March, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I participated on theWatt Podcast . One of the other participants on that show, Mark Seall, is the founder of TalkClimateChange.com and also writes for Green Options , Pro Blogger , and Eco Worldly. He is a Brit living in Switzerland, has his MBA and normally writes about environmental...

Janis Mara of the Contra Costa Times published a summary article about the conflicted response to nuclear power in California titled Nuclear War in California . It is worth a read. Please remember as you read it, however, that good journalists work very hard not to reveal their own stance on an issue...

As a child of the 1970s, I vividly remember waiting in gas lines during the 1974 Arab Oil Embargo - in my Dad's car - and during the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis induced gasoline shortage. That second time was when I was in my second year at the Naval Academy and I was living about 40 miles away from...

I will admit it - I am a NIMBY when it comes to certain kinds of power projects. I do not like soot, smog, or endless coal trains. Natural gas pipelines have scared me since I watched a friend get scorched while lighting a pilot light and that concern really increased when I learned about the family...

According to a March 24, 2008 article in the Guardian titled We need more nuclear plants to avoid blackouts, say German power chiefs , German power industry executives are working to encourage discussion of the current agreement to phase out nuclear power. They point out future supply challenges and...

Robert Hargraves, the man behind the Pebble Bed Reactor Blog , has been putting a lot of time and energy into developing an adult continuing education course for Dartmouth College's ILEAD program. The course is titled Energy Policy and Environmental Choices: Rethinking Nuclear Power . Bob started...

The Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' is a highly anticipated new aircraft with an advertised fuel consumption that is about 20% lower than competitive aircraft. Its designers claim that success based on replacing a large portion of the aircraft's most weighty components with carbon fiber composite...

Marysville California is about 20 miles due north of Sacramento, the state capitol. Not surprisingly - based on the paper's name and location, it is a publication that notices when politicians speak, especially when they say something newsworthy. In a recent editorial, the paper talked about the...

My Google Alert on new nuclear power plants pointed me to a very useful article by Jack Spencer titled What Finland Can Teach US About Power . It is worth a close read. Unfortunately, I have run out of time this morning - instead of blogging I spent the time processing another episode of The Atomic Show...

Dr. Patrick Moore of the CASE (Clean and Safe Energy) Coalition is a former Greenpeace leader who is now a strong pro-nuclear power advocate. The popular blog Capitol Valley - Views on technology and public policy from both coasts recently interviewed Dr. Moore in a Dupont Circle cafe. You can read the...

The recent Atomic Insights post discussing the cost of FPL's proposed new nuclear plants in South Florida generated quite a discussion thread that provides a lot of food for thought. I noticed an article in the New York Times published on March 19, 2008 titled An Export in Solid Supply (registration...

FPL - Florida Power and Light - is the electric power utility that serves the southeast part of Florida where 4.5 million people live and where I grew up. It is also the company where my father worked as a transmission substation engineer for a bit more than 35 years. I have very fond memories of the...

What is Nuclear? is an information sharing effort recently started by a group of young nuclear engineers. It is a well designed site with some real science and engineering expertise in the background. Not only are the writers smart, but they have some interesting personal histories - Natallia, for example...

George Chapman at Amarillo Power continues to fascinate me, partially because he does not make much noise. Information about his project's progress only surfaces once in a while. I try to share it with you as soon as I have time to digest and verify my own understanding of the implications of what...

On March 12-14, 2008, the Wall Street Journal sponsored an executive conference called ECO:nomics: Creating Environmental Capital . The conference took place at the Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, California one of the birthplaces of the modern environmental movement. At the close of the conference...

According to an article posted on chinadaily.com.cn titled Solar cell maker adds 3 new production lines Nantong Qiangsheng Photovoltaic Technology Co Ltd (QS Solar), which currently runs a production line for its thin-film amorphous silicon solar cell panels, is planning to increase its capacity by by...

On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, I attended another Energy Conversation sponsored by a rapidly growing group of US government agencies and interested individuals. (You can find some background information about how these conversations are organized by visiting Energyconversation.org's "Why it's...

Kentucky is one of the states where current law precludes the construction of a new nuclear power plant until there is a licensed and available location for permanent disposal of used nuclear fuel. Kentucky is also the site of the only currently functioning uranium enrichment plant in the country, the...

There is a lot of hand wringing going on in the South African press these days. Not only has the country experienced stress on its electrical power supply grid severe enough to result in rolling blackouts and curtailed power to major industries like mining that supply massive quantities of jobs and contributions...

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to chat with three other people spread around North American and Europe about my favorite topic - energy. It was fun to share ideas and disputes with Ben Kenny from Canada ( The Watt ), Robb Worthington from the UK ( Sustainable Living ), and Mark Seal from Switzerland...

Dailytech.com posted a blog titled Toshiba Establishes New U.S. Nuclear Business . It provides some details about Toshiba's plans for developing its nuclear business here in the United States. It emphasizes the fact that the Westinghouse purchase from last year is only a part of a larger plan. The...

I like the United Kingdom's new approach to solving its future energy demand problem. It has done the studies, analyzed the options and determined that nuclear fission can play an increasing role in providing clean, reliable, indigenous, affordable, and sustainable electricity. It is an interesting...

Many of my colleagues in the energy business try to be environmentally correct and do not like to make clear statements that criticize any particular energy source. They especially avoid any hint that they actively oppose the development of the "popular" renewable energy sources like wind and...

When Canada began its nuclear power program, it chose to use heavy water to moderate (slow down) the fission neutrons. This choice reduces the number of neutrons that are not available for fission by reducing the absorption of those neutrons in the moderator. The improvement in neutron utilization is...

After the award ceremony for the presenters and engineering challenge, after the speech by Mr. Luis Reyes, the Chief Operating Officer of the NRC, and after a fine Texas dinner of steak and potatoes, the American Nuclear Society Student Conference concluded with one last group event - the party. Luminant...