Atomic Insights

Visits to Atomic Insights From Every State in the US During Last 30 Days

2010-03-13T21:56:00Z

I am not terribly obsessive about checking Atomic Insights stats, but I happened to notice the below overlay indicating that there was at least 1 visitor from every state in the United States - plus the District of Columbia during the past 30 days. (The actual tabulated stats indicated that the lowest total was 3 from Wyoming and South Dakota, with 49 of the measured territories in double digits. The Read More......(read more)

How much tritium leaked from Vermont Yankee before the leak was stopped?

2010-03-13T19:15:00Z

A good friend asked me the title question for this blog during the week. The question intrigued me enough to encourage some digging and computations. I would be interested in any questions that you have about the assumptions. Based on reading a number of different articles and checking through the tables provided by the Vermont Department of Health , the fluid that was leaking into the ground contained Read More......(read more)

The Limitations of States Rights - Vermont Yankee Is Heavily Involved in Interstate Commerce

2010-03-13T10:44:00Z

As a sworn defender of the Constitution of the United States, I believe in the importance of making decisions at the right level. Our Constitution does a wonderful job of assigning limited powers to the federal government while reserving the remaining powers to states and individuals. There is healthy tension there and room for debate and discussion on the boundaries. One of the primary strengths of Read More......(read more)

Vermont Health Department Reports One Leak Source Found at Vermont Yankee; All Samples For Isotopes Other Than Tritium are Natural Background

2010-03-08T09:06:00Z

The Vermont Department of Health has a well organized page detailing the results of the search for the source(s) of tritiated water leaks at Vermont Yankee . It includes regular updates, site maps and detailed sample results. Based on an update dated March 5, 2010, a remotely operated pipe inspecting vehicle has helped workers discover a hole in the wall of a pipe that is located in the Advanced Off Read More......(read more)

Science Friday Segment on Innovative New Nuclear Projects - Including Mini Nuclear Power Plants Like Hyperion

2010-03-06T11:55:00Z

On Friday, March 5, 2010, NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow focused on new nuclear technologies . The guest list included, John (Grizz) Deal, CEO of Hyperion Power Generation, Scott Burnell, public affairs officer of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Richard Lester, professor and Department Head of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT and Lester Brown, the founder of the Earth Policy Institute Read More......(read more)

American Petroleum Institute Chief Economist On Marcellus Shale Opportunities

2010-03-05T08:38:00Z

On September 23, 2009, John Felmy, the chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute (API) spoke at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA about the vast opportunities that the API sees for developing the shale gas that is buried about 6,000 feet below the surface. Warning: Felmy is a self-admitted boring economist, but he does a pretty fair job of describing why the oil and Read More......(read more)

Another Blogger for Nuclear Energy - NuclearFissionary.com - Jack Gamble Leads a Team of Fissionaries

2010-03-04T09:50:00Z

Please help me welcome NuclearFissionary.com into the growing world of pro-nuclear bloggers. This new site is a polished team effort with an eye-pleasing layout. It includes several articles on economics, history, policy and technology right out of the starting gate. Go over and say hi to Jack and his team. While you are there congratulate Greg for his web design work and Jason for his excellent article Read More......(read more)

Betting for consumers on the volatile price of natural gas

2010-03-04T07:52:00Z

Decision makers in the regulated part of the business of producing electricity have short memories when it comes to the behavior of natural gas prices , but long memories when it comes to the potential for nuclear power plant construction costs to get out of hand. They publicly worry about the "bet the company" proposition of building new nuclear power plants and ask for as many assurances Read More......(read more)

Details about mPower from Powergenworldwide.com and Chris Mowry

2010-03-03T09:59:00Z

PowerGenWorldWide.com has published a fascinating interview with Chris Mowry, President and CEO, Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) Modular Nuclear Energy titled The mPower TM Modular Reactor . The conversation goes into significant detail about B&W's design decisions, target market, engineering constraints, and desire to make use of its vertically integrated North American manufacturing base. Read More......(read more)

NPR - Nuclear Plant Developers Thinking Small

2010-03-01T10:58:00Z

A Nuclear Plant With Small Leaks Puts Less Radioactive Material Into the Human Environment Than Drilling for Natural Gas

2010-02-28T12:09:00Z

While there has been a tremendous level of attention paid to the small leaks of tritiated water discovered at some US nuclear power plants, a much larger magnitude source of radioactive material has been largely ignored in public discourse. Rock formations that contain fossil fuel resources also contain uranium, thorium and their decay products in concentrations that can be significantly higher than Read More......(read more)

Fighting words from John E. Rosenthal, Wealthy Boston Real Estate Developer Who Prefers Solar Subsidies to Nuclear Loan Guarantees

2010-02-27T13:43:00Z

The Boston Globe has published an op-ed piece from John E. Rosenthal, president of Meredith Management, that is titled A recurring nuclear nightmare . The opinion piece included several pieces of misinformation including the following statement: Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, obligating the taxpayer to underwrite all costs associated with managing, storing, and safeguarding nuclear Read More......(read more)

Overreaction to Outside Pressure Puts Vermont Yankee Safety Culture Into Question

2010-02-26T09:16:00Z

In an long delayed effort to prove to Vermont legislators that they are taking action to correct leakage of mildly radioactive water into the ground under the buildings that house Vermont Yankee, Energy as announced that they have disciplined 11 senior employees , five of whom have been removed from their positions and placed on administrative leave. In response to that action, the Nuclear Regulatory Read More......(read more)

Its a Day to Support Nuclear Energy Developments

2010-02-25T10:48:00Z

Today, February 25, 2010, professional anti-nuclear organizations are encouraging people to call their congressmen and senators to express themselves about the President's decision to increase the ceiling for nuclear project loan guarantees from $18.5 to $56 billion as part of his FY2011 budget submission. Please take a minute or two out of your day to call your representative and express your Read More......(read more)

GE BWR's Like Oyster Creek and Vermont Yankee Were Originally Designed For Power Uprate to 620 MWe

2010-02-25T08:34:00Z

I came across an interesting statement in an article titled "Coal Industry Review" written by Alfred T. Wells, Jr. and published in the September-October 1964 issue of the Financial Analysts Journal. (I know, I need to find some more interesting hobbies besides digging through ancient magazine journal articles.) Here is the quote that caught my eye, since I have been reading so much about Read More......(read more)