Last week, with significant fanfare, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced that Watts Bar Unit 2 had begun commercial operation. It had completed a 20 day reliability run following the completion of power accession testing. That October 19th declaration changed the status of the reactor from a capital construction project to a working asset. That status…
Malcolm Grimston, a senior research fellow at Imperial College in the UK, gave a fascinating talk to the Canadian Nuclear Association’s February 2016 meeting. His message includes powerful suggestions for people who are excited about the prospects of using nuclear energy to solve some of humanity’s most wicked problems. It’s also a critical message for…
I returned from the Nuclear Energy Insider International Advanced Reactor and SMR Summit with revived energy, optimism and passion for participating in an expanding effort to smooth and straighten the tortuous path associated with producing increased quantities of clean energy from atomic fission. The effort isn’t small, it isn’t narrowly focused, and it isn’t–by any…
Despite the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars that have been spent by governments and nuclear plant operators in the wake of three core melt events at the six-unit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, the most useful lessons available from the experience remain unlearned. At Fukushima Daiichi, the robust, defense-in-depth approach used in nuclear…
One of the highlights of the recent Advanced Nuclear Summit hosted in Washington, DC by Third Way was an inspirational talk by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) Here is a partial transcript, starting after Booker’s folksy story to set the talk’s tone. Here in this realm, we in government have to start acting boldly and let…
On November 6, 2015, a Friday afternoon, the White House hosted a Summit on Nuclear Energy. The seats in the conference room had been filled before much information about the event had been released, but the organizers provided a live stream on the web. That turned out to have been at least as informative as…
During the weekend in Knoxville, TN, I met some marvelous people who were friendly, energetic, personable, excited by life, and ready to learn how they could take small steps to make the world a better place. As reported on Saturday morning, I dressed in blue jeans and a high visibility tee shirt sporting an atomic…
Nuclear4Climate posted the below video on their YouTube channel yesterday. It features Kirsty Gogan, the Executive Director and one of three cofounders of the U.K. based civil society group Energy for Humanity. Though there is a small issue with sound quality, I think you’ll agree that Kirsty makes a strong case for nuclear energy as…
Cara Santa Maria is an Emmy award-winning journalist who studied and taught neuroscience and psychology before deciding that her primary interest was in communicating about science. She was born and raised in Texas, but now lives in Los Angeles. She told me that she has found a terrific community of scientists, communicators, and other creative…
On July 29, 2015, a week before the August 6 commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, PBS (Public Broadcast System in the US) aired a documentary titled Uranium – Twisting the Dragon’s Tail. Unlike many efforts on similar topics, this one is worth watching. More importantly, it is worth recommending…
On Wednesday, June 24 Bloomberg BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) conducted a morning meeting titled A Chain Reaction: The Role of Nuclear Energy in New England’s Energy Mix at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, MA. The timing was fortuitous for me, my wife and I were visiting family in Maine the weekend before the…
Go Nuclear, Inc. has released a massively enhanced version of its website that is filled with informative videos, presentations, and articles about nuclear energy and radiation science. It is a place where one can easily lose track of time while exploring. Here is just one sample to whet your appetite. I hope Alan Waltar’s passionate…
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