Year: 2015

  • Musings from San Antonio, site of 2015 ANS meeting

    This post brought to you by the generous readers who provided support for my travel and lodging in San Antonio. I hope you enjoy the resulting reports. My first observation is to note that Texans drive fast. The Texas segment of I-10 between the eastern border and San Antonio is the first road I’ve been…

  • Stanford climate scientists promote 100% renewable revolution using natural gas money

    We’ve been repeatedly told that 97% of climate scientists agree that CO2 emissions from human activity are a major cause of climate change. Scientists who question that assertion are villified as “climate change deniers” and marginalized as representing a fringe point of view. They’re frequently accused of being paid by fossil fuel interests. Politicians, journalists…

  • Following the money: who’s funding Stanford’s Natural Gas Initative

    A few days ago, I wrote about Stanford University’s new Natural Gas Initiative (NGI) and described why I thought the existence of that program helped to explain why some prominent Stanford professors — like Mark Z. Jacobson — actively promote an unrealistic energy supply system dependent on 100% renewable energy. It’s my contention that the…

  • Nuclear – An essential part of the solution

    In just a few days, nuclear scientists, engineers and technologists will begin arriving in San Antonio, Texas for the 2015 annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society. The theme for this year’s meeting is Nuclear Technology: An Essential Part of the Solution. Dr. Dale Klein, a former Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and currently…

  • Hero worship of a corporate welfare king – Elon Musk

    A May 30, 2015 story in the Los Angeles Times titled Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies provides an enlightening look at the basis for Musk’s recent business success. His visionary — and generously subsidized — enterprises including Tesla, Solar City and SpaceX have resulted in his elevation to…

  • Stanford’s University’s New Natural Gas Initiative

    It is virtually impossible to get an educational institution to understand something when its revenue depends on its audience not understanding it. – Rod Adams, Stanford’s New Natural Gas Initiative, Atomic Insights, May 30, 2015 Aside: In case the allusion doesn’t work for you, the above is deliberately structured to align with a quote from…

  • Integrating six decades of learning about fast reactors

    I learned some important new concepts yesterday from two of the leaders of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project – John Sackett and Yoon Chang. Among other things, they informed me — as a member of a group of about 35 other attendees at a workshop titled Sustainable Nuclear Energy for the Future: Improving Safety,…

  • Tale of two Chinas – One surging forward, one retreating

    Two stories caught my attention this morning. One came from the Taipei Times, one from the Beijing Review. The first one focused on a future energy supply prognostication from an American “expert” who has a light educational and professional background in energy technology, manufacturing, engineering, economics and market dynamics. The second one documents recent progress…

  • Motivating natural gas pipeline construction into New England

    RBN Energy is one of my favorite sources of education about US energy markets. They publish a daily, song title-themed blog that focuses on a particular energy-related topic and provides useful analysis with a light, often humorous touch. That’s not easy to do when writing about a topic that is as controversial and impactful as…

  • Atomic Show #239 – Sarah Laskow and the LNT model

    In March 2015, Foreign Policy magazine published an article by Sarah Laskow titled The Mushroom Cloud and The X-Ray Machine. The article described the controversy over the radiation protection model known as the linear, no-threshold dose response. Ms. Laskow conducted some admirable literature research and talked with a number of well-known people. The ones that…

  • Go Nuclear site is now live

    Go Nuclear, Inc. has released a massively enhanced version of its website that is filled with informative videos, presentations, and articles about nuclear energy and radiation science. It is a place where one can easily lose track of time while exploring. Here is just one sample to whet your appetite. I hope Alan Waltar’s passionate…