Skip to main content

It’s National Nuclear Science Week!

By

NMNSH Did you know it’s National Nuclear Science Week? Just the same time as last year.

National Nuclear Science Week is a national, broadly observed week-long celebration to focus local, regional and national interest on all aspects of nuclear science. Each day will provide for learning about the contributions, innovations and opportunities that can be found by exploring nuclear science.

That means more than reactors:

Nuclear science plays a vital role in the lives of Americans…and the world. Consider these facts:

• 18 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed per year among 305 million people in the United States

• 104 operating nuclear reactors in the US employ an average of 700 people to operate them in the 31 states that have nuclear power generating plants

• 20 percent of our nation’s electricity is generated by nuclear power

• 436 nuclear power plants are operating in 30 countries, supplying 14 percent of the world’s electricity. Fifty-three new nuclear plants are under construction in 14 countries.

All true. As it says above, different topics are addressed each day. Today is about Careers, tomorrow Generation (that’s NEI and its membership, broadly speaking), Nuclear Safety is Thursday, and Nuclear Medicine on Friday. Take a look – there’s a nicely designed web site with a lot of activities – it’s a great way to introduce young folks to nuclear energy.

---

As you can see, National Nuclear Science Week has a strong educational component. Our blog friend Rod Adams over at Atomic Insights gets into the spirit of the week with profiles of Tammy Davis Sayko, assistant director of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas and For Jennifer Reichert, senior program manager at CRDF Global, a nonprofit organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, technical resources, and training.

Here’s a bit of what NPI is up to:

Through the NPI, the university has partnered with two- and four-year educational institutions and has developed degree programs, certificate programs and courses to educate the existing nuclear work force. NPI is reaching even farther into the educational system through a comprehensive outreach recruiting program at the middle and high school levels to encourage and sustain students’ interest in science, technology and mathematics disciplines.

Do read the whole thing.

---

National Nuclear Science Week is overseen by The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, the nation’s only congressionally chartered museum in its field. It’s located in Albuquerque, so before you make a wrong turn there (as Bugs Bunny invariably did on the way to Pismo Beach), stop by. Good Web site, with a lot to explore, and some interesting items in its gift shop.

The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. I’ve been to Albuquerque and it does seem as if everything is baking.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

By
Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...
23 comments
Read more

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

By
You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...
6 comments
Read more

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

By
Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...
4 comments
Read more