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Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Gas Cooled Reactors

The Atomic Show #079 – Ft St Vrain, energy comparisons, UK nuclear decision

January 14, 2008 By Rod Adams 5 Comments

John Wheeler, Kelly Taylor, Robert Margolis, and Michael Stuart visit with Rod Adams about a variety of topics including Ft. St. Vrain, energy comparisons, energy price inflation, and the recent UK government decision to encourage new nuclear power plants. First of all, I apologize for the sound quality. I goofed something up with the settings […]

Filed Under: Atomic history, Gas Cooled Reactors, Podcast, Technical History Stories

The Atomic Show #063 – NNadir interviews Rod Adams about Adams Engines(TM)

June 27, 2007 By Rod Adams

NNadir is a popular diarist on Daily Kos. He appeared recently as a guest of The Atomic Show and has returned to interview Rod Adams about the Adams Engine(TM) As the host of The Atomic Show, I have occasionally shared some information about the Adams Engine(TM), my own design for an atomic power source that […]

Filed Under: Adams Engines, Gas Cooled Reactors, Podcast

The Atomic Show #035 – Dr. Regis Matzie Interview

November 5, 2006 By Rod Adams 1 Comment

Interview with Dr. Regis Matzie – Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Westinghouse. On November 2, 2006, Rod Adams talked with Dr. Regis Matzie, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Westinghouse. Dr. Matzie has been a key participant in the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor and several other advanced nuclear power system development […]

Filed Under: Gas Cooled Reactors, Podcast

PBMR Update June 7, 2005

June 7, 2005 By Rod Adams

As frequent readers know, I am a huge fan of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project that has been under development in South Africa since 1993. Though there have been some hurdles over the years, and the project has had to overcome a significant amount of resistance, the PBMR team – originally from Eskom, […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights 2005, Gas Cooled Reactors

Atomic Gas Turbines: Applying Related Inventions

May 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

Based on current projections, it appears that the gas turbine is destined to fulfill the majority of the new power plant market in the United States and much of western Europe. Many of the greatest innovations – if carefully investigated – can be seen to be the result of of an inventor recognizing other inventions […]

Filed Under: Army Nuclear Program, Atomic Insights May 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

Government Support: Official Help in the Sales Department

February 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

The Presidential emissary told King Saud that the U.S. would make its nuclear technology available to Europe if the Suez Canal was used as a tool of blackmail. The decision to encourage nuclear exports was made within months of the Suez Crisis of 1956. The diffusion plants’ capital cost had largely been assumed by the […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights February 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

Letter from the Editor: The Market Battle Begins

February 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

The history of nuclear power technology is often as much a political study as it is a technical study. Perhaps no other technological development has ever been so tied to the actions and interests of government bodies and foreign affairs. In this issue of AEI we will focus on the early market struggle between the […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights February 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

Water vs. Gas Cooled Reactors: Round 1

February 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

In the period from 1966 to 1964, there were two basic reactor choices being offered for commercial electric power production. American companies were offering reactors that used ordinary water under pressure as the reactor coolant. British and French companies were offering reactors using pressurized CO2 gas as the reactor coolant. There were substantial technical differences […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights February 1996, Economics, Gas Cooled Reactors, Technical History Stories

Fuel Element Designs: Unique Selection Criteria

January 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

After making the coolant and moderator choices, certain other details moved higher on the priority list. Core engineers needed to choose a cladding material, fuel material composition, and fuel element configurations. The choices designers made for the first reactors played an important role in the long term competitiveness of the early gas cooled reactor designs. […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights Jan 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

Pressure Vessel Construction: Lower Pressure Makes it Easier

January 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

In the early 1950s, PWR pressure vessels large enough for a submarine plant were within the capabilities of the existing manufacturing infrastructure, but vessels large enough for electrical power generating stations were not.Like the American pressurized water reactor systems, gas cooled reactors operate at elevated pressures. Unlike water, however, which is kept under extreme pressure […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights Jan 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

Letter from the Editor: First Nuclear Power Stations

January 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

Interestingly enough, the first industrial scale nuclear power plant for electrical production was Calder Hall 1, a carbon dioxide cooled reactor that began supplying Great Britain in May, 1956. This reactor and others like it have been reliable, long-lived sources of electrical power.In the December 1995 issue we focused on the design decisions made by […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights Jan 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors

CO2: First Choice for Power Reactors

January 1, 1996 By Rod Adams

During the period from 1946 until 1954, the single most important constraint governing the development of peaceful uses of atomic power was the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. This American law – passed after a failed attempt to establish an international control regime for nuclear materials – made it illegal to trade in nuclear knowledge […]

Filed Under: Atomic Insights Jan 1996, Gas Cooled Reactors, Graphite Moderated Reactors, Technical History Stories

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