Atomic Show Bonus Audio – Ben Heard’s Answers to Audience Questions

On November 12, 2014, Ben Heard, the publisher of Decarbonise SA, delivered a talk titled “Beyond our Shores: A visual world tour exploring Australia’s nuclear responsibilities” at Brisbane City Hall. It was part of the Brisbane Global CafĂ©, an international thought leadership event leading into the G20 meeting in 2014. Ben’s talk was recorded and…

Should groups that celebrate loss of 600 MWe of reliable, ultra-low emission nuclear be called “environmental?”

Greenpeace USA published a blog post on December 22, a week before the scheduled shutdown of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station titled ONE LESS FUKUSHIMA-TYPE NUCLEAR REACTOR THREATENING THE U.S. that celebrates the fact that New England is losing another reliable, natural gas-free, CO2-free, electricity production facility. The blog’s author, Jim Riccio, is proud…

Atomic Show #231 – Grandparents for nuclear energy

For Sunday December 21, 2014, I sent out a standard invite to my list of the usual suspects for an Atomic Show round table. As the responses came in, I realized that random chance had ensured that every one of the people on the call was a grandparent. It seemed kind of appropriate to talk…

ICYMI – James Webb is exploring a run for President in 2016

James Webb is a successful author, lawyer, former Marine infantry officer, and graduate of the US Naval Academy class of 1968. In addition to his service in combat during the Vietnam war, he has a track record of civilian public service as an Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan…

Presentations from NAS BEIR VIII Planning Meeting Posted

On November 17, 2014, I attended a meeting at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington organized to determine if there is a need to convene an eighth committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VIII). The presentations given during that meeting have been published on line at Planning Towards the BEIR…

Putting excitement back into nuclear technology development

Josh Freed, Third Way‘s clean energy vice president, has published a thoughtful, graphically enticing Brookings Essay titled Back to the Future: Advanced Nuclear Energy and the Battle Against Climate Change. It focuses on Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie of Transatomic Power, but it also makes it abundantly clear that those two visionary entrepreneurs are examples…

Ben Heard and Gordon McDowell collaborate to produce Nuclear Power for Australia

Ben Heard is one of the most articulate, skilled presenters working for the expansion of nuclear energy. Gordon McDowell is a skilled videographer who has produced a number of useful, informative videos about nuclear fission, normally with a focus on the potential of thorium fueled reactors. The two talented advocates have recently produced and published…

Atomic Show #230 – Alex Epstein, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Alex Epstein, the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, recently published The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels. Trained as a philosopher, Alex describes himself as anti-pollution but pro-development. He believes that the standard of value for any development or technology should be its impact for human beings and that the green standard of non-impact…

60 Minutes on coal ash – muted outrage, lots of smiles and nods

On December 7, 2014, 60 Minutes, the venerable investigative reporting television show that has been on the air since 1968, aired a segment about Duke Energy’s Dan River coal ash spill, which occurred on February 2, 2014. That large release of coal waste was a big topic in local newspapers and television shows in my…