The 280th edition of the Nuclear Energy Blog Carnival has posted at The Next Big Future.

For today's Friday Nuclear Matinee: ANS member Meredith Angwin was interviewed on Vote for Vermont hosted by Pat McDonald. Listen as Meredith talks about nuclear fuel safety and the economic impact on closing Vermont Yankee. Meredith educates the public in her easy-to-understand manner, and expresses herself with a genuine passion and belief for nuclear technology. Grab your popcorn and enjoy the show!

It is often said that "knowledge is power," but in America it can just as easily be said that "knowledge is frustrating." In today's popular culture-oriented America, the knowledgeable can sometimes find themselves at odds with much of the general population as hysteria and hype override common sense and expert opinions. This is particularly true for the nuclear industry and its associated technology, which often seem to be the scapegoat for Hollywood, comic books, and the Internet.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant went off-line seven months ago, on December 29, 2014. The shutdown has had a massive negative economic effect on the region near the power plant. Could this have been predicted?

Let's make some noise! #Nuclear4Climate, #COP21, #NuclearEquality

A rare look inside the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Glen Rose, Texas. Both a story as well as the video. http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/texas-news/2015/09/18/comanche-peak-nuclear-plant-still-pumping-power-after-25-years/72448156/

As the world's population booms, its resources struggle to keep pace. Water scarcity is one of the most important issues to be confronted by global communities in the years ahead-already an increasingly vast number of regions worldwide face chronic water shortages, and with demand projected to grow an additional 40 percent by 2050, the threat of violence over access to clean drinking water is both a real and urgent one. With shifting climate patterns further exacerbating the problem, investing in economically-efficient and sustainable water utilization tactics immediately is crucial.

Mars - brought to you by NASA and nuclear power. After three action-packed years on Mars, the Curiosity rover is ready to take on higher slopes of Mount Sharp. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1391

This week's ANS Friday Nuclear Matinee features the second quarter 2015 construction update from South Carolina Electric & Gas's V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, where two new AP1000 nuclear units are under construction. The massive size of the components and construction is well displayed in this video, which dates from late July 2015.

Media have been abuzz this week following the Reuters' story that attempts to portray the situation of Japanese nuclear power plant restarts as not nearly so rosy as had been hoped. Reuters predicted last year at this time that 14 nuclear plants would restart "in the near term," while this year it predicts seven will do so. This number is difficult to support, because the legal challenges faced by individual plants seem to come and to go. Certainly, those plants that are (or already have been) found to be on or near active faults by Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) are in the deepest trouble.

It's that time! Popcorn in hand? Let's watch ANS member Kaylee Yuhas as she talks about how nuclear reactions actually work.

The 275th edition of the Nuclear Energy Blog Carnival has posted at Northwest Clean Energy.

In Part 1 of this post, I discussed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's final rule for the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the details of how it works, and its impacts on nuclear power. In Part 2, I further discuss the CPP's impact on nuclear, and also the political aspects related to the plan.

On August 3, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the final rule for its Clean Power Plan (CPP), the goal of which is to reduce CO₂ emissions from the U.S. power generation sector. The plan establishes state-by-state requirements for power sector emissions reductions, over designated timeframes. The plan allows states to either reduce overall power plant CO₂ emissions or to reduce the tons of CO₂ per MW-hr generated (each by EPA-specified amounts).

Is nuclear energy safe? Kaylee Yuhas explains why it is the best option for our planet and our energy needs.

The 274th edition of the Nuclear Energy Blog Carnival has posted at Next Big Future

"The Atom Goes to Sea - Excursion in Science" a 1954 film by General Electric

Last month, I discussed how nuclear costs (for both construction and operation) have escalated rapidly in previous decades, and I asked why we can't achieve those previous costs, by just doing what we did then. Those issues are discussed further in this post.

by Will Davis