Useful online book – Radiation and Health

The health effects of low level radiation are a continuing topic of conversation here and in many other places around the web. The Establishment view is known as the Linear No Threshold (LNT) assumption. Using that model, which was first applied to radiation standards development in 1956, every dose is assumed to impart risk to…

Plant Vogtle expansion is big news

It’s time to help people outside of Georgia and South Carolina understand exactly what kind of infrastructure development they are missing.

Muller influenced the BEAR to adopt the Linear No Threshold (LNT) assumption in 1956

Hermann Muller, the 1946 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine, insisted that there was no threshold of risk from ionizing radiation. His opinion has had a long lasting influence on standards for radiation dose. He was wrong. History is complicated. Influential people often impose their will with long-lasting results. The stories can be difficult…

Realistic dose limits and better predictive models will help Fukushima recovery

World Nuclear News published an article titled Consistency required for Fukushima return that mentions several topics worth increased discussion. It mentions the report recently completed by the IAEA that complimented Japan on its efforts to decontaminate areas that were affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station radioactive material releases. Then it went on to…

Thorium Energy Alliance Conference - 2014

Thorium Energy Alliance Conference – May 29-30

The Thorium Energy Alliance recently announced the dates and agenda for its 2014 annual conference (TEAC-2014). I had the privilege of attending the first TEAC and meeting some passionate, technically astute people. I’m still in touch with some of the friends I first met there. My schedule has not allowed me to attend the last…

ExxonMobil, XTO, and climate change strategy

On January 24, 2014, the The Society of Environmental Journalists and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program presented a panel discussion titled The Year Ahead in Environment and Energy. I found out about it via this tweet from Andy Revkin: Video: Enviro journalists on Keystone, gas boom, western drought, much more at…

On Germany, coal and carbon

By Paul Lorenzini Germany’s nuclear phase-out has an obvious and unavoidable consequence: they will burn more fossil fuels and emit more carbon. They may succeed in lowering carbon emissions using some artifact (comparisons to some historical year) but only a fool would contend that their carbon emissions will be not be higher than they otherwise…

Natural gas price spikes: More than “pipeline capacity”

After posting copies of the energy price charts for January 22, 2014 and highlighting the three delivery points in the eastern US where daily spot market natural gas prices have skyrocketed to more than $70.00/MMBTU (1840 euros/1000 cubic meters), I received the following comment: Doesn’t this have more to do with there not being enough…

Natural gas is only cheap if you don’t need it very much

How many times in the past five years have you heard the one about the way that new fracking and horizontal drilling technology have created long term abundance of cheap natural gas in North America? I just took this snapshot of daily energy prices as of January 22, 2014. (The daily energy price page will…

VC Summer makes impressive progress during 2013

SCANA has produced a terrific short video that provides an update on the progress they and their suppliers have made in building VC Summer units 2 and 3 during 2013. It’s hard not to be encouraged and impressed by the people, the machinery and the equipment being assembled into two powerful new clean energy sources….

Where’s the Wind When You Need It?

The Bonneville Power Authority service area has more than 4,000 MW of wind energy capacity installed. They also provide a web-based information service that is updated every five minutes that reports on the service area load, thermal generation, hydro generation, and wind generation. Here is a picture reporting those numbers for the period from Jan…

Scientists for Accurate Radiation Information – Terrific reference site

There is a new group that you need to know about – Scientists for Accurate Radiation Information. Unlike another well known group that uses the word “scientists” in its title, the member list for this group includes a majority of people who actually have credentials and perform real, peer-reviewed research in the field in which…