March, 2012

People lined up to oppose nuclear energy development often resort to an interesting argument to use against it. According to the frequently repeated line, nuclear energy investment are so risky even Wall Street is not interested. Here is an example quote from an article titled Senators warn nuke plan...

As I was reading about the organized protests against nuclear energy project development in India, I noted the following passage. It provides evidence for the importance of working hard to spread accurate information about nuclear energy and the health effects of radiation. Sunthari Pentan sat near the...

I have never been a big fan of horror films, but I have friends and relatives who love the experience of watching movies that are cleverly designed to cause hearts to race through the use of cuts, lighting, intense music and surprise. I will never forget a movie night long ago with several friends –...

Please be patient with me on this post – it might take a while before I clearly demonstrate why it belongs on Atomic Insights. First I want to share a couple of entertaining, but informative videos that you’ll probably never see in the commercial media. This is another version of the same...

The US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on March 15, 2012 titled “Lessons from Fukushima One Year Later: NRC’s Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety in the 21st Century.” The following video clip included some key points that bear...

Peter Diamandis, the head of the X Prize Foundation, recently gave a TED talk titled Abundance is Our Future. It was an inspiring, energetic talk full of optimism for the ability of technology to solve the world’s biggest challenges. In all areas of technology but one, Peter is on target. When...

Throughout the past week, I have gotten increasingly angry as I read more and more drivel coming from the establishment about how the lessons of March 11, 2011 should result in our society turning its collective back on nuclear fission power production. According to countless pundits, the events that...

Oliver Morton recently wrote an article for The Economist titled The dream that failed. His comments in the below are fighting words for those of us in the nuclear field who recognize fission’s potential AND who have the competitive fire required to win in sports and business. Morton is not a very...

The World Nuclear Association has posted a useful, but not terribly dramatic, video comparing the known health impacts of Chernobyl versus Fukushima. One thing is clear – the primary lesson that post-Chernobyl analysis showed was that drinking milk that is heavily contaminated with I-131 can lead...

Joris, a frequent contributor to Atomic Insights discussions, provided the following story in a recent comment. I have lightly edited his comment, mostly to provide some white space with paragraph breaks. I hope his remarks provoke thought and discussion. As Atomic Insights readers know, I firmly believe...

The Heritage Foundation has produced a factual, inspiring, visually appealing documentary titled Powering America. As the title suggests, it is focused on the United States and our energy choices, but the need for power is universal and the options are essentially the same all around the world. Here...

The Friends of the Earth (FOE) has developed a 30 second television advertisement that uses Fukushima as a hypnotic code word to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about new nuclear power plants. It has purchased time slots in all of the major media markets in Iowa, where legislation is being considered...

In the weeks leading to the one year anniversary of the demise of the Fukushima Daiichi power station, there have been a number of articles from the usual suspects that seek use the word “Fukushima” as a hypnotic code word that is supposed to result in fear and trembling. Individuals like...

As a South Central Virginia resident, I have something in common with the people in the Pacific Northwest who are concerned about the impact of coal exports from the US. Numerous coal laden trains pass through Lynchburg every day, many of them headed to the large coal terminal in Newport News. I can...