Atomic Insights

Risks to American nuclear workers from “nonproliferation” excesses

Rod Adams — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:09:09 GMT

Elaine Grossman has published a piece on Nextgov.com titled Former Defense Brass Object to ‘More Restrictive’ Nuclear Trade Policies that is critical of an effort led by John Hamre to question recent deliberations by the Obama Administration. The end result of the talks has the potential to complicate rules for US based organizations that want [...] The post Risks to American nuclear workers...(read more)

Pitching nuclear energy and explaining value of new plant construction

Rod Adams — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:57:13 GMT

I returned last night from a short vacation to Washington, DC. I am such an atomic geek that my idea of a vacation is to spend a couple of days at the Nuclear Energy Assembly (NEA) in a dim hotel conference room surrounded by a crowd of business leaders, many in dark suits who qualify [...] The post Pitching nuclear energy and explaining value of new plant construction appeared first on Atomic Insights...(read more)

Is Levy County nuclear plant too expensive to compete with natural gas?

Rod Adams — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:50:50 GMT

On Saturday, May 11, 2013, the Tampa Bay Times published a lengthy piece by Ivan Penn titled Levy nuclear plant more costly than a natural gas facility that uses a detailed analysis with substantial “error bars” around cost estimates to show that under nearly all scenarios considered, the two reactor installation that has been proposed [...] The post Is Levy County nuclear plant too expensive...(read more)

Crash course in outrage management

Rod Adams — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:33:59 GMT

A couple of days ago, Andrew, an Atomic Insights contributor pointed me to Dr. Peter Sandman, a man who built a career out of helping large organizations improve their ability to communicate about risk. I want to thank Andrew for helping me to put a name to a topic that I’ve been wanting to study [...] The post Crash course in outrage management appeared first on Atomic Insights. ...read more...(read more)

How power generation works in Ontario

Rod Adams — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:01:47 GMT

About a week ago, ANS Nuclear Cafe shared the below video from Ontario Power Generation as part of their Friday Matinee series of videos. It’s pretty good and worth sharing here. If you wonder why I am taking the easy road out today and not writing very much, I suggest that you visit ANS Nuclear [...] The post How power generation works in Ontario appeared first on Atomic Insights. ...read more...(read more)

Spectra Pipeline campaign is a teachable energy moment

Rod Adams — Sun, 05 May 2013 10:30:15 GMT

If I lived in New York City, I would be campaigning against the installation of large, high pressure gas pipelines and for the continued operation of the well-built and well-maintained Indian Point Nuclear Power Station. I would also campaign for the construction of additional nuclear plants. In my opinion, nuclear generated electricity is more compatible [...] The post Spectra Pipeline campaign is...(read more)

Mark Lynas describes anti GMO conspiracy to Cornell University

Rod Adams — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:03:37 GMT

One of the primary reasons I am sharing the above video is that it has an analog in the multi-decade effort to restrict the growth of nuclear technology. Though not the topic of this talk, Mark pointed out the similarity between the anti GMO and antinuclear movements. At minute 15:30 he said: Indeed, in many [...] The post Mark Lynas describes anti GMO conspiracy to Cornell University appeared first...(read more)

Faces of nuclear energy from Bruce Power

Rod Adams — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:17:33 GMT

This is the kind of TV spot that we need the public to see at least as often as they see ads for “clean natural gas” or “100 years of energy right under our feet.” I realize that utility leaders have been taught that advertising is a cost with unmeasurable returns. For some odd reason, [...] The post Faces of nuclear energy from Bruce Power appeared first on Atomic Insights...(read more)

Nukes kill more birds than wind?

Rod Adams — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:40:22 GMT

By Paul Lorenzini In the yin and yang of energy policy debates, we know some can get carried away. Normally we ignore the radical fringe, but sometimes their claims take on a life of their own and need to be addressed. One such charge has found its way as an authoritative reference on Wipikedia, alleging [...] The post Nukes kill more birds than wind? appeared first on Atomic Insights. ...read more...(read more)

Civil disobedience might be needed to overcome illogical EPA limits on radiation

Rod Adams — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:21:48 GMT

Jim Hopf recently published a thought provoking post on ANS Nuclear Cafe titled New EPA Guidelines for Response to Radioactivity Releases. In that post he points out the illogical way that the EPA applies and enforces its assumption that any ionizing radiation is hazardous, even down at levels far below natural background. Jim points out [...] The post Civil disobedience might be needed to overcome...(read more)

Petition – Stop wasteful practice of using LNT as basis for illogical regulations

Rod Adams — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:55:24 GMT

Though I am pretty skeptical about the value of the Whitehouse.gov petition system, I have been convinced that it might sometimes be a vehicle for starting an important conversation. Recently, someone started a petition asking the Obama Administration to stop using the Linear, No-Threshold Dose response assumption as the basis for EPA regulations that set [...] The post Petition – Stop wasteful...(read more)

Atomic Show #202 – Atomic Earth Day 2013

Rod Adams — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:29:37 GMT

Many nuclear professionals have been attracted to the technology because of its inherently light footprint when compared to all other alternative power sources. It uses less land, less metal, less concrete, and a tiny volume of fuel when compared to producing a similar quantity of energy from other sources of reliable power, especially when the [...] The post Atomic Show #202 – Atomic Earth Day...(read more)

Call them unreliable

Rod Adams — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:17:47 GMT

Rick Maltese is a creative artist who spent this afternoon creating an amusing parody of the diffuse, weather dependent, unreliable power sources that some think can beat both fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Share Call Them Unreliable widely! PS – Just in case you would like to have a sing along at your next pronuclear [...] The post Call them unreliable appeared first on Atomic Insights. .....(read more)

Kewaunee needs a “deus ex machina”; rising natural gas prices not quite enough

Rod Adams — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:36:04 GMT

On May 7, 2013, the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station is scheduled to stop generating emission free electricity for the last time. The plant is one of the better run and maintained facilities in the US, it has an operating license that is effective until December 2013, and it generates electricity for an average cost of [...] The post Kewaunee needs a “deus ex machina”; rising natural gas...(read more)

NuScale announces achievement of unlimited coping time

Rod Adams — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:22:31 GMT

At the Nuclear Energy Insider SMR Conference in Columbia, S.C., Dr. Jose Reyes, a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of NuScale Power, announced that his team had achieved an impressive design breakthrough. Two years after the Fukushima event, NuScale is introducing a safety system for our nuclear reactor that does not require DC batteries [...] The post NuScale announces achievement of unlimited...(read more)