This Week in Nuclear

On December 16th I found myself in Birmingham, Alabama on my way to visit the offices of Southern Nuclear Operating Company.  The purpose of my trip was to benchmark some of their work practices and processes.  A few weeks earlier a friend at Southern had called and asked if I would be willing to pay them a visit to meet with a manager who had recently assumed responsibility for their workforce planning strategies, an area in which I have some expertise.   As we discussed this possibility, I let them know I was interested in learning about their succession planning process.  So we made a deal: we would each bring something to the table – I would share workforce planning ideas, and in return they would share their succession planning program.  A Win Win situation! Show Notes are at This Week in Nuclear  

I’ve been reading a lot about the Toyota gas pedal recall because I own a Camry that is several years old.  Several people have been killed in accidents caused by sudden acceleration caused by a faulty accelerator design. So far my car is not in the group of affected vehicles, but I’m keeping my eye on it. Then the hypocrisy dawned on me – how differently we treat problems in the nuclear industry! Show Notes at http://thisweekinnuclear.com

Fast Fission Podcast #22 There is a political and public relations cauldron boiling in Vermont over a recently discovered tritium leak at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. Transcripts and show notes are at This Week in Nuclear

The people of the sunshine state had better prepare for some cloudy days ahead!  Despite an aging electrical grid and straining supplies that haven't kept pace with populaiton growth, this past week the Florida Public Service Commission denied requests by two utiltities to increase capacity and modernize their system.  In addition, the upgrades would have created 20,000 much needed jobs. Rod Adams of The Atomic Show and I discuss this terrible news for the people of Florida. Go to thisweekinnuclear.com for show notes and other information.

Last week the Pakastani government arrested five American citizens on the suspicion that they were planning to attack the Chashma Nuclear Plant.  All five men are dual nationals of Pakistan and the USA and they recently lived in Washington DC. Show Notes are at www.thisweekinnuclear.com  

Anti-nuclear groups in New Jersey are taking another approach in their fight to shut down the Oyster Creek nuclear plant: they are trying to force expensive modifications to the plant that will make the plant uneconomical to operate.

On November 24th a strange thing happened at the Kaiga nuclear plant in southern India.  During a routine check for radiation exposure, about 65 maintenance workers tested positive for higher than normal levels of tritium in their urine.  Listen to the show and find out what happened and how major news outlets botched up coverage of the story. Show Notes, links, etc are at thisweekinnuclear.com

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers provides insights into the number of jobs associated with various clean energy sources; nuclear, wind, and solar.  What might this mean for the economy? Show Notes, Links, and more are at http://thisweekinnuclear.com

If you were watching CNN or ABC News last night and this morning you may have believed a major accident was underway at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Both news sources reported there had been a “radiation leak” at the plant and more than 100 workers were contaminated. Both CNN and ABC News were blatantly wrong; there was not a “radiation leak” from the plant. What happened was a minor spread of radioactive dust and particles during maintenance activities inside the reactor building. Some workers in the vicinity got material on their clothes and skin that had to be washed off. The material was easily contained and there was no leak from the plant into the environment. I first learned about it from April Schilpp, who I follow on Twitter. April is a communications specialist in Lancaster, PA. April and I discuss what happened, how the social media helped to get the word out, and how the companies and other stakeholders could have used social media to keep the media outlets honest. "This Week in Nuclear" Go here for detailed show notes, links, videos, other news, and More

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.