Japanese and U.S. counterparts face major challenges over Fukishima, but for different reasons

The American Nuclear Society's Board of Directors on June 30 during the ANS Annual Conference in Hollywood, Fla., approved the creation of three new student sections:

Help comes from positive news for getting nuclear energy out of its defensive corner

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.

In March, Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant received a 20-year license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the NRC extension ends in 2032. Vermont's legislature, however, voted last year to shut down the plant in 2012, when its state certificate runs out.