Fukushima Accident Updates – Go To Hiroshima Syndrome

Hiroshima Syndrome hosts the best source of compiled information about the status of activities and investigations related to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station’s accident recovery and clean-up effort. The author, Les Corrice, is a semi-retired nuclear energy professional who works diligently to post the Fukushima Accident Update page twice a week. He has been pursuing that self-assigned…

Rosatom achieves a marketing win in Finland to supply Fennovoima

Finns are pragmatic people who love their country, but also recognize its geographic limitations. “Finland is a very cold and dark country. Electricity is very important to us. We are a kind of island in Europe, we have take care of ourselves. No one will help us if we run out of power.” Way back…

Implications of nuclear agreement with Iran

This afternoon, one of my correspondents asked me the following question: What’s your put on the new Iranian agreement, can the weapon program be capped and verification assured? Here was my response: I am happy that there is an interim agreement. It indicates that some people are starting to recognize that Iran is probably telling…

Accelerator Driven System promoters are playing to irrational antinuclear fears

By Ed Pheil I mentioned at the Thorium Energy Conference 2013 that accelerator driven systems (ADS) were likely to hurt the nuclear industry more than help it with the following discussion. The ADS proponents are justifying their participation, including with thorium, on the basis of two concepts that cater to the anti-nuclear crowd. A) ADS…

European broadcasters shun Pandora’s Promise; It contradicts their prior investments

At the end of September 2013, Robert Stone was interviewed about Pandora’s Promise by Société Française d’Energie Nucléaire (SFEN). During that interview, he described his inability to convince a single European broadcaster — outside the UK — to show his documentary. According to Stone, representatives of broadcasting companies throughout the EU have told him that…

Everything’s Coming Up Trilliums

by Jeremy Whitlock Ah, Nuclear Power, my old friend. Please do come in. Have a seat. Again you’ve been away too long. I feel silly coming here Doc. Now, now, hush. Sooner or later, everyone comes here. Tell me, how are things going? Well that’s just it Doc – on the face of it you…

Energiewende – planned by industry and government without customer considerations

Jim Conca recently published a blog on Forbes titled European Economic Stability Threatened By Renewable Energy Subsidies. One of the earliest comments in the growing thread on that blog provided an interesting point of view about Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear energy in favor of unreliable power sources backed up by flexible lignite, coal and…

Video tour of Fukushima Daiichi as of September 2013

Though I would dearly love to have the opportunity to visit Fukushima Daiichi to obtain a first hand view of the efforts being undertaken to clean up after the effects of the tsunami and earthquake, this video is the next best thing to a personal site tour. It is less expensive and far more convenient…

Can the US and Iran learn to get along?

On Wednesday, September 25, 2013, Democracy Now! aired a very important segment about the potential for the United States and Iran to overcome longstanding mutual distrust. There is some reason for optimism that acknowledging past actions that are the roots of the current situation may lead to constructive engagement that will benefit Iran, the United…