• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Archives
  • Links

Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Atomic history

Innovative closed cycle gas cooled reactor – circa April 1956

January 3, 2016 By Rod Adams 44 Comments

I came across an advertisement in the April 1956 issue of Scientific American that I simply had to share. Does anyone recognize the basic concept described by the Ford Instrument Company (a division of Sperry Rand Corporation) almost exactly 60 years ago?

Filed Under: Adams Engines, Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic history

The First Atomic Age: A Failure of Socialism

December 17, 2015 By Rod Adams 26 Comments

As atomic innovation and entrepreneurialism gains momentum, I thought it would be a good time to revisit an article that I wrote more than 21 years ago. It was first published in the January 1, 1995 issue of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. The first Atomic Age began with high hopes, but it has languished, […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Atomic politics

Treasure trove of documents about the ML-1, the US Army’s trailer-mounted, nitrogen-cooled, atomic fission-heated generator

November 3, 2015 By Rod Adams 11 Comments

I recently published an article featuring a video from the Army Nuclear Power Program that focused on the Army’s mobile, low power closed cycle nitrogen cooled nuclear reactor designated the ML-1. The article generated a good discussion that indicated a strong desire for more information about the program. My initial searches didn’t turn up a […]

Filed Under: Army Nuclear Program, Atomic history, Gas Cooled Reactors, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors

Why did Richard Nixon so strongly endorse nuclear energy in April 1973?

September 22, 2015 By Rod Adams

On April 18, 1973, President Richard Nixon gave a special message to the congress of the United States on energy policy. Unlike more recent offerings by presidents regarding energy, that document placed a huge emphasis on making regulatory and legislative changes that would enable the rapid expansion of nuclear power; the ‘N’ word appears in […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Atomic politics, Politics of Nuclear Energy

How would a Rockefeller crony react to Eddington’s vision of subatomic energy?

September 16, 2015 By Rod Adams 27 Comments

Recently an Atomic Insights reader shared a document that inspired a new line of thinking about the chronology of atomic energy development. The inspirational document was a PDF copy of a chapter titled Little Red Schoolhouse from Freeman Dyson‘s memoir, Disturbing the Universe. It was a brief tale about a memorable burst of creativity in […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Atomic Pioneers, Smoking Gun

Licensing demonstration reactors in the United States

September 8, 2015 By Rod Adams 72 Comments

During the joint DOE-NRC workshop on advanced non-light water reactors held last week (Sep 1-2, 2015), John Adams of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation gave a presentation on reactor license classification terminology. It made me squirm in my chair with the desire to interrupt. Probably because he has read and […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Atomic politics, New Nuclear, NRC, Nuclear regulations

Sad-ending story of EBR-II told by three of its pioneers

August 24, 2015 By Rod Adams

During the period between 1961 and 1994, an extraordinary machine called the Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 (EBR-II) was created and operated in the high desert of Idaho by a team of dedicated, determined, and distinguished people. In 1986, that machine demonstrated that it could protect itself in the event of a complete loss of flow […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic history, Atomic Pioneers, Atomic politics, Breeder Reactors, Fuel Recycling, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Politics of Nuclear Energy, Pro Nuclear Video, Technical History Stories

Jerry Cuttler and Mohan Doss add their voices to Calabrese’s challenge to Science Magazine. Rejected – so far.

August 12, 2015 By Rod Adams

Yesterday, Atomic Insights published a copy of a letter that Dr. Edward Calabrese sent to Marcia K. McNutt, the Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine. I have obtained permission to publish copies of two related letters addressed to Ms. McNutt, one from Dr. Jerry Cuttler and one from Dr. Mohan Doss. In addition, I have obtained a […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Atomic politics, LNT

Edward Calabrese challenges Science Magazine to right a 59 year-old case of scientific misconduct

August 11, 2015 By Rod Adams 43 Comments

Dr. Edward Calabrese shared the below letter to the editor in chief of Science Magazine with several of his professional colleagues. One of them shared it with me. I immediately contacted Dr. Calabrese and obtained his permission to share it with Atomic Insights readers. Dr. Calabrese did not initiate this coverage of his ongoing investigation […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, LNT

Nova’s “Uranium – Twisting the Dragon’s Tail”

August 1, 2015 By Rod Adams

On July 29, 2015, a week before the August 6 commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, PBS (Public Broadcast System in the US) aired a documentary titled Uranium – Twisting the Dragon’s Tail. Unlike many efforts on similar topics, this one is worth watching. More importantly, it is worth recommending […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Energy density, Nuclear Communications, Radiation

FOE continues promoting fossil fuel by trying to force Diablo Canyon closure

July 28, 2015 By Rod Adams

As a literature major during my undergraduate years, I was fascinated by the variety of stories that can be told about the same topic depending on the author’s selected point of view. Here is a brief example. Friends of the Earth (FOE) has a page on its web site titled Shutting down Diablo Canyon. The […]

Filed Under: Antinuclear activist, Atomic history, Atomic politics, Diablo Canyon

Romance of Radium – How did our relationship with radioactive material sour?

June 10, 2015 By Rod Adams

Note – This post was initially published on February 23, 2013. After attending the ANS President’s Special Session about the way we should communicate about radiation, I thought it would be worth repeating. Sometimes, we need to look outside of our immediate time and place to find “best practices” that we should emulate. Hitting road […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Health Effects, Radiation, Uranium mining

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 9
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Search Atomic Insights

Follow Atomic Insights

The Atomic Show

Atomic Insights

Recent Posts

Atomic Show #291 – Kalev Kallemets, Fermi Energia

Preliminary lessons available to be learned from Feb 2021 extended cold spell

South Texas Project Unit 1 tripped at 0537 on Feb 15, 2021

Atomic Show #290 – Myrto Tripathi, Voices of Nuclear

Change is in the wind: Commencing a new phase as a Venture Capitalist

  • Home
  • About Atomic Insights
  • Atomic Show
  • Contact
  • Links

Search Atomic Insights

Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Atomic Insights

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy