Nuclear Matinee: Plant Vogtle Nuclear Construction Update

May 31, 2013, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Last week at the ANS Nuclear Cafe Matinee we caught up with the latest milestones in nuclear construction going on at the V.C. Summer site in South Carolina.  Now, let's take a look at history in the making at Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia, where construction of two new AP1000 reactors is quickly moving onward and upward.  How in the world do you make a nuclear power plant?  Watch, and find out.

Farmers, City Folk, and Renewable Energy

May 28, 2013, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeMeredith Angwin

viewfromVermontCity people sometimes move to a farming community and then are somewhat shocked that the beautiful fields are actually not just for looking at and painting. A farmer's fields are a sort of factory. The fields produce stuff. They take inputs of raw materials, such as seeds, fertilizer, water, pesticides, and so forth. With these inputs, they produce food. Some farms are organic, and they use non-chemical fertilizer and more "natural" methods of pest control, but the goal is the same. A farmer's fields are supposed to produce food. That's the goal of farming.

Carnival of Nuclear Energy 156

May 12, 2013, 6:50PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

ferris wheel 1 220x201It's time for the 156th edition of the Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers - a weekly compilation of the best pro-nuclear, English-language blogs and articles submitted by authors, editors and publishers.  As was pointed out by Entreprenuclear, this 156th edition actually marks a milestone THREE YEAR anniversary for this popular feature.  Congratulations to all of the steady contributors and hosts are in order on this important date.  Now, let's get to it!

Kewaunee: What does the future hold?

May 9, 2013, 9:00AMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

kewaunee 200x92Shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, the operators at Dominion Resources' Kewaunee nuclear power plant opened its output breaker, disconnecting the turbine generator from the grid for the last time after just under 40 years of operation. Shutdown of the reactor followed, and the plant entered what for some is an uncertain (even if pre-ordained) future-a long-term storage period, followed eventually after many years by the complete dismantling and removal of the plant.