The Nuclear Literacy Project

June 8, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeSuzy Hobbs

Yurman

In the weeks and months following the events at the Fukushima plant in Japan, the American Nuclear Society's Social Media listserv has become a headquarters for sharing information, ideas, and strategies about how to combat misinformation about nuclear energy. This active forum is facilitated by Dan Yurman, who through this effort has opened a new door for collaboration between communicators from all corners of the nuclear community. Many on this list have voiced concerns that the industry response to Fukushima has not yet managed to transition from defensive to offensive, in terms of public outreach.

ANS President Joe Colvin testifies about SMR legislation

June 7, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Colvin

On Tuesday, June 7, ANS President Joe Colvin testified about legislation pertaining to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) before the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.  The committee hearing  began at 10:00 am Eastern Time. A live Webcast was available via the committee's Web site (see "Live Webcast" on the left menu).  An archive video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete.

Lord Rutherford and the Atomic Pudding

May 31, 2011, 3:00PMANS Nuclear CafePaul Bowersox

Today is the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Ernest Rutherford's revolutionary article, "The Scattering of α and β Particles by Matter and the Structure of the Atom," which appeared in Philosophical Magazine (Series 6 21: 669-688). In the article, Rutherford explained his astonishing and profound discovery that atoms consist of a small and dense nucleus surrounded by electrons.

Fitting wind onto the electricity grid (part 2)

May 26, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeUlrich Decher

In a previous article from January-Fitting Wind onto the Electricity Grid-I presented the advantages and disadvantages of promoting wind power. The conclusion was that there were some advantages, but they were far outweighed by the disadvantages. The reason for having so many wind turbines on the grid is, I said, that it is motivated by politics, not by environmental or economic needs. In this article, I will further explore the reasons why wind turbines are being placed on the grid. In order to do that, I take a look at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest, and the California Independent System Operator (ISO) balancing system.

How much can change in a couple of months?

May 25, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafePeter Caracappa

The basic thesis of a post I wrote in January was that the Chernobyl accident was far enough in the past that the younger generation in the nuclear industry did not have the first-hand memories of the experience, and therefore lacked some of the emotional understanding of the event. I suggested that there should be a conscious effort to pass on how Chernobyl and Three Mile Island affected the culture of the industry.

Zero or net-zero?

May 24, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeMeredith Angwin

It's not as much fun as you might think to stand in front of an auditorium of young people, speaking about energy, and knowing that they simply do not believe you. No, it wasn't that they didn't believe me about nuclear safety-although that may also have been the case-it's that they didn't believe me about the role of renewables. Specifically, they didn't understand the difference between a net-zero energy facility and a zero-use energy facility.

Nuclear Waste Policy Recommendations from Blue Ribbon Commission

May 18, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeJim Hopf

On May 13, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future released its draft conclusions and recommendations. Despite its more general sounding title, the commission's work mostly concerned the nuclear waste issue. It was created by President Obama's administration primarily to investigate alternatives to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, after the administration moved to shut that program down. While the commission did release some recommendations on other issues such as advanced reactors and Fukishima, this post will focus on its recommendations concerning nuclear waste policy.

Nuclear Reactor Wall Chart Electronic Library

May 17, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeUlrich Decher

For those of us involved in the design of nuclear reactors in the 1970s and 1980s, it was fairly common to walk into somebody's office and see a wall chart depicting the reactor that was being developed or serviced. These were foldout charts that were technically accurate. They were 3D renditions of the reactor, with cutouts showing the internals of the plant, and were made available by the magazine Nuclear Engineering International in the 1950s through the 1990s as inserts in the magazine. Now, several decades later, many of these charts were lost to the publisher due to the multitude of reorganizations and moves that have occurred.

UT–Austin holds Texas Atomic Film Festival

May 16, 2011, 6:08AMANS Nuclear Cafe

The third annual Texas Atomic Film Festival (TAFF) was held on May 5, 2011, by the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. The 2011 TAFF featured seven films produced by students from UT-Austin as well as distance-learning students from Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa. The goal of the TAFF is to allow students to communicate technical subjects to their peers by using digital movie content.