So many people oppose nuclear power that it becomes easy to lump them all together as "the opponents." Like any other group, however, the opponents actually have various depths of commitment. The extremes are the Professional Opponent and the Concerned But Reachable Volunteer.
Tag cloud for Atomic Power Review 2011 07 09
The 60th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers is up at Atomic Power Review. This is the first time this blog is participating in the carnival.
Help comes from positive news for getting nuclear energy out of its defensive corner
Following the ANS Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, June 30, Eric Loewen officially became ANS President and Joe Colvin transitioned to ANS Immediate Past President. The picture below marks the presentation of a symbolic gavel from the ANS President to the ANS Immediate Past President.
The 59th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers is up at Yes Vermont Yankee
American Nuclear Society members and others, take a bow. Your contributions to the Japan Relief Fund have exceeded the $155,000 level. That's something to be proud of. There is still a need, however, for you to keep making donations to help our friends and colleagues, and their families, at the Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini, and Onagawa nuclear plants, all located on the damaged east coast of Japan.
Two people with long experience working with the nuclear industry-one in Japan and one in the United States-share some "hall talk" with ANS Nuclear Cafe about Fukushima
In new media and old, time must be devoted to finding and conveying accurate information, no matter how short the news cycle.
Former NRC chairman is honored at American Nuclear Society national meeting
As President-Elect of the American Nuclear Society, I welcome my fellow ANS members and non-members to the 2011 June conference!
Travel Mugs Available at June ANS Meeting
The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1, what is now INL.
The history of the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy is accentuated by a number of significant emotional events. Some have been distinctly positive; the first man-made self-sustaining fission reaction, the first electricity generated by atomic energy, feats accomplished by the first nuclear powered naval vessels, the invention of life-saving nuclear medicine techniques, etc. During and following each of these milestones our collective understanding of the technology has continued to evolve and mature with increased knowledge and experience.
Some of us are old enough to remember when, in the 1970s, the US News and World Reports annual survey of careers with room for growth placed nuclear energy at or near the top of the list for several years in a row. I was in high school at the time, and had already decided that I was interested in energy production, nuclear in particular. The annual list publication reinforced my decision. My high school career lasted from 1973 to 1977, a period that coincided not only with the apogee of the first Nuclear Age, but that also was sandwiched between two significant oil-price-related recessions.
Vermont's Department of Public Service (DPS) is holding local meetings about a proposed Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan, which is supposed to be on the governor's desk in October.
Continued from Monday, June 20
Over the past year or so, there has been a lot of buzz about small modular reactors (SMRs). These are reactors whose electrical output ranges anywhere from ~25 MW to ~300 MW, as compared with over 1000 MW for large "conventional" nuclear power plants. With SMRs, the entire reactor (or possibly the entire nuclear island-NSSS) could be built in a factory and shipped to the site. Any site construction would be much more limited, and would only involve the (non-nuclear) balance of plant. Descriptions of some proposed SMRs can be found here, here and here.
Perhaps one of the more enduring cartoons that relates to the quality of information on the Internet is the one that states, "On the Internet no one knows you are a dog." It shows a drawing of two dogs sitting in front of a computer terminal. Unfortunately, the cartoon is copyrighted material so it can't be reposted here, but you can see it here along with many variations. The point of the cartoon is that words and images on the screen can come from anywhere and anyone.
Clearing up misconceptions and outright falsehoods about nuclear energy since the March 11 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami is getting more attention these days. Problems range from not mainstream journalists not understanding the technical issues to people who are publicity crazed fear mongers out to get their face on a video.
It's not the same as selling donuts, cars, or promoting sports entertainment
A typical description of what happens when you're "exposed to radiation" sounds scary-a gamma ray slams into a cell! Sounds like something you wouldn't want to have happen very often.