ANS Nuclear Cafe

What role can nuclear power play in getting humans to Mars or eliminating climate change? Nuclear energy has an increasing role in medicine and safety and security. Industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators will convene at Purdue for a three-day event: What if Nuclear Innovation Could Change the World? taking place on Sept. 3-5.

On August 5, 2012, at 10:17 p.m. PDT, NASA's giant rover Curiosity landed on Mars, the fourth planet in our solar system from the Sun. Curiosity rover is 3 meters long, 2.8 meters wide, and 2.1 meters tall weighing 900 kilograms (around 2,000 lbs). Slowing the giant laboratory down from entry-level hypersonic speeds to near zero and safely landing it on Martian surface was immensely complicated. It required a rocket-powered crane to land the rover on the surface. Curiosity's primary goal was to determine if Martian soil and climate offered favorable conditions for life in past. The rover contains several instruments on board to understand the planet conditions better. These instruments include spectrometers for material characterization, radiation detectors, cameras for taking pictures (and selfies), and weather sensors.

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

Ready for RadioNuclear 23? In this episode, we discuss the landmark achievement at Purdue's research reactor, PUR-1, on going to a fully digital I&C System, the increasing support for nuclear power from Japanese courts, and the recent increase in radioactivity from a sunken Soviet Union Submarine, the Komsomolets. We also give a brief update on pronuclear legislation in Ohio and discuss the relationship renewables and nuclear must play in the future.

Remember when you were a child on a long road trip to grandma's house before cars were equipped with televisions? My dad would tell us to imagine that we were watching an episode of Star Trek, and my sister and I would run through every nuance of the show in our minds. As the imaginary show ended, we were amazed to find ourselves in front of grandma's house.

The nearness of the completion of Rosatom's Akademik Lomonosov floating two-unit nuclear power plant is apparently raising interest in, of all places, the Philippines.  This island nation, which very nearly had a nuclear plant but which halted its operation when fully completed, has at least one official body considering the use of Russian-style floating nuclear plants to offset what it feels is an impending severe shortage of natural gas fuel as a major field is expected to run out.

I just knew it! I was hoping I'd be wrong, that HBO would have the courage and integrity to do their homework and consult even one actual nuclear scientist or radiobiologist. Or even just read the United Nations Chernobyl Forum Report, the best source of information on the disaster for non-nuclear people.

We continue now our look at Appendix III of WASH-1250, the unpublished (except in final draft form) AEC study on reactor safety from 1973.  This appendix describes the rise of the anti-nuclear movement in the United States; the previous installment contains roughly the first half of this important historical record.  We now present the second part, word for word unaltered.

We are quite aware today that a major force in delaying nuclear plant licensing has been the action of "intervenors" - persons, or more often groups pretending to act as concerned individuals, who attend open meetings, file motions, and start all sorts of legal proceedings intended to delay nuclear plants long enough that the owners decide to quit.  How did this all start?

Episode 22 of RadioNuclear is now available. In this episode, we discuss the recent miniseries "Chernobyl", which recently concluded on HBO. We debunk some of the more egregious articles written in the wake of the show (see links to these articles below). We also discuss good ways to engage with individuals who are captivated with the show, and not necessarily familiar with nuclear technology.

(This article was submitted in concert with a presentation given at the 2019 American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting entitled "Teaching the Value of Nuclear," and is the first of two articles on that presentation.)

American Nuclear Society's 2019 Annual Meeting kicked off today in Minneapolis. President John Kelly opened in the theme of this year's meeting, The Value of Nuclear. The meeting's host, Xcel Energy, committed to end the use of coal by 2030. Kelly pointed out, "that would be impossible without its reliable, well-run nuclear plants* right here in Minnesota."  He added that nuclear power is America's largest source of carbon-free energy and that nuclear energy is critical to any future reductions in the use of fossil fuels or lowering of emissions.

An impressive 42 representatives of nuclear societies around the world were in France in May 2019 to sign the Declaration of Clean Energy. ANS Past President Donald Hoffman represented  the U.S. and the American Nuclear Society. The goal of the Declaration is to push for nuclear-related R&D to allow nuclear energy to make its contribution towards deep decarbonization goals as part of a clean energy portfolio. Remember folks, "There is no deep decarbonization without nuclear." Enjoy the video!

ANS Washington rep Craig Piercy asks: "What's the role for ANS members in realizing the nuclear future?"  Why get involved in the American Nuclear Society? Why attend the meetings? Because getting involved and facing the challenges together gets our voices heard.  ANS members make it happen! Listen as Piercy and ANS member Brett Rampal talk about why it's important to be a part of the nuclear community. Find out more.

ANS Annual Meeting will take place this year from June 9 to13 in Minneapolis.  If you haven't registered yet, don't wait much longer. ANS meetings have a long list offerings for you. From incredible speakers, sessions, and tours to the networking opportunities that will amaze. Need more convincing about what ANS Meetings can do for you? Listen to ANS member Brett Rampal as he talks about why he finds the ANS meetings so incredibly valuable.

Well here it is- Episode 21! This episode we deviate from the norm as it is news-free. This special podcast features ANS Past President and Fellow, United Nuclear Industry Alliance (UNI) Chairman of the Board, and President & CEO of EXCEL Services Corporation Donald Hoffman, along with UNI Executive Director, former President & CEO of Unistar Nuclear Energy, and the chair of this special session Greg Gibson. Listen as they discuss a new and ongoing interactive series of Supply Chain Special Sessions focusing on the next generation of supply chain innovation-a new business road map for the supply chain, domestic and international. This inaugural event will take place at the upcoming ANS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 11.

Roughly six years ago, I wrote an article for ANS Nuclear Cafe entitled "The Hook-Ons," which covered small nuclear plants that were added (or "hooked") onto existing or purpose-built cooperative fossil fired plants.  That idea continues to receive attention today as we think about converting various fossil powered things to nuclear.  I say "things" because these might be power plants, chemical plants, factories, or anything else.  In recalling this article recently though, I thought about another aspect of those days of wide nuclear enthusiasm and construction - what about add-ons?  Let's take a look.

With the publication of the above WASH 1174-74, which was "The Nuclear Industry" for the year 1974 (and which was published in late Fall, 1974) a twelve year era ended.  This was the final publication of this important series, which launched in 1962 and thus covered the entire period of the rapid growth of nuclear energy in this country.

Thank you for joining us on Episode 20 of RadioNuclear! In this episode, we discuss the news of the NRC's decision to issue a design certification license for the APR1400 and the monumental effort and process of getting a reactor through design certification process. We cover the recent and unfortunate news regarding the future of nuclear from Southern Company. There may also be a possible lifeline for the VC Summer project?  We also take a minute to discuss a video from friend of the show Dr. Georg Steinhauser on a recent fishing trip to the cooling ponds of Chernobyl.