ANS Nuclear Cafe

The ANS Nuclear Cafe is a blog owned and edited by the American Nuclear Society. Information contained on the ANS Nuclear Cafe has been provided by numerous sources. Therefore, the American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of information contained herein. DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in posted articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Nuclear Society. The views expressed here are those of the individual authors. ANS takes no ownership of their views. The American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained on this site.


Nuclear Desalination: Technology for a Thirsty Planet

September 16, 2015, 8:51PMANS Nuclear CafeBeth Kelly

As the world's population booms, its resources struggle to keep pace. Water scarcity is one of the most important issues to be confronted by global communities in the years ahead-already an increasingly vast number of regions worldwide face chronic water shortages, and with demand projected to grow an additional 40 percent by 2050, the threat of violence over access to clean drinking water is both a real and urgent one. With shifting climate patterns further exacerbating the problem, investing in economically-efficient and sustainable water utilization tactics immediately is crucial.

What about nuclear startups in Japan?

September 2, 2015, 2:08PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Media have been abuzz this week following the Reuters' story that attempts to portray the situation of Japanese nuclear power plant restarts as not nearly so rosy as had been hoped. Reuters predicted last year at this time that 14 nuclear plants would restart "in the near term," while this year it predicts seven will do so. This number is difficult to support, because the legal challenges faced by individual plants seem to come and to go. Certainly, those plants that are (or already have been) found to be on or near active faults by Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) are in the deepest trouble.

EPA Releases Final Rule for Clean Power Plan – How Did Nuclear Fare? – Part 1

August 24, 2015, 4:47PMANS Nuclear CafeJim Hopf

On August 3, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the final rule for its Clean Power Plan (CPP), the goal of which is to reduce CO2 emissions from the U.S. power generation sector. The plan establishes state-by-state requirements for power sector emissions reductions, over designated timeframes. The plan allows states to either reduce overall power plant CO2 emissions or to reduce the tons of CO2 per MW-hr generated (each by EPA-specified amounts).