On June 26, 2014, the 60th anniversary of the start of the 5 MWe Obninsk reactor that was the first reactor in the world to routinely supply electricity to a commercial power grid, Russia started up the latest in a series of sodium-cooled fast reactors, the BN-800. This new nuclear plant is an evolutionary refinement…
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to form a Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) on May 29. Uranium market watchers should pay close attention and understand the potential implications of the alliance on the stability of the world’s uranium supply, even though the alliance has been dismissed as unimportant by some media pundits. For example,…
During a recent discussion thread on Atomic Insights, a frequent commenter cited a 1997 vintage Nuclear Regulatory Commission document as indicating — in his opinion — that there was always a chance that a spent fuel pool could experience an event that might release dangerous amounts of radioactive material. Besides the fact that the report…
Yesterday, I posted a video clip showing Barbara Boxer berating the five NRC commissioners for 36 minutes during a hearing that lasted a little less than 2 hours. She used her gavel and power over the committee to dominate the session. The only mention she made of time was when she turned to the time…
On Tuesday, May 27, 2014, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to accept its professional staff’s recommendation to leave its current policy regarding spent fuel storage in place. Despite a large amount of public and political pressure, it will not require licensees to expedite the relocation of used nuclear fuel from carefully engineered and seismically qualified…
This interaction between Congressman Shimkus and Secretary Moniz took place during a the Energy and Commerce Committee FY2015 DOE budget hearing on April 3, 2014. It’s too bad that hearings like this have strict time limits imposed on the questioners. There is a good reason why I would be exceedingly reluctant to accept any kind…
A friend of mine is cleaning out his basement in preparation for a move. He’s been in the nuclear industry for many years and actively participated in some of the public battles that activists have initiated to slow or halt new development and seek closure or cancellation of existing projects. He found a legible, but…
The Nuclear Energy Institute is celebrating its victory for consumers, having convinced the DC Circuit Court and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Court to set the nuclear waste fee to zero until the federal government implements a new plan for used nuclear fuel. That victory will save each of the people…
On Monday, Feb 24, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) unveiled its Future of Energy advertising campaign with a press conference at the National Press Club. The campaign will stress four major aspects of nuclear energy that are not as well understood as they should be. It will talk about the importance of nuclear energy in…
A nuclear pioneer’s work on safer, cheaper, inexhaustible nuclear power is still inspiring nuclear environmentalists. by Robert Hargraves Physicist Alvin Weinberg worked on the Manhattan Project and later co-invented the pressurized water nuclear reactor. As Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory he led development of liquid fuel reactors, including walk-away-safe liquid fluoride thorium reactors with…
The following tweet led me to an interesting tale about the history of recycling. #Recycling seems like a relatively modern phenomenon. Instead, it has deep roots. http://t.co/5NqweNZVkb via @OnEarthMag — NRDC (@NRDC) January 4, 2014 After reading the article, I composed the following comment, taking care to ensure that it followed the rules for civil…
CNN has investigated and agrees with Atomic Insights regarding the political games that resulted Greg Jaczko being appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the assignment to kill off the Yucca Mountain project. The following quote from the above video could have come directly off of one of the many articles about Greg Jaczko published…