NEI Nuclear Notes

The industry will present a strategy to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today on how it plans to enhance safety at the nation’s 67 plant sites to better equip them for unexpected events. The strategy—known as the “ diverse and flexible mitigation capability ,” or FLEX—addresses many of the recommendations set forth by the NRC’s Fukushima task force and takes into account some of the early lessons from the Fukushima accident on the need to maintain key safety functions amid conditions where electricity may be lost, back-up equipment could be damaged, and several reactors may be involved. NEI’s Adrian Heymer, executive director for Fukushima regulatory response, held a media briefing Wednesday to explain the FLEX approach: FLEX is a set of portable equipment that is located in diverse locations around the plant. We think there needs to be more than one set of equipment at diverse locations that can be quickly deployed and connected to provide injection and power supplies for instru...

David Phillips, the president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, would like to share a theory with you: Prof. David Phillips says that Dr. No, with his personal nuclear reactor, helped to create a "remorselessly grim" reputation for atomic energy. Why? Prof. Phillips says the popularity of the Dr. No movie from 1962 created an enduringly negative image of nuclear power - as something dangerous that could be wielded by megalomaniacs with aspirations to world domination. I’d actually be surprised that people connect a James Bond villain to a serious view of nuclear energy. Do people remember that from Dr. No (1962) or the sight of Ursula Andress rising from the surf armed with shells. I vote for the latter. --- Nuclear energy has often been, in popular culture, if not exactly a fear engine in itself, the cause of fearful things. During the 1950s, this included a plethora of giant critters – ants , praying mantis’ , grasshoppers -  and bands of spies ...

Each year I wait with anticipation to find out whether the groundhog will see his shadow and winter will continue, or if he won’t see his shadow and spring will come early. Although I know it is just folklore, it is still interesting to see what weather patterns Punxsutawney Phil will predict. Much like the groundhog tradition, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists conducts its own annual tradition of changing a metaphorical Doomsday Clock based on how well they believe the world is addressing nuclear nonproliferation and climate change. Each minute closer to midnight signals doom and this year the scientists have moved the clock forward yet another minute closer to midnight to 11:55. The Bulletin explains : Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnigh...

My colleague, John Keeley, asked that I share the following note with our readers: On January 17, PBS’ "Frontline" program will air " Nuclear Aftershocks ," a documentary which purports to examine “the hazards and benefits of nuclear power.” Former CNN science reporter Miles O’Brien , with 30 years of journalism experience covering space, science and technology, leads the investigation and analysis for the program. O’Brien is a solid journo with a reputation for resisting the melodramatic and sensational in favor of substantive and balanced pieces. Would that we’d seen more of that among O’Brien’s broadcast peers covering Fukushima last spring. Still, there are focus points to the piece we already know about that cause concern. O’Brien – who has been tweeting about the production for a few weeks – and his documentary team visited Indian Point Energy Center ostensibly on the premise that what happened at Fukushima Diachii could potentially happen at the New York pl...

Speaking of uranium, who wants a can of uranium ore? You can buy a little tin of it on Amazon for about 40 bucks. The product description says it is useful for testing your Geiger counter, and I’ll take the vendor’s word for it. The main reason to bring this up here is not so much the uranium, but the fun the commenters have with the idea: I purchased this product 4.47 Billion Years ago and when I opened it today, it was half empty. Ran out of toothpaste, and remembered how you're supposed to be able to use baking soda to clean your teeth, so of course, I accidentally used this instead, and Wow! all I can say is, my teeth have never been cleaner! They sparkle, they tingle, and for some reason, they STAY clean now, no matter what. Highly recommended! I put it on my cat's food and now it has 18 half lives. I originally purchased this for powering the hovercraft on which my house sits, so when I want to move I can take my house with me. And of course: I b...

Over the weekend, Japan’s government began discussing a new policy that would shut down the country’s nuclear reactors after they reach their 40th birthday. Some say the move stems from the fact that the Fukushima Daiichi reactors were built starting in 1967, implying that older reactors may not be as safe as newer reactors. Whereas others say the action stems from the government’s plan to eventually phase-out its nuclear energy facilities. An editorial in The Daily Yomiuri takes the latter view: Elsewhere in the world, it is rare for a country, except for those advocating abandonment of nuclear power generation, to stipulate by law the life span of a nuclear power station. Meanwhile, discussion is still under way within the government as to what kind of power supply the nation should have in the future. It seems too abrupt for the government to come up with such a policy now. Describing the new policy as “abrupt” may be right, given that there currently is not enough ...

Not good news : Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced his decision to protect the iconic Grand Canyon and its vital watershed from the potential adverse effects of additional uranium and other hardrock mining on over 1 million acres of federal land for the next 20 years. This is about the Arizona Strip, which straddles the north edge of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. Naturally, no one would support a move that would in any way damage these areas – doing so would bring major heat down on the mining industry – but no one has been able to show that mining there has damaged any aspect, physical or visual, of the neighboring canyon. Both Arizona’s and Utah’s Congressional delegations argued against withdrawing the land. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who certainly has institutional knowledge, noted that legislation back in the 80s agreed to keep the strip active while withdrawing other lands in the area from consideration . “The Obama Administration’s ba...