Carnival of Nuclear Energy 192
It's time for the 192nd Carnival of Nuclear Energy, in which the world's top pro-nuclear bloggers and authors entertain and inform us with their best posts and stories.
The field is wide this week - so let's get right to it!
Nuke Power Talk / Gail Marcus
At Nuke Power Talk, Gail Marcus speculates what might have happened in the past if our Stone Age ancestors had known then what we know now about the potential dangers of any technology, and draws from this a message of how we should deal with the knowledge of such risks.
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Atomic Insights - Rod Adams
Russia Using Oil Wealth to Finance Nuclear Exports
Russia's announcement that it plans to lend Hungary $14 billion to finance the expansion of the Paks nuclear power station is one more piece of evidence showing that Russia continues to diversify its income by exporting nuclear power stations to as large a market as possible. It is winning sales competitions by providing as complete a product as the customer desires.
Rod Adams highly recommends a terrific brochure titled "Radiation: The Facts". The document concentrates accurate information about radiation into a a tri-fold that can be read and understood in just a few minutes. It is a valuable presentation handout, would be a useful addition to the material offered in doctor's offices, and should be a part of any classroom discussion about radiation.
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Yes Vermont Yankee - Meredith Angwin
Take Action: Comments to the Public Service Board
Vermont Yankee will close at the end of this year when it finishes its fuel cycle. In December, after lengthy negotiations, Vermont agencies and Entergy signed an agreement. This agreement ends lawsuits, obligates Entergy to pay around $40 million dollars into various funds, and says that the state will allow the plant to run until the end of its fuel cycle. However, the agreement does not take effect unless the Public Service Board rules. In this post, Meredith Angwin encourages people to comment to the Public Service Board. She provides a link for comments, as well as links to the agreement and other back-up documentation.
Can Entergy Trust the State? Comments by John McClaughry
In this post, John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute shares his comments to the Public Service Board about the Entergy-State agreement. He urges the Public Service Board to ratify the agreement. He briefly reviews the history of Vermont Yankee. And he asks the important question: "Can Entergy trust the state of Vermont?"
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ANS Nuclear Cafe
"An Ethos of Nuclear Reactor Safety" by Sherrell R. Greene
The mantle of nuclear safety guardianship is passing to a new generation. What has history taught us about the way a nuclear safety expert should approach his or her profession?
"A Century of Technology - Remarks by Richard Rhodes"
Richard Rhodes, historian and best-selling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb, was the keynote speaker at a special dinner at the 2013 ANS Winter Meeting commemorating the 75th anniversary of the discovery of nuclear fission.
An inspiring review of advances in science and technology that have vastly improved our well-being and transformed the world over the past century - with particular emphasis on the revolutionary role of nuclear science and technology.
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The Hiroshima Syndrome - Les Corrice
A synopsis of reports published in Fukushima Updates and Fukushima Commentary on the Hiroshima Syndrome site between March 2011 and January 2014.
The facts concerning the radioactive cesium at the Fukushima Daiichi station. The synopsis comes from past posts in the Fukushima Updates and Commentary blogs of the Hiroshima Syndrome website, showing that the cesium risks have been exaggerated.
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Next Big Future - Brian Wang
China has 1400 MWe version of AP1000, rights to export
Nuclear energy still produces triple the energy of wind and solar
Debating about geoengineering and increased nuclear energy
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Forbes - Jim Conca
Wind Energy of No Use in Pacific Northwest
In the Pacific Northwest, hydro-electric power load follows when wind power is available, wiping out any emissions or cost benefit. Over the last several years, we've spent about $5 billion and impacted over 50,000 acres of pristine public land for the privilege of throwing away 9 billion Kw-hrs of carbon-free energy every year. We can be smarter than this.
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That's it for this week's Carnival. Thanks to all of our entrants for their hard work.