My prayers and best wishes continue to go out to the people who are struggling to survive, to account for loved ones, to find shelter, and to begin dealing with the aftermath of the 5th most powerful earthquake recorded in human history. My anger continues at the efforts to take advantage of the tragedy by…
Corrected with New Headline (Updated information and graphics on Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 0440 EDT) I am going to leave my original text below, so it does not look like I am using updated information to avoid responsibility. During a day of confusion, there were conflicting reports about the source of an explosion and…
Update (Added on March 18, 2011) There has been an incredible amount of coverage, fear mongering, and “worst case scenario” predicting. The Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission risked offending one of America’s staunchest allies by recommending that all US citizens within 50 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant evacuate. The recommendations coming…
Yesterday, two different readers of Atomic Insights shared gifts of knowledge with me. One of those gifts was a book titled “Power Plant Cost Escalation” published in the same year that I graduated from college; digesting that will take a few days. The other, however, was something that was so cool that I just had…
I recommend a visit to both Yes Vermont Yankee and Idaho Samizdat for details, but I wanted to let you all know that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to renew the operating license for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant for another 20 years. The extension will last through 2032; the NRC has…
NASDAQ.com published a Dow Jones news wire story about a recent talk given by John Rowe, CEO of Exelon, to the American Enterprise Institute. The article headline is Exelon CEO: No New US Laws Needed To Shift To Cleaner Energy, and indicates a rather significant course change for a man who has been one of…
Note: (This story corrected on March 8, 2011) The world’s ignorance regarding the health effects of radiation is occasionally incredible. I just came across a story from New Zealand titled Health fears around polar nuke leak that attempted to implicate the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s PM-3A, a small nuclear plant that supplied heat and electricity…
I admit it. I have been a very good customer to the oil companies over the years. During the 35 years since obtaining that ticket to freedom called a “drivers license”, I have averaged about 20,000 – 30,000 miles per year behind the wheel. (The low years were those in which I spent 6 months…
The March 6, 2011 edition of Energy Now focuses on the controversy surrounding hydraulic fracturing. Thalia Assuras interviews Ian Urbina, the lead author of the recent New York Times series titled Drilling Down and also hosts a panel consisting of a state hydrologist, a former state official, a gas industry representative and an environmental group…
The Telegraph published an article titled Chernobyl: The toxic tourist attraction that is clearly designed to play off of the upcoming (April 26) 25th anniversary of the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. The teaser for the article reinforces that assumption. As Ukraine prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl…
On February 27, 2011, Energy Now aired a segment that focused on small modular reactors, particularly the one being developed by NuScale in Corvallis, Oregon. I interviewed Jose Reyes and Paul Lorenzini about their project for Show #100 of The Atomic Show, way back on August 3, 2008. As you watch this special, pay close…
All available energy sources have their limitations and disadvantages as well as their advantages. These limitations are generally well known and frequently repeated. “Everyone knows” most of the following litany of negatives: The world’s supply of oil is limited and concentrated in politically unstable regions of the world. Natural gas is explosive and expensive to…
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