I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

A hearing titled "Hearing on the nomination of Allison Macfarlane and re-nomination of Kristine L. Svinicki to be Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission" was held in the US Senate this morning starting at 10:00 AM EDT.

NRC Commissioner Kristine L. Svinicki (Photo: NRC)

American Nuclear Society (ANS) President Eric Loewen today announced that Ms. Kristine Svinicki of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will receive a 2012 ANS Presidential Citation. Commissioner Svinicki will receive her award during the ANS President's Special Session at the ANS Annual Conference: "Nuclear Science and Technology: Managing the Global Impact of Economic and Natural Events," being held June 24-28 in Chicago, Illinois.

Vermont Yankee's annual NRC performance review for the previous calendar year was held May 23, in Brattleboro Union High School, within 10 miles of the plant. In previous years, annual reports and state meetings have been held here, and in the Vernon Elementary School, across the road from the plant. The town of Vernon stopped hosting plant-related events due to behavior of some attendees.

The American Nuclear Society's Annual Conference, to be held June 24-28 in Chicago, Ill., will feature an embedded International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2012), ANS President Eric Loewen announced. "This international conference brings together nuclear leaders from around the world to share best practices and advance international understanding of the latest advances in nuclear power plants," said Loewen.

Dinner and show at Tommy Gun's Garage

The 108th Carnival is up at Next Big Future.

"Energy is a story that is still being written.

A US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing titled "Hearing on the nomination of Allison Macfarlane and re-nomination of Kristine L. Svinicki to be Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission" will be held Wednesday, June 13, at 10:00 AM EDT. The hearing will be webcast live starting at 10:00 AM.

Dinner and show at Tommy Gun's Garage

This time, Eskom wants vendors to self-finance

On  Wednesday, June 6, Dr. Mark T. Peters appeared on behalf  of the American Nuclear Society before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.  Peters is the Deputy Laboratory Director for Programs at Argonne National Laboratory and testified at the invitation of the subcommittee.

Construction at Vogtle units 3 and 4 and VC Summer units 2 and 3 is not going as well as many nuclear advocates would like. I'm not surprised, but neither are most people who have been involved in complex construction and technology projects that involve a lot of moving parts and numerous interested parties. Nothing that happens at those projects will change my mind that atomic fission is a superior way to produce heat and boil water. There is little chance that events at those individual projects will convince me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the advanced passive reactor plant design.

Hands-on activity during a November 2011 ANS teachers workshop

The American Nuclear Society's Center for Nuclear Science and Technology Information and the ANS Outreach Department will sponsor a one-day teacher workshop on Saturday, June 23, in Chicago, Ill. The workshop-Detecting Radiation in Our Radioactive World-is for science educators, including elementary, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, physical science, life science, environmental, and general science teachers. The workshop will be held the day before the beginning of the ANS Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The May/June issue of Radwaste Solutions contains feature articles on nuclear decontamination and decommissioning. The issue is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (must enter ANS user name and password in Member Center).

The 107th Carnival of nuclear energy bloggers is up at Idaho Samizdat.

What is life going to be like after fossil fuels?

Southern Company has collected some interesting facts about its new nuclear construction project now underway at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County, Georgia.

Here is an in-depth video interview with American Nuclear Society President Eric Loewen. Portions of this interview have been featured before in articles at the ANS Nuclear Cafe, such as "ANS Special Committee on Fukushima focuses on communication", "ANS to hold teacher workshop in Phoenix, AZ," and others, as well as in other venues. Here is the complete, unabridged version of the interview.

A recent public meeting held by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) turned out to be a horrific way for a nuclear supporter to spend an evening. The NRC held the meeting to report its annual review of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's performance. The plant received the highest safety ratings, but that was not the focus of the May 23 meeting in Brattleboro, Vt.-to put it mildly.