NEI Nuclear Notes

Reuters has a nice roundup of Generation IV nuclear reactor designs. I’m pretty sure author Lisa Song is wrong when she says the designs will not be finalized before 2030. The very high temperature reactor, for one, is due to reach commercial viability by 2020. Plants currently under construction or proposed are Generation III-plus reactors, which are Gen III reactors with further safety enhancements. No quotes. The whole thing is worth reading if only to learn the difference between a gas reactor and a fast reactor. --- Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu Electric to close the Hamaoka plant over fears of an earthquake. Chubu complied and expects it will take two years or so to retrofit the plant to better withstand an earthquake. Whether this is necessary or a sop to unfounded fears, I choose not to guess, but it’s certainly within the country’s purview if doing this quells fears. After all, if Japan wanted to close all its nuclear plants, that’d be its...

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to take a step back from the news of the day and think more about the larger implications of a subject that interests us. For Nuclear Notes readers, that means nuclear energy. And for me, that means the chance a reactivated industry gives a lot of really smart people to work on making nuclear energy technology the best it can be. It’s a chance for America to rebuild some of its technological edge and enhance our global competiveness.  One of the centers of excellence in nuclear engineering has traditionally been the University of California at Berkeley. It produced some of the greatest breakthroughs and some of the top scientists in the field: Glenn Seaborg , Ernest Lawrence , and his brother, John Lawrence , to name just a few. Seaborg, in particular, has the kind of life story that makes you question what you’ve been doing with your time: a Nobel prize before he was 40; section head on the Manhattan project; advisor to presidents Kennedy, Joh...