On November 15, Audeen Fentiman testified before the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC).  The BRC was established by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in January 2010 to provide recommendations for developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The BRC  will provide advice and make recommendations on issues including alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.

Three members of the American Nuclear Society were named ANS Fellows during last week's ANS Winter Conference and Technology Expo, as announced on November 16 by John (Jack) M. Tuohy, Jr., P.E., ANS executive director. These awards were presented in recognition of the Fellows' significant contributions and achievements to nuclear science and technology.

The American Nuclear Society's Winter Meeting, titled "Nuclear Progress!" attracted more than 2000 registrants, a record for the Society, which was established in 1954. The Winter Meeting, held November 8-11 in Las Vegas, Nev., was the premier event for the nuclear science and technology community and focused on the latest developments in nuclear science and engineering.

We fight on!

The 27th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Next Big Future. The carnival features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers and is a roundup of featured content from them. If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, this is where to find it.

As a record number of nuclear leaders meet during the American Nuclear Society's 2010 Winter Conference in Las Vegas (of all places), the men and women of the U.S. nuclear community are all asking a version of the same question:  What now?  Clearly, the election results of November 2 will impact U.S. nuclear policy for the next two years, and probably reverberate much longer than that.

ANS Conference Twitter hash tag: #ans10

Marcus

Gail Marcus will be signing copies of her new book, Nuclear Firsts: Milestones on the Road to Nuclear Power Development, at the ANS Winter Meeting in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel. The schedule for the signings is:

As we gather to discuss innovations and the next steps forward in nuclear development, I am taking advantage of our new ANS blog site to talk about some communications initiatives undertaken by the Society. As nuclear professionals, we have an obligation to share our technical understanding and scientific perspective with policymakers, educators, students, and the public-and we also need to be sure that we are communicating effectively with each other so that we can speak to today's energy issues with a unified voice.

He mobilized movies stars and race cars to tell nuclear energy's story

The 22nd Carnival of Green Business blogs is up at Eco-Libris!  Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices in the industry, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. To achieve these goals Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide.

Special edition for ANS Winter Meeting

Getting the government to give up its uranium enrichment program is the key issue

This year's North American - Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) continental conference was held in May and was themed "Leading the Change: Go Green." Participants learned that the future of electricity production in the United States would be heavily influenced by the desire to combat global warming. This desire is starting a national debate on how the country should select technologies for new electricity production facilities.

The November issue of Nuclear News will soon be available electronically to ANS members. The issue contains a special section on nuclear nonproliferation, featuring the following articles:

A friend wrote me a nice note the other day that has brightened my outlook on the future of nuclear energy in the United States. Like many people who write about both the industry and the technology, I have been focusing on the complex story of nuclear loan guarantees. As an Annapolis, Md., resident and DC area worker, it was difficult to escape the frequently negative news coverage of the troubled Calvert Cliffs unit 3 project.

The 25th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Yes Vermont Yankee.   It features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers.  It is a roundup of featured content from the nation's leading pro-nuclear blogs. If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, this is where you will find it.

The 21st Carnival of Green Business blogs is up at sustainablog!  Since July 2003, sustainablog has been providing information on environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.  The Carnival of Green Business Blogs is a roundup of featured content highlighting news, opinions, and insights on issues of interest to the green business community.

Infocast held a gabfest for small nuclear proponents last week, promising an opportunity for small modular reactor (SMR) vendors and suppliers to understand how the future of their industry would be shaped by banks and venture capital firms. It's high time that the SMR bandwagon includes the financiers who'll really drive the business.

On September 17, the Purdue University American Nuclear Society Student Section (Purdue ANS) participated in the 2nd Annual Lugar Collegiate Energy Summit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Fifteen Purdue ANS members were among the 200 participants at this informative summit focused on the energy challenges facing the nation and energy security. Students attended workshops to learn how to run successful community programs about energy issues. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.,Ind.) gave a speech on energy options, and Purdue ANS members challenged him with questions about nuclear energy options.