Gerry Thomas, Professor of Molecular Pathology of the Imperial College of London, has a subspecialty in the study of the health effects of radiation. She strongly believes that “public involvement and information is a key part of academic research,” and she is “actively involved in the public communication of research, particularly with respect to radiation…
The wheels are in motion for an official review of radiation protection regulations at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Doctors who are radiation health specialists are challenging the NRC’s use of the linear, no-threshold (LNT) dose response model as the basis for those regulations and the associated direction to maintain radiation doses As Low As…
On Wednesday, June 24 Bloomberg BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) conducted a morning meeting titled A Chain Reaction: The Role of Nuclear Energy in New England’s Energy Mix at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, MA. The timing was fortuitous for me, my wife and I were visiting family in Maine the weekend before the…
Back in early May, I shared a story about giving a talk on nuclear energy to the engineering students at Sweet Briar College on the same day that the president of the school shocked the faculty and student body by announcing that the school was being closed. That story needs a follow-up. There is a…
Diablo Canyon nuclear power station is self sufficient for potable and pure water. It uses a modular reverse osmosis plant with pumps powered from the plant output and a number of parallel osmosis units that remove salt when supplied with pressurized water. The plant is licensed to a capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day,…
It has been a long standing absurdity that the clean development mechanisms approved by the Kyoto treaty to reduce the risk of climate change exclude nuclear energy. This year there is momentum building to reevaluate and change a rule that virtually eliminates the option for nations to use the most effective tool available to permanently…
Dan Yurman recently published a post titled Energy in New England focus of Bloomberg forum with Nuclear Matters that described an intriguing event sponsored by Bloomberg and Nuclear Matters. Here is an excerpt from his post: The proceedings will kick off with a conversation with John Kotek, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of…
I came across the following quote worth sharing. Another activity I enjoyed was the debating class. We were taught how to develop a case even if it was the antithesis of our belief and how to sway others to our viewpoint. I had been given an important skill that would stand me in good stead…
During an OPEC meeting in Vienna held in early June 2015, John Watson, the CEO of Chevron, the second largest oil and gas company in the United States, made a comment that deserves more attention and follow up from journalists. The context of the below comment was that Watson was explaining why his company will…
Scott Tinker, Director, Bureau of Economic Geology and creator of Switch was the final speaker during the plenary session on June 8, 2015 at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) annual meeting. As usual, his talk was face paced, well delivered and full of important information about energy. His segment about the challenges and opportunities associated…
The UAE has made amazing progress in moving from a country almost totally dependent on burning natural gas (some of which is imported) to provide domestic electricity to one where a rapidly growing portion of its electricity from 2017 onward will be produced in zero fossil fuel, no CO2 emission nuclear fission reactors. In 2009,…
Tom Fanning is always a good choice to speak to a gathering of nuclear professionals who might need a little bit of confidence building. Here is a quote from the start of his talk during the ANS 2015 opening plenary session. I’m going to give you the punchline and that is that nuclear must be…