On Thursday (December 10, 2015), the Virginia chapter of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) held its traditional annual joint meeting with the Virginia chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The evening’s invited speaker was Marshall Cohen, who became the first full time director of the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium (VNEC) in July…
Bottom line up front. Atomic fuel utilization facilities should not be subjected to the export control regime that is supposed to be focused on special nuclear materials production facilities. Instead, utilization facility exports should be subjected to rules similar to those that apply to other advanced technology exports like aircraft, computers, and communications equipment. The…
I’m hoping to start a firestorm. Here’s a burning question that won’t allow me to sleep, so I’m going to be really selfish and try to share it with the world so that more people can lose some sleep in the process of trying to answer it. It’s a complicated question that has a number…
Last week was one in which the words nuclear, energy and innovation came together in more places and in more contexts that in any other week I can readily recall. On Monday, November 30, President Obama, President Hollande and several other world leaders introduced Mission Innovation, which is a non binding pledge by the leaders…
During a press conference held in Paris on December 2, 2015, Dr. James Hansen provided an explanation of what he called a simple market based approach to address CO2 emissions. He suggests that a world wide fee on all hydrocarbon fuels could be assessed at the domestic mine or port of entry. His proposed fee…
On November 19, 2015, the Nuclear Innovation Alliance formally announced its existence. The group, based in Cambridge, MA, has the following mission description: The NIA’s mission is to lead advanced nuclear energy innovation. The NIA assembles companies, investors, experts, and stakeholders to advance nuclear energy innovation and enable innovative reactor commercialization through favorable energy policy…
On Thursday, November 19, 2015, I interviewed Dr. Pete Pappano, vice president of fuel development for X-Energy. As described in X-Energy introduced its company and first product to Virginia chapter of ANS, X-Energy is a start-up company based in Maryland that is developing a modular high temperature gas cooled reactor. Each module will produce 50…
John Holdren holds what might be the longest complete title available in the current Administration. He serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In his role as an…
On November 6, 2015, a Friday afternoon, the White House hosted a Summit on Nuclear Energy. The seats in the conference room had been filled before much information about the event had been released, but the organizers provided a live stream on the web. That turned out to have been at least as informative as…
During the November 2, 2015 Monday Night Football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts, a small group of protesters rappelled from the upper deck and unfurled a banner directed at Bank of America, one of the largest employers in Charlotte, NC, the site of the game. The banner said “BoA Dump Dominion…
Tatra Summit is an initiative of the Center for European Affairs (CEA), begun with the immodest goal of shaping the future of Europe. Launched in 2013, it periodically brings together a diverse group of leaders to discuss important European topics. There is a meeting happening now during the period of November 4-6, 2015. This morning,…
Several of the therapists I have visited over the years have told me that I need to stop taking too much responsibility for events that are beyond my control. It’s not always easy advice to follow even for someone who has been aware of similar advice from the Serenity Prayer for the better part of…