Nuclear Books
I’ve read that 18th century author Samuel Johnson cautioned against trusting anyone who had written more than he had read. Johnson’s words kept coming back to me in recent weeks as I was...
View ArticleAllThingsNuclear is Moving
After more than two years on Tumblr, allthingsnuclear is moving to another platform and we don’t want to lose you. Our new site should be live on August 7. Our url will continue to be...
View ArticleBriefing to the NRC on Fukushima Lessons-Learned
On Tuesday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was briefed by two panels on the implementation of lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The first panel consisted of James...
View ArticlePanel+1 Discussion on San Onofre Reactor
On Tuesday, California radio station KCRW’s Which Way, LA? with Warren Olney had four guests on to discuss the possible restart of reactor #2 at San Onofre, where two plants have been shut down due to...
View ArticleClaims about China’s Space Plane Unconvincing
Following the two launches of the U.S. X-37B space plane, a number of news stories this fall (here and here) have speculated about how quickly China might catch up with the U.S. by developing its own...
View ArticleNuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #7: Monthly Operating Reports
NEAT #6 described the daily power level information available on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website. That data shows times when reactors are shut down and operating at less than full power,...
View ArticleTake Another Look at B61
Growing costs of the life extension program (LEP) for the B61 bomb have put the program in the congressional spotlight. Estimates range from the NNSA’s roughly $8 billion (double its original estimate)...
View ArticleChina’s Astronauts: Home from Space, Hope for the Earth
It’s happening again. Seeing the earth from space is raising our awareness, as a species, of the precious and precarious nature of life on what astronomer Carl Sagan called our “mote of dust,...
View ArticleCongressional Response to the NNSA’s Budget: Part 1
Back in the spring, we posted our analysis of the NNSA’s FY 2014 budget request, which sought to reduce funding for nonproliferation programs while increasing funding for nuclear weapons activities....
View ArticlePerformance Drives the B61 Bomb Update
If you look at what officials say about the life extension program for the B61 nuclear bomb, they mention again and again how old the warhead is. Here is Don Cook, NNSA’s deputy administrator of...
View ArticleNuclear inSecurity
Fission Stories #177 The NRC has long required an array of security features intended to lessen the likelihood of radiological sabotage at nuclear power plants. Gates, guns, and guards are among the...
View ArticleNuclear Power Safety: Numbers and Context
Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #44 73. So what? Even if it is the best number as Dr. Sheldon Cooper claims on “The Big Bang Theory,” it’s just a number unless it is placed in context. If it is...
View ArticleEmergency Planning for Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #47 The NRC’s regulations include requirements intended to prevent serious nuclear plant accidents from occurring and to mitigate one should it happen. Because these...
View ArticleNuclear Plant Aging
Fission Stories #185 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) originally licensed nuclear power reactors to operate for up to 40 years. Beginning in 2000, the NRC relicensed nuclear power reactors to...
View ArticleNuclear Stock Market
Fission Stories #191 News such as last year’s closure of four nuclear power reactors, this year’s closure of another reactor, and Exelon’s claim that many of its reactors cannot break even absent even...
View ArticleEnhancing NRC Public Meetings
Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #58 By memo dated January 29, 2015, a task group of twenty individuals within the NRC submitted its report to the agency’s Executive Director for Operations on enhancing...
View ArticleNew, Renewed, and Subsequent Nuclear Reactor Risks
Fission Stories #193 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initially licenses nuclear power reactors for operation up to 40 years. The NRC can renew the operating licenses for up to 20 additional...
View ArticleCommendable Catch at Calvert Cliffs
Fission Stories #198 The owner of the two reactors at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant near Lusby, Maryland informed the NRC on March 20, 2015, about a maintenance practice that could have...
View ArticleNuclear Safety Temperature Calculations: Where’s Jethro?
Disaster by Design/Safety by Intent #25 Disaster by Design The 99 nuclear power reactors currently operating in the United States have different owners, different designs, different numbers and makes...
View ArticleNuclear Plant Accidents: Browns Ferry Fire
Disaster by Design/ Safety by Intent #41 Disaster by Design The March 22, 1975, fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant revealed a shortcoming to the defense-in-depth approach to nuclear safety: a...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....