Progress Crystal River and First Energy Davis-Besse have very different problems, but similar concerns about restart. Progress is looking at several years of work while Davis-Besse told its investors in a letter it expects to restart the reactor by the end of the month.
2. Atomic Power Review - Will Davis responds to, and expands upon, a recent NRC blog post describing the history of PRA and adds his own observations about what this means to the average citizen and how relative risk should have been presented - and almost was presented.
3. Atomic Insights - Energizing pro nuclear activists to do battle.
On November 22, Rod Adams spoke to the American Nuclear Society student chapter at the Virginia Commonwealth University. The nuclear engineering curriculum at that school is relatively new, having been created within the past five years. Many of the students asked questions and shared concerns about the profession they had chosen to enter. Despite their confidence in the basic technology, they wondered what industry leaders were doing to market their product in the face of a negative barrage of media attention accompanied by frequent messages from competitive fuel sources like natural gas.
4. Yes Vermont Yankee - Decommissioning: Facts versus Fantasy
At Yes Vermont Yankee, Angwin thoroughly debunks the myth that decommissioning a nuclear plant is a jobs bonanza. Shuttering a nuclear plant means instant layoffs, and the death of many aspects of the local community.
5. Gail Marcus discusses a statement from the Japanese Minister of Trade and Industry that they intend to develop a 100- or 200-year energy plan. She makes note of all the developments in energy generation and use over a similar time period that would have made it impossible to adhere to any plan of that length.
6. Gail Marcus makes note several statements by high-level figures that in one case, show support for nuclear power, and in another case, indicate the recognition of some of the limitations of wind power. She also cites a recent poll in Japan that a majority of those responding favored a future with decreased, but continuing, reliance on nuclear power. In fact, nuclear power was favored over any single "renewable" alternative.
7. Nextbigfuture - Anti-nuclear Chris Busby tries to scaremonger and ripoff victims of Fukushima
8. Nextbigfuture - George Monbiot urges Greens to purge themselves of Chris Busby
9. Nextbigfuture - Fukushima reactors are nearing cold shutdown
10. Nextbigfuture - A PLoS ONE research study summarizes the results of the exposure of 13 individual teams from March 15 to June 20. The support teams surveyed more than 5,000 people during this period. Almost all subjects had external contamination levels of less than 13 kcpm on Geiger-Müller (GM) survey meter, which is categorized as “no contamination level.”
11. Nextbigfuture - Two studies have now used different methods to map the fallout over larger areas of Japan. One, led by Teppei Yasunari of the Universities Space Research Association in Columbia, Maryland, maps caesium-137 concentrations throughout the nation.
12. At ANS Nuclear Cafe, Lenka Kollar of Purdue University recounts her experiences visiting Capitol Hill to meet with policymakers during the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting.
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks