Researchers at the National Ignition Facility in California announced this week that they had achieved a major milestone on the path toward nuclear fusion as an energy source, as described in a paper published in the science journal Nature. For the first time, the energy produced in a nuclear fusion reaction in a confined hydrogen fuel exceeded the energy put in to start the reaction.  Science reporter Gautam Naik explains at the Wall Street Journal:

CAREM 25 Prototype Plant; illustration courtesy CNEA

News came out this week that the first concrete had been poured at the construction site for the world's first small modular reactor (SMR) project-and it wasn't for a Generation mPower SMR at the former Clinch River site, or for a SMART SMR (which was the first type in the world to receive governmental design certification) at a site in South Korea.

The American Nuclear Society will welcome delegates from around the world to Chicago this August for the 8th International Conference on Isotopes (8ICI). It will be the first time that this prestigious conference is hosted in the United States.

During an earnings call on February 6, 2014, Exelon Corporation indicated that it may decide to shut down two or more of its nuclear reactors because of poor economic return. Exelon spokespeople have been warning about the effects of negative electricity prices for several years.

The 195th Carnival of Nuclear Energy is posted today at Atomic Power Review.  You can click here to access this latest entry in a long-running tradition among the top pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

In honor of the Seattle Seahawks' convincing victory in the Super Bowl just a few short days ago, today's Nuclear Matinee videos come straight from the great state of Washington, home to Energy Northwest's 1,170-megawatt Columbia Generating Station-which, incidentally, produces enough electricity to power a city the size of Seattle.

Hanul (formerly Ulchin) Nuclear Station at night. (Courtesy KEPCO E&C)

Over the past four years, the South Korean nuclear power program has suffered a set of very public setbacks that cast doubt on the entire program's integrity, to the point where even the South Korean president's attention was directed at the enterprise, in addition to public support being damaged. A recent well-publicized realignment in energy policy has seen a reduction in the expected percentage that nuclear energy would contribute to South Korea's fuel mix, and in some quarters it was augured that the program had been crippled.

The 194th Carnival of Nuclear Energy has been posted at Next Big Future.  You can click here to see the latest installment of a long-running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and writers.

In today's Nuclear Matinee, take a trip inside a nuclear reactor core with Jem Stansfield and the BBC. Jem explores a never-used reactor core at the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in Austria to explain, in the most straightforward of terms, how a nuclear power station works.

On Saturday, January 25, 2014, members of the American Nuclear Society's Chicago Section organized and participated in "Atomic Fission Fun," an event for Girl Scouts to learn about nuclear science. Sixty middle school students from the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana traveled to the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Wheaton, Ill., to participate.

Since the natural gas price collapse that started in summer 2008, many observers have become accustomed to using the adjective "cheap" when talking about natural gas. Like the word "clean," another adjective often applied to methane, "cheap" is a relative term. It is also a term whose applicability depends on time and location. As I wrote in a recent post on Atomic Insights, gas is only really cheap if nobody needs it. When demand increases due to some kind of perfectly natural phenomenon-like a winter with near normal temperatures-demand can exceed deliverability by a large margin.

The 193rd Carnival of Nuclear Energy has been posted at The Hiroshima Syndrome.  You can click here to see this latest installment of a long-running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and writers.

A nuclear power station contributes a lot more in benefits to a community and region than just massive amounts of 24/7 electricity generation-although it should be noted that, in the case of Seabrook Station alone, 42 percent of New Hampshire's entire electricity generation comes from this single power plant. Amazing. See this excellent post at NEI Nuclear Notes for more on Seabrook's "bigger picture," and this story for more on regional economic benefits in particular.

[Suzy is at it again, this time touring nuclear sites all over North America. Make sure to check out her latest adventures at the Nuclear Literacy Project]

The Art of the Deal is the title of a book by Donald Trump, and it certainly applies to a recent press conference in Vermont. The press conference, on December 23, 2013,   was about the eventual closing down of the Vermont Yankee power plant and was a big deal, a game changer, and a just-in-time Christmas present for many.

Last month I reported on court victories on the nuclear waste issue. While such victories are welcome, in my view things are not going well overall for the industry, and it's not clear the situation will improve much in the future unless some things change.

It's time for the 192nd Carnival of Nuclear Energy, in which the world's top pro-nuclear bloggers and authors entertain and inform us with their best posts and stories.

Ha!  Words don't do justice - just click 'play,' faithful Matinee viewers, and enjoy.

The commercial nuclear power industry has a remarkable safety record despite lingering images from the accidents at Three Mile Island and Fukushima Daiichi. This record is the legacy of a community of nuclear power plant designers, operators, and regulators who, though imperfect, were committed to the safety of the commercial nuclear power enterprise.

Interview by Katy Huff