Southern Company has collected some interesting facts about its new nuclear construction project now underway at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County, Georgia.

Here is an in-depth video interview with American Nuclear Society President Eric Loewen. Portions of this interview have been featured before in articles at the ANS Nuclear Cafe, such as "ANS Special Committee on Fukushima focuses on communication", "ANS to hold teacher workshop in Phoenix, AZ," and others, as well as in other venues. Here is the complete, unabridged version of the interview.

The American Nuclear Society's 2012 Annual Conference-Nuclear Science and Technology: Managing the Global Impact of Economic and Natural Events-will take place June 24-28 in Chicago, Ill.. Discount registration is available through Friday, June 1.

The 106th Carnival of nuclear energy bloggers is up at Atomic Power Review

The 2012 Nuclear Energy Assembly wrapped up this Wednesday evening in Charlotte, NC.  The Nuclear Energy Assembly is the nuclear energy industry's annual conference, attracting leaders worldwide from all segments of the industry.

President Barack Obama today announced his intent to nominate Allison Macfarlane to be U.S. Nuclear Regulatory (NRC) commissioner and to designate her as NRC chair upon her appointment. Macfarlane is an associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University (GMU), a position she has held since 2006. Macfarlane served as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future from March 2010 to January 2012.

Aris Candris

Aris Candris, Ph.D., senior advisor and a member of the Westinghouse Electric Company Board of Directors, is the recipient of the 2012 Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award. Established in 1972 by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Smyth Award recognizes outstanding and statesmanlike service in the development and safe management of nuclear energy science. The award commemorates a lifetime's achievement in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Chairman Gregory Jaczko announced today that he would resign his position as soon as a successor is confirmed. Jaczko has served on the 5-member commission since January 2005 and was named chairman in May 2009. His current term as commissioner was set to expire in June 2013.

The May issue of Nuclear News magazine is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (must enter ANS user name and password in Member Center).  The issue contains the following feature articles:

Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park is a carnival of terrestrial energy

The Carnival is the collective voice of blogs with legendary names which emerge each week to tell the story of nuclear energy.

This week's Nuclear Matinee takes a nostalgic look back to the dawn of the Atomic Age and an exciting new power source: "atomic energy."

The nation continues to chart an independent course

In recent days, a number of articles have been printed that assert that a grave danger exists at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear generating station. These articles claim that this danger exists due to the condition of the spent nuclear fuel at the site and the supposedly shaky condition of its storage and care. Two examples:

The American Nuclear Society today issued the following statement:

ANSI strongly encourages all U.S. delegates to participate in international standardization meetings

The Carnival is up at Atomic Power Review.

Today's matinee is a foreign film feature: an excellent overview of the very basics of nuclear energy.

The Carnival is up at Yes Vermont Yankee.

Decades of nuclear science in just two minutes! This dramatic video takes the viewer inside the world of atomic particles, describing a rather important difference between the encounters of alpha particles and neutrons when scientists direct them at heavy atomic nuclei. The scientist referred to in the video is Leo Szilard, who conceived the possibility of a nuclear "chain reaction" among many other important scientific achievements. This nuclear chain reaction is quite a ride- so enjoy!

The month of May is knocking on the door, but don't forget to turn to your April issue of Nuclear News magazine for the latest in outage management news. The April issue, which is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (must enter ANS user name and password in Member Center), contains the following articles on outage management: