Hall Talk at ANS Winter Meeting - Sunday

October 31, 2011, 12:59AMANS Nuclear CafeDan Yurman

Snow day

Your reporter has been tramping around chilly Washington, DC, beset by an unseasonable early snow storm on Saturday. At the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, aptly named this year, I'm collecting observations, rumors, and raw random data, throwing out the rumors and keeping the rest to post here. This will be a daily feature through Wednesday of this week.

The ANS Young Professionals Congress 2011 - follow on Twitter!

October 29, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafePeter Caracappa

 We are just a few days away from the 2011 Young Professionals Congress, taking place during the ANS Winter Meeting next week in Washington, DC. We have many exciting and informative sessions scheduled for the meeting-informational sessions on important current topics, workshops, and interactive skills sessions (to find out more, see Nuclear Cafe posts 9-21 and  8-30).

The Rally for Vermont Yankee: At the Plant Gates During the Refueling Outage

October 26, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeMeredith Angwin

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is undergoing a refueling outage. For most plants, the situation would be business as usual.  The state of Vermont, however, believes it has the power to shut down Vermont Yankee in March 2012, even though the plant has a 20-year license extension from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In order to continue operations at Vermont Yankee, Entergy (the plant's owner and operator) has sued the state.

The Pro-Nuclear Community goes Grassroots

October 12, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeSuzy Hobbs Baker

In recent weeks I have been excited to witness several genuine grassroots efforts in support of nuclear energy emerging on the scene. Several have already been covered on this forum, like the Rally for Vermont Yankee and the Webinar collaboration by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the American Nuclear Society. Both of these efforts proved to be very successful in bringing together nuclear supporters and gaining attention from the mainstream media.

We Were Once Terrified of Fire, Too

October 5, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeSteven B. Krivit

The discovery of fire a million years ago must have been terrifying to cave men and women. Since that time, many people have died and much damage to the earth has occurred as a result of chemical energy released through fire. Nevertheless, that chemical energy found its place in the world, providing great benefits, and most people take it for granted.

Rally for nuclear power and Vermont Yankee

September 27, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeMeredith Angwin

At 9 a.m. on September 12, the Entergy v. State of Vermont lawsuit began hearings, regarding the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, at the federal courthouse in Brattleboro, Vt.  In June,  Howard Shaffer and I had gone to Brattleboro to stand outside the courthouse on the morning of the injunction hearing.  At that time, the two of us provided a small pro-nuclear presence at an anti-nuclear rally organized by the Safe and Green Campaign.

ANS to hold teacher workshop in Washington, DC

September 23, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

The American Nuclear Society's Public Education Program will be sponsoring a one-day teacher workshop on Saturday, October 29, in Washington, DC. The workshop-Detecting Radiation in Our Radioactive World-is intended for science educators (including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, physical science, life science, environmental, and general science teachers) at the high school and middle school levels. The workshop will be held prior to the ANS Winter Conference, October 30-November 3, 2011.

An Interesting Summer!

September 13, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeHoward Shaffer

Entergy, the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (VY), has sued the state of Vermont in federal court. At the same time, VY is the subject of a suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in which intervenors claim that VY does not have a discharge permit required by the Clean Water Act.

ANS President Eric Loewen visits Colorado School of Mines

September 8, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeLaura Scheele

As part of a Colorado speaking tour, American Nuclear Society President Eric Loewen visited the ANS student section at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) on Wednesday, August 24. More than 30 students and two faculty members attended his talk, and later that evening 17 students and two faculty members were among the attendees at the Colorado ANS local section meeting.

Can California meet its Renewable Energy Portfolio? Part III

August 11, 2011, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeUlrich Decher

The first two parts of this series (here and here) presented historical trends in electricity generation in California, and the growing use of in-state natural gas and imports of electricity from grids in neighboring states. They also showed that the use of "Unbundled Renewable Energy Credits" could meet the 33 percent renewable portfolio on paper, but may not benefit consumers in California with actual delivery of electricity.