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Atomic Insights

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

Business of atomic energy

Virginia Nuclear Energy Summit Report

June 21, 2016 By Rod Adams 2 Comments

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium (VNEC) hosted a half day summit in Richmond on Monday, June 6 for government officials and industry leaders from the fields of research, education, power generation, defense, and security to discuss the role and value of nuclear energy in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The […]

Filed Under: Atomic Advocacy, Atomic education, Business of atomic energy, Nuclear workforce

Addressing Economic Challenges Facing Nuclear Power Plants

June 3, 2016 By Rod Adams 2 Comments

Reprinted with permission. Original published on Forbes.com on May 20, 2016. On Thursday, May 19, the Department of (DOE) hosted a four-hour, invitation-only summit in a meeting room in the Senate Office building. Billed as an action-oriented forum for a variety of stakeholders to discuss what they can do about the economic challenges facing nuclear […]

Filed Under: Aging nuclear, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy, Economics

Exelon’s Chris Crane blames lawmakers for his plant closure announcements

June 2, 2016 By Rod Adams 74 Comments

A few minutes ago, Exelon employees received an email from Chris Crane, the company CEO, announcing the company’s decision to permanently close three nuclear reactors that each produce 7-8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year without dumping a molecule of CO2 into the atmosphere. Even though the company reported 2015 after-tax earnings of approximately […]

Filed Under: Aging nuclear, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy, decommissioning, Nuclear workforce

Brinksmanship tactic fails in Illinois. Competitors handed easy victory

June 1, 2016 By Rod Adams 10 Comments

Exelon, a corporation that I publicly “unfriended” in 2009, has apparently failed to receive the assistance it demanded by the May 31st deadline it imposed on the Illinois legislature. Aside: For reasons that aren’t obvious, Exelon’s public communications about financial difficulties affecting its nuclear plants rarely, if ever, mention the magnitude of the cost increases […]

Filed Under: Antinuclear activist, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy, decommissioning, Economics

Are Diablo Canyon Employees Being Sold Down The River?

May 30, 2016 By Rod Adams 63 Comments

Recently, the below email to Diablo Canyon workers landed in my in-box. Aside: I subscribe to a lot of different mailing lists. End Aside. It’s from Michael Shellenberger, the founder of Environmental Progress. Michael is a tireless and vocal advocate for nuclear power as a valuable tool for solving some of the world’s most wicked […]

Filed Under: Atomic Advocacy, Aging nuclear, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy

Real people are harmed when other people decide to close nuclear plants

May 21, 2016 By Rod Adams 49 Comments

Communications professionals have often counseled nuclear professionals to stop sounding so much like scientists and engineers. We often purposely avoid emotion because we like to think of ourselves as rational people that make decisions based on hard facts, numbers and quantifiable metrics. Many of the people who have sought and obtained positions of responsibility and […]

Filed Under: Aging nuclear, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy

Columnists declare nuclear to be uncompetitive

May 2, 2016 By Rod Adams 55 Comments

On Saturday, April 30, Leonard Hyman & William Tilles published an opinion column on Oilprice.com headlined Lets (sic) Stop Pretending Nuclear Power Is Commercially Viable. Aside: Leonard Hyman is an accomplished electricity industry analyst and historian. I have a dog-eared copy of his 1983 work titled America’s Electric Utilities: Past, Present and Future on my […]

Filed Under: Business of atomic energy, Economics, Fossil fuel competition

House Energy and Commerce seeks to enable advanced nuclear energy

April 30, 2016 By Rod Adams 37 Comments

On Friday, April 29, 2016, the Energy and Power subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing to discuss H.R. 4979 and a draft discussion bill with the unfortunate acronym of NUKEPA (Nuclear Utilization of Keynote Energy Policies Act). Though at different stages of the legislative process, both documents are efforts to […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic politics, Business of atomic energy, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Atomic Show #253 – Delivering the Nuclear Promise

April 25, 2016 By Rod Adams 29 Comments

The US nuclear industry has decided that it’s time to take aggressive action to improve its operational efficiency. Leaders have looked hard at the competitive landscape. They’ve clearly recognized that while they produce a valuable, desirable commodity, their production costs are not competitive. Many of them aren’t willing to give up their markets and valuable […]

Filed Under: Business of atomic energy, Nuclear Performance, Podcast

Bechtel will “pursue” accelerated mPower development

March 8, 2016 By Rod Adams 18 Comments

I’ve relearned a valuable lesson — read press releases and other PR material closely, paying special attention to wiggle words. On Friday, March 4, Bechtel issued a press release titled Bechtel, BWXT to Pursue Acceleration of Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Project. In my excitement, I missed the key word in the headline and in the […]

Filed Under: Business of atomic energy, New Nuclear, Small Nuclear Power Plants, Smaller reactors, Water Cooled Reactors

U-Battery – Micronuclear power with intriguing business model

February 14, 2016 By Rod Adams 19 Comments

U-Battery was one of the more intriguing presenters at the Advanced Reactor Technical Summit (ARTSIII) held at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory last week. Even though this was a technical summit, the segments of the presentation that captured my attention were the business model and the funding source. However, certain technical choices are vital to […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, ARTSIII Feb 2016, Business of atomic energy, Gas Cooled Reactors, Graphite Moderated Reactors, New Nuclear, Nuclear Batteries, Reactors, Smaller reactors

Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh “It’s an exciting time to be in nuclear engineering.”

February 1, 2016 By Rod Adams 30 Comments

During the Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase, there was a terrific conversation about a growing level of excitement among university students who are studying nuclear engineering, among more established members of the nuclear community and among other people who are passionate about helping to save the world. Some of that enthusiasm stems from the fact […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Business of atomic energy, New Nuclear

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