Hans and Mary Lou Gougar are two of most interesting nukes that I know. They are currently living and working in South Africa for PBMR Pty Ltd. Their story is fascinating. I got up bright and early this morning (0400) to prepare to record a conversation with two fascinating people. Hans and Mary Lou Gougar…
Ben Kenney is the host of theWatt Podcast a well established and popular discussion show about all things energy. We talked about power decisions in Canada, CANDU technology, and New Brunswick’s electricity export plans. Ben Kenney is studying for his PhD in chemical engineering, with a focus on solid oxide fuel cells. He expects to…
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…
Ted Rockwell has been there and done that when it comes to nuclear power plant design and construction. He was a key member of the team that built the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first solely commercial nuclear electric generating station in the world. On December 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station started supplying…
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…
Shane and Rod discuss boiling water reactors, one of the two types of established light water reactors. There are two main types of light water reactors, pressurized water reactors (PWR) and boiling water reactors (BWR). They share some characteristics, but also have a number of differences. There are plenty of sources of information on the…
George Stanford talks about sodium cooled fast reactors George Stanford earned his PhD in experimental nuclear physics from Yale University and then spent his professional career doing nuclear reactor safety research at the Argonne National Laboratory. One of his special interest was the sodium cooled fast reactor program. He worked on the Experimental Breeder Reactor…
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…
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,…
Before the discovery of nuclear fission, the only power source capable of supplying reliable electrical energy in remote locations was a combustion engine. Because of its compact nature compared to a coal fired steam engine, the internal combustion engine was the power system of choice. When engineers realized that a fission power plant could operate…
In 1970, President Nixon affirmed that the United States had long term objectives in the Antarctic regions and consolidated responsibility for management and funding of all Antarctic operations under the National Science Foundation. According to the new arrangement, the NSF was to take over the funding of PM-3A as of July 1, 1972. At the…
The final disposition of the soil was to spread it out on the ground and cover it with asphalt, turning the expensively gathered Anarctic soil into a parking lot that continues to serve the sailors at Port Hueneme, California. After the decision was made to decommission the PM-3A, the Naval Nuclear Power Unit began planning…