Kirk Sorensen is the founder of Flibe Energy. He has been prospecting in libraries for years to learn more about a path not taken (yet). He is convinced that the way forward for energy in the United States and around the world is the molten salt thorium reactor that can produce an almost unlimited amount…
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has often described itself as “the gold standard” in nuclear reactor regulation. Sometimes that view has been reinforced by the nuclear industry by comments along the lines of “if you can license your design in the US, you can license it anywhere.” I am not sure if that is because…
My discussion with Robert Bradley at Master Resource regarding the relative value of investments in natural gas generation versus nuclear generation continues to result in some interesting exchanges worth additional visibility and comment. Here are some of the recent posts: Robert Bradley { 12.03.11 at 9:47 pm } Rod: $4/MMBtu natural gas–how can nuclear compete…
Robert Bradley at Master Resource has responded to my criticism of his continued dismissal of nuclear energy in favor of burning more hydrocarbons. He kindly visited the Atomic Insights comment thread to let me know that he had responded. Here is his response from a comment that he posted on his blog titled Remembering ‘Green’…
I spent about 15 years trying (unsuccessfully) to get a small modular reactor company off the ground. Our concept was based on an adaptation of the successful German pebble bed demonstration reactor called the AVR. In 2003, Tsinghua University in China completed the construction of the HTR-10, which was essentially a direct copy of the…
A frequent commenter on Atomic Insights is a very experienced nuclear professional who often keeps me on my toes by sharing thoughts that are fairly common in our community. I have recently been posting quite a number of blogs on the need to revise radiation protection standards to base them on a more accurate model…
I received a link from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to a fascinating video about their recent efforts to develop CoSecTM, a new resin technology that is more effective at capturing cobalt-60. Most of the radiation doses that nuclear workers receive come from this single isotope. One possible cost savings aspect of this technology…
Two young graduate students describe their plans to develop something called the Waste Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor (WAMSR). The biggest applause line in the talk was the following: Right now in the world there are about 270,000 metric tons of high level waste that exists. We can take that waste, put it into our reactors…
A November 9, 2011 Platts headline caught my attention this morning New Calvert Cliffs nuke ‘almost inconceivable’: Exelon CEO. I have been following the Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 story for several years. I used to be a Maryland resident and made a couple of trips down to Calvert County for public meetings on the proposal…
On Friday, Nov. 5, I heard an inspirational talk given by a man who had a big influence on my early career; he was the Brigade Commander who welcomed the class of 1981 to the US Naval Academy on July 6, 1977. Col. Art Athens, USMCR (Ret.) is now the Director of the Stockdale Center…
Stephanie Cooke is a reporter, editor and author. She recently published a book titled In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary Tale of the Nuclear Age. I first became aware of her work earlier this month when I read a discouraging column that she had written for the New York Times titled After Fukushima, Does Nuclear Power…
Guest post by Andy Dawson One anti-nuclear argument that’s frequently made is that nuclear is slow to deploy – that renewables can make inroads into carbon production rather faster than can building new nuclear stations. I was recently provoked into taking a look at this, in the context of the UK’s 2020 and 2030 CO2…