission and it’s scientific challenges. In the above video, Dr. Brook and Dr. Bradshaw explain the complexity of the systems they model along with the importance of using accurate…
On April 22, 2012, the Christian Science Monitor published a lengthy feature article titled With all this natural gas, who needs oil? that helps illustrate the extent of America’s current love affair with methane, a fuel that we have been using commercially for about 150 years. According to some of the people quoted in the…
Happy Earth Day, everyone. Here is a message from the employees at Energy Northwest that should start your day off right. After watching, please celebrate the day by planting a tree. If planting a tree just does not seem to be enough to make the world the kind of place that you want for your…
Following a flurry of news reports about the renomination of Ms. Kristine Svinicki, one of his colleagues at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko decided to hold a previously unscheduled press conference at the National Press Club. Inquiring minds, like mine, are wondering why he made that decision. First of all, I…
Meredith Angwin, the energetic and caring pronuclear blogger at Yes Vermont Yankee shared the following message. It deserves wider notice so that the individual events attract the kinds of audiences that can make a difference in direction that the discussions take. Three upcoming events need your attention and support. The local (New England) grid depends…
I happened across a link to a fascinating blog that started publishing in March titled things worse than nuclear power. The bloggers behind the site provide a hint about their identity with a cryptic subtitle “the take from a couple of MIT engineers”. The profile linked to the site provides more details indicating that the…
The latest episode in the distracting soap opera at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has provided more fodder for the political pundits in their efforts to turn nuclear energy deployment and regulation into a partisan issue. Fortunately, some of the players seem to understand that the subject is too important and has too many nuances…
During my recent low production periods for new posts on Atomic Insights, I received some well intentioned advice from a frequent commenter – he told me that it would be less frustrating for me to maintain Atomic Insights if I focused more on innovations in nuclear energy than on the efforts of competitive energy suppliers…
One of the more contentious political issues in south central Virginia is whether or not to allow mining at the largest known deposit of uranium east of the Mississippi River. That deposit, at Coles Hill in Chatham is located just slightly more than an hour’s drive from my current residence. It is estimated to contain…