During the 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama took the handcuffs off of the nuclear industry revival when he said:
But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.
On January 31, 2010, I gathered a large group of active bloggers and nuclear industry professionals to find out what they thought of the statement and its impact on the deployment of new nuclear power plants. My guests were:
- Kelly Taylor, a 24 year nuclear industry professional and frequent Atomic Show guest.
- Meredith Angwin, a physical chemist and small businessperson who has recently started publishing a blog titled Yes, Vermont Yankee.
- Charles Barton, who blogs at Nuclear Green and Energy from Thorium.
- David Bradish, a statistician and blogger at NEI Nuclear Notes.
- Dan Yurman, who blogs at Idaho Samidat, writes for Fuel Cycle Week and is the blogger with the highest readership at The Energy Collective.
- Robert Margolis, a 24 year nuclear engineer who has supported reactors on 3 continents and is currently working in Florida.
In addition to the State of the Union statement, we discussed the increase in the loan guarantee program, and the formation of the blue ribbon commission about used nuclear fuel policy.
We also spent quite a bit of time talking about Vermont Yankee and the incredibly tiny quantity of tritium that has people demanding a full investigation and possibly a plant shutdown because someone found 0.000000029 curies/liter of tritium, an amount that would have a mass of just 0.0000000000029 grams distributed in 1000 grams of water.
Hi Rod.
I am in the process of establishing a non-profit Public Art organization regarding a transformation of the negative imagery surrounding the nuclear industry. I am an artist (and daughter of a nuke) and feel the need to address what I feel is the missing link in the “nuclear revolution.”
I am creating new, inviting and positive imagery for my generation in order to displace the residual fear of past problems (particularly the Homer Simpson stereotype, which is sadly the primary cultural reference of the nuclear industry for most young people!).
I just want to invite you to check out my website and was wondering if you can offer any advise in terms of networking with industry folks who might be able to get behind a public art project.
http://www.popatomic.org
I greatly appreciate the work that you do and hope that you find my concept helpful to the cause.
best,
Suzy
Whoa! I knew I was in an august crowd on the podcast that night. But I didn’t realize I was qualified through the perception that I’m an active nuclear blogger… I’m afraid that’s a stretch, I’m sorry to say. I have several inactive blogs that are personal, and naturally I’m a fan of nuclear energy.
Whew! Maybe someday I can put all the pieces together and get back to living up to my reputation…
Thanks always for the vote of confidence, and the encouragement. I was honored to participate – I just didn’t realize what an honor it was!
Thanks again, Rod!
Kelly