November/December 2010 Radwaste Solutions online

October 19, 2010, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

The November/December issue of Radwaste Solutions will soon be available electronically to ANS members. This issue includes the fifth annual Buyers Guide, which is a directory of companies that provide products or services that relate directly to work at Department of Energy cleanup and remediation sites and civilian decommissioning projects, as well as to radioactive waste management in both the utility and specialized nonpower/nongovernment segments of the nuclear industry. This year's Buyers Guide includes information on nearly 400 companies listed in more than 150 categories.

Nuclear and the Renewable Energy Standard

October 18, 2010, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeJim Hopf

Now that more comprehensive climate change policies such as cap-and-trade are on indefinite hold, the U.S. Congress is considering a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES) in an effort to do something on energy issues. The RES would require that 15 percent of all U.S. electrical generation be provided by "renewable" sources by 2020. Currently, the definition of "renewable energy" does not include nuclear. Similar policies are already in place in many states, such as California.

Women and nuclear awareness

October 13, 2010, 3:22PMANS Nuclear CafeKelle Barfield

Clearly, our attempts to generate greater understanding of energy challenges exclude no member of the public. Young and old, Democrat and Republican, male and female-all must be the aim of public information about U.S. energy policy in general and nuclear energy in particular. Years of industry surveys, however, have quantified the large gender divide on acceptance of nuclear energy. For example, a survey last year by Ipsos Public Affairs showed that 54 percent of men support a stronger role for nuclear energy in the next few decades, while women's support was only 32 percent.

Nuclear Technology: The Rewards and Penalties of Being Special

September 30, 2010, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeTed Rockwell

Years ago, a newspaper columnist intrigued me with a statement that science cannot tell us anything about real people. To the columnist, science could talk only about "average people," which exist only in the imagination of the speaker. The scientifically average American, for example, has one testicle and one breast, 2.3 kids, and 0.6 dogs. Most of us don't know anyone like that.