This Week in Nuclear

Fast Fission Podast #17 I'm packing up and leaving early tomorrow morning for the ANS Winter meeting in Washington DC. There are a couple of things going on there that I'm really looking forward to. At the Winter meeting there is always a vendor exposition and it's always fun and interesting to walk around and talk to representsatives of all the companies selling goods and services to the nuclear industry. There is also a Young Professionals Congress happening at the same time as the ANS meeting. The Young Professionals Congress is jointly organized by the Young Members Group of the American Nuclear Society and the North American Young Generation in Nuclear to provide a forum for young professionals from across the nuclear industry to come together to discuss the challenges facing the next generation of nuclear professionals. There are already people out there seending messages from Twitter, or tweets, about the ANS meeting and the Young Professional Congress. To make it easy for you to follow the events, I've installed a speacial window on my web site to stream their messages. So, if you can't be there but want to keep track of what's happening, you can come here and watch the Twitter feed. On Tuesday night we're having our nuclear blogger and podcastes meeting. If you are in Washington DC feel free to stop by. It's at the Omni Hotel at 6:30 PM. Ihope to see you there.

Renewable energy supporters were spreading the word today that this past Sunday wind energy in Spain produced 53% of the country’s electrical demand. This was certainly an achievement, but before we get all excited we need to read carefully and consider the situation. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

Because it’s Veteran’s Day, I thought it fitting for this show to focus on nuclear energy as it relates to potential uses in the military. At the Thorium Energy conference in October I had the pleasure to meet Col. Paul Roege from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. He spoke about the military’s rising use of energy in combat and the problems this energy intensity creates for soldiers tasked with protecting supply lines. By using a more dense energy source the military can reduce the amount of material they need to transport, and that will in turn save lives, lots of lives! This is why the military is considering small mobile reactors. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

Since I was a teenager I’ve enjoyed the magazine Scientific American. I’ve viewed them as informative and a good source of credible, accurate information about emerging trends in many fields of science and technology. The periodical began in 1845 and over the years its contributors have included, according to their website, more than 120 Nobel laureates and such amazing thinkers as Albert Einstein and Jonas Salk. This it way it pains me so much that this magazine has deteriorated to the level of utter trash and garbage. I will think long and hard before I ever again purchase a copy of the magazine. In this podcast I discuss why. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

In this episode of This Week in Nuclear I interview Joseph Somsel, the author of “How Taxes Pervert Our Energy Choices”. In our chat that lasted about 25 minutes we covered a wide range of topics including: 1. How favorably short depreciation schedules for wind have created a “gold mine” for investors, virtually independent of how much electricity the wind turbines produce. 2. How would nuclear investors benefit if new nuclear plants received the same treatment as new wind turbines. 3. How tax law have created massive subsidies for wind energy, but added tax burdens for nuclear. 4. A creative option for funding the industrial infrastructure for nuclear fuel cycling. 5. Comparisons of the lifetime energy provided by similar investment in wind and nuclear. 6. Who pays for new transmission line to support new wind turbines and new nuclear plants. 7. What do nuclear loan guarantees actually guarantee? Show Notes for This Week in Nuclear are at http://thisweekinnuclear.com

I awoke this morning to news reports that North Korea has once again resumed their production of plutonium for nuclear weapons. I suspect that’s no real surprise to anyone who pays attention to such things. After all, they threw IAEA inspectors out this spring and told the world of their plans. All of the major news outlets carried the story, and virtually every one reported that the North Koreans obtained the plutonium by reprocessing spent fuel from their nuclear plant. The term “nuclear plant” in this instance refers to their small 5 MW test reactor, NOT a nuclear power plant designed to produce energy for industrial use or electricity generation. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

Rancho Seco nuclear plant was shut down 20 years ago. If it were still running today how would it affect the people of Sacramento, California? "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

A new study by The Nature Conservancy compared the amount of land required to produce electricity from various energy sources. They are concerned that new energy projects fostered by climate and energy policy in the USA could lead to the destruction of natural habitats. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

A bi-partisan group of US Senators are pushing for loan guarantees to build a new fleet of nuclear plants. Anti-nuclear groups call this a "massive subsidy," but they are wrong. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

Is there a silent epidemic of illness and death among nuclear power plant workers and people who live around nuclear plants? This man certainly thinks so. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More