Atomic Insights

Browse by Tags

• activists
• advocate
• AECL
• Africa
• ANS
• atomic gas turbines
• atomic insights
• Bill Gates
• book
• Candu
• DOE
• editorial
• engineering
• Exelon
• finance
• Fission
• green party
• history
• Joe Romm
• Loan Guarantees
• media
• meeting
• mPower
• NGNP
• Nitrogen
• NRG
• nuclear blog
• Nuclear Energy
• nuclear power
• nuclear trends
• perspective
• politics
• Politics and Nuclear Power
• readers
• Renewable Energy
• republican
• Roger Sowell
• split
• statistics

• Quick View of Atomic Insights Visitor Map

  I got distracted this morning with doing some Analytics work on Atomic Insights, trying to figure out more about who reads this publication. If you have not tried Google Analytics and you have a web site or blog, you should. Fascinating and somewhat addicting to page through all of the different ways to look at site statistics - if you happen to be a geeky sort of person. I was particularly interested... Posted Nov 25 2009, 05:10 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, nuclear blog, readers, atomic insights, statistics

• Roger Sowell, Professional Advocate for Natural Gas Companies - Wrote a Post Labeling Me a "Nuclear Nut"

  I have had a little extra time on my hands for the last few days. One of the things that I did was a vanity search to see where there was mention of my name on recent blogs. (Sometimes this kind of search can lead to surprising results.) One of the items that I found was a rather curious comment on an article that I originally wrote for Atomic Insights about the learning curves at Olkiluoto. That commentary... Posted Jul 11 2009, 07:41 PM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: Roger Sowell, opinion, editorial

• Engineering Opinion on mPowerTM from Ted Rockwell

  Here is another pithy clip from Ted Rockwell's testimony to the Senate Republican Conference on June 22, 2009. He provides some solid engineering reasons why he agrees that modular reactors provide an interesting alternative to large ones. He is specifically addressing the B&M mPower™ in response to a question from Senator Lamar Alexander, but the comment really applies to a wide range of alternative... Posted Jun 26 2009, 07:23 PM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: engineering, opinion, mPower

• Another Group of Bloggers for Nuclear Energy - Clean Energy Insight

  In May, I attended a gathering of the North American Young Generations in Nuclear (NA-YGN) and had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time talking with a group of engineers from Charlotte, NC, which is quickly becoming a bustling hub of activity in fields associated with atomic energy development. This group, once they found out who I was, wanted as much information as possible about blogging... Posted Jun 22 2009, 12:37 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, perspective

• Two Young Girls Recite the Periodic Table for American Nuclear Society Meeting Attendees

  Kirk Sorensen, a good friend of mine, brought his three daughters and lovely wife to the American Nuclear Society annual meeting. During a session focused on education and public communications, there was a scheduled talk about a program in Texas aimed at encouraging high school aged girls with excellent math and science skills to remain interested in the subjects so that they could enter into technical... Posted Jun 20 2009, 06:43 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, perspective

• The Economist Reports that AECL Will be Divided and Privatized

  For those who believe that conservatives are always in favor of nuclear energy while liberals are always opposed, here is a story from Canada. Steven Harper's Conservative Government, claiming that it is a "sinkhole" that has only been a drain on public finances has decided that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a crown corporation that has been in the business of atomic energy... Posted Jun 19 2009, 03:23 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: AECL, opinion, split

• Atomic Show 134 - Five Atomic Geek Lunch at ANS Meeting

  Atomic Show 134 - Five Atomic Geek Lunch has been posted. In related news, a good friend also sent me the below screen shot of iTunes on June 16, 2009. Pretty cool, don't you think? Read More... Posted Jun 16 2009, 03:19 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, perspective

• Stock Market Reaction to B&W mPower™ Modular Reactor

  One of the mantras often repeated by the anti-nuclear community during the nadir of the nuclear industry was that any company announcing a nuclear project would see its stock price hammered on Wall Street. That argument has actually been quite effective at slowing down corporate interest in investing - no leaders like to make big new product announcements and watch their company stock price tank. That... Posted Jun 15 2009, 06:33 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, perspective

• ANS Annual Meeting President's Reception

  At ANS annual meetings, the President's Reception is the traditional kickoff event with lots of good food, freely flowing beverages and opportunities to meet and greet old friends and make new ones. There are not too many places where a guy can find conversations about supercritical CO2, liquid metal breeders, space nuclear reactors, modular power plants for desalination, and the challenges of... Posted Jun 14 2009, 11:58 PM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: ANS, opinion, meeting

• Nuclear Power and "The Media"

  During my nearly thirty years of being a nuke, I have participated in hundreds of conversations about the basis for the widespread misunderstandings about the technology that are held by the general public. A variety of possible causes have been proposed over sodas, beers and glasses of wine including weaknesses in a public education system that rarely requires chemistry or physics instruction, failures... Posted Jun 10 2009, 03:26 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: Politics and Nuclear Power, opinion, media

• Prime Example on Why The US Department of Energy Rarely Produces Any Energy

  Discover Magazine recently published an article with interesting information about next generation nuclear power plants that contains all of the information that you need to know about why the US Department of Energy is one of the largest employers of scientists in the country yet rarely succeeds in its title mission of providing tools that produce useful energy. The article starts off with a brief... Posted Jun 09 2009, 02:13 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: DOE, opinion, editorial

• See No Evil, Hear No Evil Approach to Regulating Hydraulic Fracturing Shale Gas Extraction

  On June 4, 2009 the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals held a hearing on the topic of shale gas development through the technique of hydraulic fracturing. While spending a couple of hours this morning listening to a somewhat testy exchange of opinions and positions, I learned that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was the vehicle by which the natural gas industry obtained... Posted Jun 08 2009, 04:08 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, politics

• Is Republican Nuclear Support a Wedge Issue Or Long Overdue Leadership On Energy And Climate?

  On Monday, June 8, 2009, Senate Republicans have scheduled a hearing co-chaired by Senator Lamar Alexander and Senator John McCain to discuss a vision of building 100 new nuclear plants in 20 years. According to the email accompanying the press release announcing the event, this hearing is the kickoff for a major effort to change the conversation on energy and climate to include serious consideration... Posted Jun 07 2009, 01:54 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, politics, republican

• Showing Why We Like Nuclear Power

  A rather unknown, but real effect of America's response to 9-11 was a sharp reduction in the ability of the nuclear power industry to share its own story through the use of plant tours and well designed, site located visitor centers. The security restrictions imposed as a result of the fear caused by flying airplanes into tall building even affected well supervised visits by school groups at far... Posted Jun 05 2009, 07:55 PM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, politics

• Looking Back 30 Years To a Wet, Expensive Rally

  On a rainy June 3, 1979, there was a large gathering of people on the Long Island shore near the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. According to some observers, there were 15,000 people in the crowd, but others dispute that number and say it was considerably fewer. The purpose of the rally was to organize and inspire opposition to the nuclear power plant. Some in the crowd claimed that their fear was inspired... Posted Jun 05 2009, 03:57 AM by Atomic Insights Blog Filed under: opinion, editorial, politics