John Wheeler, the host of This Week in Nuclear and I got together for a chat about recent developments in nuclear energy. We also talked a bit about a very old, completely decommissioned reactor called BONUS on the west coast of Puerto Rico.
Topics discussed during our chat include the development of South Korea as a formidable competitor in the world power industry, the almost criminal decision to follow through on an old agreement to shut down the Ignalina nuclear plant in Lithuania, the use of a nuclear powered ship to provide clean water as part of its contribution to the Haiti earthquake relief effort, and some of the political maneuvering that is going on in relation to the President’s budget for fiscal year 2011.
In addition, we talked for a bit about the letter to Dr. John Holdren, the President’s Science Advisor. This letter, signed by a distinguished group of accomplished leaders, engineers and scientists describes the importance of nuclear energy as a tool for solving many of the world’s most pressing problems.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:32 — 26.4MB)
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No matter how many luminaries sign a letter, I’m afraid the unfortunate truth is that the American branch of the Nuclear Renaissance is going nowhere as long as this administration is in power. They will pay lip service all day long, but when it comes time for action they will find a thousand backdoor ways to kill it. If you want to see how that works just read Obama mentor Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”.
Are there any good ideas in the book that pro-nuclear activists should consider using?
Rod, John, great show… Thanks.
I find it interesting that you guys talk more and more about policies. Without good policies, we will get nowhere near where we need to be regarding the use of nuclear power. I saw from some comments on other blogs that Orszag and people like him, more interested in cutting into investments then supplying more clean energy to a demanding world is not helping the nuclear cause.
From this show, I have made some interesting discoveries and blogged about it:
http://simonfiliatrault.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-energy-supply-more-important-than.html
Thanks to you both,
Simon