On October 9, 2013, David Letterman interviewed Mark Z. Jacobson, a leading proponent of a 100% renewable energy future. He described Jacobson as a man with a plan that should make us all more optimistic; that plan describes a world that has a completely changed energy supply system that does not threaten us with catastrophic…
IEEE Spectrum recently published an article titled Former NRC Chairman Says US Nuclear Industry is Going Away that included a few choice quotes about Greg Jaczko that put me into a feisty mood. As regular Atomic Insights readers know; I have no love and virtually no respect for the man. He has spent at least…
In the past half dozen years, the term “small modular reactor (SMR)” has entered the nuclear energy lexicon. Numerous projects have been initiated to develop various concepts, all aimed at producing nuclear reactor based power plants that are small enough to be built in a factory setting to take advantage of concepts like series manufacturing…
The October 8, 2013 episode of Democracy Now! featured a fascinating conversation with James Marriott, Anna Galkina, and Timothy Mitchell. The three guests shared a passion of mine; they have obviously invested a great deal of time investigating the way that oil and gas dependence influence power politics, economics and the condition of our environment….
(Note: If you are impatient and do not want to watch cute photos of penguins, skip to 19:06 to learn more about the reasons why the PM-3A, a 1,500 kilowatt nuclear electricity generator and process heat supply system, was such a valuable contributor to sustained Antarctic research.) Nearly all of the images that are used…
While preparing a presentation for delivery at a local college, I ran across a video of Florida Power & Light’s August 10, 2013 demolition of the historic Cutler power plant in Palmetto Bay, Florida. Cutler Plant’s tall smokestacks played a role in my early interest in nuclear energy. My father worked for FP&L as the…
It is time for a career change. For the foreseeable future, I am going to write books and articles for a living. This career move has been a long time in the making. During my first interview for a nuclear-related job, Admiral Rickover asked me, “English major? Why are you an English major?” I responded…
Westinghouse seems intent on taking advantage of the growing capabilities of the internet to distribute effective messages about the value of its products. It may be difficult to explain the benefits of a nuclear reactor producing 1,110 MW of reliable emission-free electricity in a 15 or 30 second TV spot. It might also be difficult…