The University of Chicago Alumni Association, in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory and the Harris Energy Policy Institute, will hold a forum at 4:00 PM Central Time on Thursday, April 21, entitled "Beyond Fukushima: The Risks, Realities & Future of Nuclear Energy in the U.S."  The forum will be held in the atrium of the university's Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences in Chicago (click here for map) and can be viewed in real time online at University of Chicago-Live Facebook page.

It has been more than a month since the tragedy in Japan and the events at Fukushima have unfolded. So far, the Japan Relief Fund-established by the American Nuclear Society-has collected almost $50,000 in donations, but more is needed. That's where you come in. Every dollar of your generous contribution will go toward nuclear plant workers and their families in Japan who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

This week discontinuous events evolving from the impact of an  earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima continue to get focus of the nuclear energy blogsphere. TEPCO reported that post event inspections reveal that the wave breached the seawall at a height of 15 meters.

Discontinuous events at Fukushima continue to get focus of the nuclear energy blogsphere

The 47th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Cool Hand Nuke. The carnival features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers and is a roundup of featured content from them.

Nuclear News, the monthly publication of the American Nuclear Society, today published a Special Report on Fukushima Daiichi after the earthquake and tsunami.  The 8-page Special Report will be included in the April 2011 edition of Nuclear News, which has been mailed to subscribers.

On Wednesday, April 6, Dr. Michael Corradini is appearing on behalf of the American Nuclear Society before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Fear of the unknown is a powerful force.

A plain English explanation

The discontinuous nature of current events suggests this graphic of a mobius strip as the design basis for a roller coaster.

The 46th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Next Big Future.  The

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4-0 to renew the operating license for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station near Brattleboro, Vt., for an additional 20 years. [NRC web page on Vermont Yankee license renewal]

The 42 Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is now up at Next Big Future.

Rather

Dan Rather Reports will be airing a segment on next generation nuclear energy on Tuesday evening, March 1. Dan Rather Reports appears on HDNet (please check with your local television provider for viewing information).

Energy density matters ~ graphic courtesy of Pop Atomic Studios

The 41st Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at CoolHandNuke. The carnival is a weekly round-up of the best blog posts from  the leading nuclear bloggers in the United States.

The hard-copy March edition of Nuclear News will soon be in the hands of American Nuclear Society members. That edition will also be available electronically to members. The edition contains the 13th Annual Reference Issue, which includes a 34-page special section on the World List of Nuclear Power Plants. The special section includes:

American Nuclear Society president-elect Eric Loewen on February 17 visited the City College of New York (CCNY). Loewen presented a talk during the noon hour on "Nuclear Reactor Physics at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl" to an audience of about 40 engineering faculty members and students. Most students were from CCNY's mechanical or chemical engineering programs and have taken, or are currently taking, at least one of the college's nuclear engineering concentration courses:

The Mississippi Section of the American Nuclear Society is offering two $1000 college scholarships to Mississippi high school graduates or college undergraduates. Scholarship winners are chosen from state-wide applications.

The Chicago local section of the American Nuclear Society launched  activities for National Engineers Week a day early on Saturday, February 19, by presenting a student engineering workshop. The event was hosted by the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), the largest science museum in the western hemisphere. The workshop was part of a series in which high school science achievers learn about different science disciplines and career paths. The workshop included 26 high school students from across Chicago, an MSI education coordinator, and two adult MSI volunteers.

The fuel cycle is a frequent topic in the nuclear blogsphere

This is the 40th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs. The carnival  features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers and is a roundup of featured content from them.

Nominations are now being accepted for two American Nuclear Society awards established to recognize the important contributions of young members and the ANS Young Members Group (YMG) to ANS as a whole.  Nominations for the Young Members Advancement Award and the Young Members Excellence Award are due by July 1, 2011.  Each award is presented annually at the ANS Winter Conference.

The Institute for National Strategic Studies-a component of the National Defense University-has published a new article examining the potential for using small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to address the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) dependence on civilian power grids. The article also looks at the potential for using SMRs in the field.