Nuclear Energy Blogger and Author Carnival 213
It's time for the 213th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers and Authors, hosted this week right here at the ANS Nuclear Cafe. It's a big week for ANS, with the Annual Meeting going on in Reno... so without any further remarks we'll dive right in!
NewsOK / Robert Bruce Hayes
Beware of Junk Science - Robert Hayes reminds us that it's possible to become afraid of something we don't really understand, based upon selected facts we're told to cloud or steer an issue.
----------
Atomic Insights - Rod Adams
Radiation Health Effects for Medical Doctors
Throughout their training programs, medical doctors have been taught to do everything they can to minimize radiation exposure. This message has become so intense in recent decades that many medical professionals shy away from ordering tests that would help them do their jobs better and provide better patient outcomes.
Atomic Show #216 - Just The Fracks, Ma'am
Greg Kozera is President of the Virginia Oil and Gas Association and is the author of a recently released book entitled "Just the Fracks, Ma'am; The Truth About Hydrofracking and the Next Great American Boom." Kozera and Rod Adams discuss energy options, the value of natural gas as a feedstock for material production, and the actions of certain members of the natural gas industry to discourage competitors like coal and nuclear.
----------
Nuke Power Talk / Gail Marcus
Nuclear Engineering Students Among "Most Impressive" at MIT
Gail Marcus was pleased and proud to discover that three nuclear engineering students were profiled in a group of only fourteen students identified as among the most outstanding at MIT last year. She notes in Nuke Power Talk that this is an impressively high percentage in an already elite group, and she considers this a very positive sign for the future of the nuclear industry.
----------
Forbes / Jim Conca
EPA Hits Nuclear Industry with Kryptonite
EPA's latest proposed emissions rule for nuclear power plants focuses on a non-issue that has never been a problem; Kr-85. Kr-85 is a noble gas that cannot react with anything, can't form chemical compounds or even individual molecules, and can't enter biological pathways. Kr-85 can't do anything but dissipate immediately upon leaving the reactor.
Why on Earth is China Nervous about Plutonium in Japan?
China is nervous about Japan making atomic weapons and has complained to the International Atomic Energy Agency that Japan has over 1,400 pounds of plutonium that it did not report. This is actually amusing since this Pu cannot be made into weapons. Also funny is China's faked outrage.
----------
Next Big Future / Brian Wang
China could complete 9 nuclear reactors in the next 7 months
By the end of 2014, the number of reactors in the country is expected
reach 30, bringing the total nuclear capacity to around 27 GWe. In
2015, capacity should reach 36 GWe, as a further eight reactors are
brought online. 18 units are expected to start up within the next two
years, taking nuclear capacity close to the projected 40 GWe figure.
----------
ANS Nuclear Cafe - submitted by Paul Bowersox
Spent Fuel Pool Fire Risk Drops to Zero Months After Shutdown
Rod Adams addresses the real issues that concern operation and maintenance of spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants in this thorough article. The constant effort on the part of some anti-nuclear activists to make spent fuel pools into a looming threat is dispatched in detail; the realities are presented so that actual risk may be perceived, and once understood, placed in perspective.
Will Davis presents a history of one of the most unusual commercial nuclear power plants ever built - a boiling water reactor capable of producing highly superheated steam. The reasons for its failure are explored, as is some not-before-seen history. For those interested in placing SMR's at existing power plant sites, this post might be quite interesting - and important.
----------
That's it for this week's posts. Thanks to all of our contributors!