Explosion at nuclear plant occurred in the secondary containment structure

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…

Nuclear plant issues in Japan are the least of their worries

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…

Atomic Engines for Peace – Circa 1946

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…

NRC Will Issue License Renewal for Vermont Yankee

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…

McMurdo veterans’ cancers FAR more likely to be caused by cigarettes that by Nukey-poo

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…

The 25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Season is In Full Swing – It is a Good Time For Information to Counter Misinformation

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…