I’ve been spending some time watching, rewatching and clipping interesting excerpts from the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee hearings on the FY2016 Department of Energy budget. It’s not everyone’s idea of entertainment, but it’s fascinating to me to watch publicly accessible discussions about how our government makes decisions, sets priorities and spends the money […]
New Nuclear
NRC issues SER for Westinghouse Small Break LOCA PIRT
I apologize for the acronym soup in the title. Here is what I really wanted to say, but couldn’t fit into the title field. On February 27, 2015, nearly three years after it was submitted, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a letter reporting that the NRC staff had prepared a final Topical Report Safety […]
NRC RIC 2015 – Day one observations
On March 10, 2015, I attended my first ever Regulatory Information Conference (RIC), which is an annual event hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I had heard from various associates that everyone who is anyone in the nuclear industry should plan to go to the RIC whenever possible. They were right. First of all, the […]
Diseconomy of scale – world’s largest canned-motor reactor coolant pump
On February 16, 2015, an AP article by Ray Henry titled Nuclear plants delayed in China, watched closely by US firms contained a short paragraph that has contributed to a number of sleepless nights. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other people affected in the same manner who have far more at stake than […]
Atomic Show #233 – Innovators discuss advanced reactor development in US
There are a growing number of innovative small companies and a few divisions of larger companies that have recognized that nuclear energy offers solutions to a number of important human challenges. Despite the proclamations by opponents, the Nuclear Renaissance is not any more dead in 2015 than the original Renaissance was dead in 1315. In […]
What Aircraft Manufacturers Can Teach the Nuclear Industry
Evan is a New Hampshire resident who will be graduating from high school in 2015 and plans to pursue a career in engineering. Few innovations have shaped the world as dramatically as the development of the airplane. In less than a century, mankind went from riding horses to flying non-stop half way around the world. […]
ThorCon – Demonstrated Molten Salt Tech Packaged With Modern Construction Techniques
The dearth of real innovation and focused direction from the established companies in the US nuclear industry in the face of rapidly expanding demand for clean energy solutions has stimulated the formation of a number of start-up companies. The leaders of these companies have backgrounds that have taught them to ask “Why not?” when faced […]
Protecting our shared environment is a conservative value and a liberal responsibility
It is past time to move towards a broader view of our shared responsibility to protect our environment, seek improved prosperity, and leave a better world than the one to which we were born. The political boundary lines that seem to have been hardened in recent years are preventing us from cooperating, even in areas […]
Paul Wilson & Bret Bennington vs Arnie Gundersen & Heidi Hutner on Nuclear Sustainability
On Nov 20, 2014, Hofstra University hosted its annual Pride and Purpose Debate. This year’s proposition was the following – “Should nuclear energy be expanded to help create a more sustainable future?” The debate included the following panelists: For – J Bret Bennington, professor of geology, Department of Geology, Environment and Sustainability at Hofstra University.Against […]
Transatomic Power – Anatomy of Next
Dr. Leslie Dewan is a co-founder and the CEO of Transatomic Power, a venture capital-funded start-up based on research conducted at MIT. Along with Mark Massie, the other co-founder, Dewan is exploring a design that uses a molten salt fuel that enables materials currently classified as “nuclear waste” to provide the heat source for a […]
Tour of NuScale control room and test facility
Disclosure: I have a small contract to provide NuScale with advice and energy market information. That work represents less than 5% of my income for 2014. On October 20, 2014, I had the opportunity to visit NuScale’s facilities in Corvallis, OR. Though the company now has offices in three cities, Corvallis, the home of Oregon […]
Big move at Vogtle – lower ring time lapse
If you are like most people I know, you like watching impressively large objects move in a precision fashion. This video is a time lapse view of the recent lift at Vogtle unit 3 to set the lower ring. That steel object weighs 950 tons and is 51 feet tall. New skills are being developed […]
