ANS Nuclear Cafe

A political seismic shift occurred this week - and I am not talking about the mid-term election.  The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a report Thursday acknowledging nuclear power's important role in reducing carbon emissions.

The start of Marie Curie's story isn't like most of the other scientists that  had made a name for themselves throughout history, mostly because she was a grown woman by the start of the 20^th century. But she was the first woman to do a lot of things, including getting a Ph.D. from a university in France, and winning a Nobel Prize. She was also the first person ever to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields of science. To say she pushed the societal and scientific boundaries of her era is an understatement.

As a fourth year nursing student working in Chicago area hospitals, I deal with nuclear medicine quite often. The term "nuclear medicine" can sound disconcerting, but when you are familiar with it, I assure you, it's not. Just think of it as a bunch of necessary medical tools with a little radiation thrown in. I know what you are thinking. Radiation? What? Relax. It's fine. You already know it, and either you, or someone you know, has been exposed to this specific area of medicine via certain procedures.

Reactor vessel delivered to Calvert Cliffs; from brochure in Will Davis collection.

The year 1971 saw a continuation of the general trend of rising capital costs for all types of power plants, described by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in its publication for 1971 as having "risen rather rapidly."  According to the AEC, the aggregate major causes for the increases in costs specific to nuclear electric power plants were as follows, with author's analysis accompanying each:

This week's matinee is a half hour long feature presentation entitled "Pioneering with Power," and is the story of the construction of one of America's earliest commercial nuclear power stations.  Remarkable views, unobtainable virtually anywhere else, are given of the entire process of the layout and construction of this historic power station.

https://vimeo.com/295607537

Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: Supporting life where it matters most.

Did you know that nuclear technology has been used in space almost since the beginning of human exploration in space?  That's right - nuclear energy has been used to power science experiments, satellites, and space probes.  It may even be used someday to propel vessels with people on board to other planets.  Let's take a look at three basic kinds of nuclear space technology!

This week is National Nuclear Science Week - an exciting week of learning, teaching and interacting on all things nuclear-related.  (You can read about the history of National Nuclear Science Week, or NNSW, by following this link.)

Before diving deep into strategies for how to ace the Nuclear P.E exam, let's briefly review the three main reasons of why it's essential for nuclear engineers to pass the professional engineering (P.E.) exam.

On Episode 12 of RadioNuclear, we discuss how fear-mongering stories about nuclear power plants in the path of a hurricane are irrelevant, the Oyster Creek Shutdown, and lastly, how nuclear power should be used geopolitically.

There's no denying that nuclear energy in the United States has traveled a rough road over the past several years. Plants have closed, legislation to deal with nuclear waste has stalled, and at times it seems that nuclear energy has been written off by policymakers and the public alike.

This week has brought two news items - one positive and one negative - that echo a theme which runs down the history of nuclear energy like a spine.  The story goes that the original, longest-tried technology works while other, theoretically superior but technically vastly more difficult concepts continue to run into roadblocks; that story remains unchanged today, in the face of these new developments.

Last time, we looked at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) findings on the drivers of nuclear plant construction delay and cost overrun up through 1969.  We'll complete our analysis of the AEC findings on 1969 in this installment and move on to 1970.

Hurricane Florence, a potentially devastating Category 2 hurricane is on track to make landfall in the Carolinas sometime within 24 hours after this morning, Thursday, September 13. With winds up to 130 miles per hour, Florence could be the most powerful storm to hit so far north in the United States - ever.

Photo showing the TVA Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant under construction at the end of the 1960's. This was TVA's first nuclear plant, which attained some notoriety for having been ordered in what previously had been considered "coal country."

Another, modern-day report has come out which in part discusses the problems encountered in nuclear plant construction - and discusses some suggested fixes for these.  I welcome such research and reporting, but I have begun to wonder how many people realize that all of these studies have been done before and, more importantly, that the conclusions of those studies apply exactly to today's situation.

Japan announced for the first time that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear power plant died after suffering radiation exposure, as reported in the Guardian, BBC and Newsweek, although this is unlikely to be true.

Our latest Friday Matinee video is a fascinating time-lapse produced by Georgia Power to show the entire process of installing one of the two steam generators at its Plant Vogtle expansion.

A sharp increase in reporting on KEPCO (the national Korean near-monopoly electric power provider) and KHNP (Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, the nuclear wing of KEPCO) the last two weeks or so by the Korean press has revealed a drastic reversal in the fortunes of this once-shining figure of Korean progress and success, and further implies ripples that perhaps could turn back an already flagging national economy.

Last week, the American Nuclear Society announced its new K-12 STEM education initiative Navigating Nuclear - Energizing Our World.