Atomic Insights

The Nuclear Option - CNBC Original Premiering on October 14, 2008

2008-10-09T06:22:00Z

I received a comment on a recent post letting me know about a new CNBC Original production titled - The Nuclear Option . It will be shown starting October 14, 2008. Check your local schedule for a listing, but the web site says it will be shown at 9 pm Eastern Time in the US. I would have preferred to find out about a show titled "The Nuclear Imperative", but what do I know about marketing Read More......(read more)

Beyond Fossil Fools - New, Must Read Book by Joe Shuster

2008-10-07T07:07:00Z

I have a new hero, even though I have not yet read his book. Joe Shuster is a retired entrepreneur who is spending $200,000 of his own money to promote the idea that the United States needs to build about 800 new nuclear power plants in order to stretch supplies of fossil fuels far into the future. Joe's book, Beyond Fossil Fools: Roadmap to Energy Independence by 2040 was published in June 2008 Read More......(read more)

Wind Turbines Proposed for My Backyard - Not So Fast

2008-10-06T08:01:00Z

Yesterday morning I noticed a scary story on the front page of the Baltimore Sun. David Murrin, and Marcellous Butler are working to build a wind farm with 10 large turbines on Greenbury Point, just upwind from the Annapolis harbor . Them's fightin' words, as they used to say in my Dad's part of the country (southern Georgia). Some of my very best memories over a lot of years originated Read More......(read more)

Sneak Preview: Atomic Show #108 - HTR 2008 Press Conference with Regis Matzie, Linden Blue and John Grossenbacher

2008-10-06T00:07:00Z

Atomic Show #108 is an edited version of the press conference held after the opening session at ASME's 4th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology. ( Note: The conference is also known as HTR 2008.) Unfortunately, I am having a tiny technical challenge with the Atomic Show blog right now, so I cannot complete the task of posting the show for subscribers. However, if Read More......(read more)

Craig Severance - a "Practicing CPA" Still Fighting For Coal and Against Nuclear Power

2008-10-05T07:10:00Z

Craig Severance recently wrote a commentary that he calls analysis titled The Case Against Nukes . The piece has been picked up by EcoWorld.com and is currently prominently featured on the home page. Though the author blurb that follows the article claims that Severance was the co-author of a book published in 1976 titled "The Economics of Coal and Nuclear Power" . that might be one more Read More......(read more)

Were the Risky Mortgages all on Single Family Homes?

2008-10-04T05:14:00Z

Again, I have an uncharacteristically off-topic comment/question for your consideration. In nearly every article I have read in the past couple of weeks, the lending/credit crisis in America has been blamed on home mortgages made under less than stringent lending rules and on complex financial instruments designed - ideally - to package those mortgages into bundles that would make them less risky. Read More......(read more)

NA-YGN interview with Jason Grumet - Chairman of Energy and Environment Committee Obama Campaign

2008-10-03T21:38:00Z

Many of you are intensely interested in the energy policies that will be implemented following the US election. It is often much easier to hear 5-10 second sound bites and chants like "drill baby drill" than to find serious discussions about what the candidates and their staffs are really thinking. On September 23, 2008, the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) conducted a Read More......(read more)

Wall Street Failures Indicate Risk of Short Term View - Like Avoiding Nuclear Power

2008-10-02T08:18:00Z

Friends of the Earth is running an internet ad campaign that attempts to link the current world financial crisis with the future prospects of nuclear power. Paul Gunter - a career anti-nuclear activist - has tried to make the same link. From a logical argument point of view, the effort is a real stretch. For many years, an often repeated line from many people and individuals opposed to new nuclear Read More......(read more)

High Temperature Reactor (HTR) 2008 "Beyond the Grid" - Electricity, Industrial Process Heat, Transportation

2008-09-30T06:18:00Z

During the period of September 28 - October 1, 2008, Washington, DC is hosting the 4th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology . If you are reading this on the day that I post it, you still have a little time to get over to the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel. (I wonder if the choice of venue had anything to do with the hotel name?) Just under 600 experts from all over Read More......(read more)

Another Green Converts to Nuclear - Mark Lynas Now Accused of Heresy

2008-09-29T08:42:00Z

A friend sent me a link to a well-written expose of the treatment given to a card carrying UK Green Party member after his "Damascene conversion" from an opposer to a supporter of nuclear power. As he says, ...the Green case against nuclear power is based largely on myth and dogma. My tipping point came when I discovered just how much nuclear power has changed since I first set my mind against Read More......(read more)

Why Do We Need to Bail Out Banks That Made Dumb Loans?

2008-09-28T10:10:00Z

I generally try to remain on topic on Atomic Insights, so please forgive me or simply move past this post if you do not want to read about something outside of the energy field. For the past couple of weeks I have been struggling to understand just why my country's leaders are working feverishly to buy worthless paper based on promises that people like me and my children will pay for it. Even though Read More......(read more)

Another pro-nuclear blogger - Roger Fraley at XDA

2008-09-28T09:03:00Z

Roger Fraley at XDA produced a pithy summary of the benefits and limitations of various energy alternatives . Here is what he said about nuclear power: There is one solution that seems just the ticket. Nuclear. It produces almost no CO2. It works really well (just look at Sweden and France) and a single, merely large nuclear power plant would produce as much power as 1400 of the largest commercially Read More......(read more)

Nuclear Energy Loses a Spokesman - Paul Newman Dies at 83

2008-09-27T22:10:00Z

There are already tributes being paid to the long career and many contributions of Paul Newman. One activity that will probably not be mentioned in most media is Paul Newman's sustained efforts to share information about nuclear energy and to promote its use through his Newman-Wachs racing team . Here are other articles detailing some of those efforts: NEI Nuclear Notes post about Paul Newman's Read More......(read more)

McCain and Obama Discuss Energy Policy During Oxford, Mississippi Debate

2008-09-27T16:18:00Z

The New York Times has a complete, uncut version of the presidential debate , including even the introductory monologue by Jim Lehrer to the live audience telling them how to behave during the debate. I listened carefully to the whole thing - after all, the selection of a Commander in Chief is important to serving members of the armed forces. As you might suspect, however, I listened and watched particularly Read More......(read more)

Wasserman and Barton on DailyKos - not similar reading experiences

2008-09-26T08:56:00Z

A friend sent me a link to a Harvey Wasserman comment about nuclear energy on DailyKos . As usual, he is pushing his lifelong anti-nuclear agenda by pointing to a Colbert Show skit with Jackson Browne - who is a far better singer than he is an energy solutions analyst. If you have time, stop by for a visit and leave a comment. While you are at DailyKos, you might also want to read Charles Barton's Read More......(read more)