NEI Nuclear Notes

Rebecca Kern Last week, the University of Missouri School of Journalism held a workshop for journalists on nuclear energy . Also included as part of the program was a tour of the Callaway Energy Center operated by Ameren Missouri . One of the reporters on the tour, Bloomberg's Rebecca Kern , took photos of the plant and shared them via Storify . We've embedded her narrative below. Please check it out. [ View the story "Tour of Callaway Nuclear Plant " on Storify ]

Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. last week revealed a new partnership to compete for federal funds to develop and license a small reactor at the Callaway nuclear plant site in Missouri. The joint collaboration has the potential to open the doors for nuclear energy to play a more prominent role in the Midwestern state’s energy portfolio—a move that is being met with increasing enthusiasm by local leaders. Given the previous challenges to new nuclear plant development in the state, it is exciting to see several notable people and institutions come forward to voice their support. Below is a sampling of some of the positive coverage we have come across so far. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on the day of the announcement: Designing, developing and commercializing next-generation nuclear technology will create good jobs for Missourians, expand our global exports, and ensure that Missouri has affordable, abundant, safe and reliable power for generations to come.  Miss...

Here's a potentially promising way of using nuclear energy that is progressing on the research and development front : Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, currently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can pose concerns, Kwon said they are safe. “People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said. “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.” His innovation is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor. Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor. “The critical part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said. “By using a liquid semicond...