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MegaDroughts And Desalination -- Another Pressing Need For Nuclear Power
by James Conca at Forbes
About 20% of the world's population has no access to safe drinking water, and this number will increase as the population continues to grow and global freshwater sources continue to decline. The worst-affected areas are the arid and semiarid regions of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
UNESCO has reported that the freshwater shortfall worldwide will rise to 500 trillion gallons/yr by 2025. They expect water wars to break out in the near-future. The World Economic Forum says that shortage of fresh water may be the primary global threat in the next decade.
ThorCon Advanced Nuclear Reactor -- More Than Worth Its Weight In Salt
By James Conca at Forbes
It’s been 30 years since America built a really new nuclear power plant, but we haven’t been idle over this time. A slew of new designs have emerged and, thanks to advances in computing capabilities and the understanding that smaller is better, many of these are ready to be built economically.
This is important. Over the last several years, there has been a growing consensus among climate scientists that nuclear energy is critical for mitigating the worst effects of global warming. States are shifting from Renewable Energy Mandates to technology neutral Clean Energy Standards that include nuclear energy.
So it is good that the development of new nuclear technologies is speeding along faster than most people think. Many new nuclear start-up companies have emerged in the United States, China and Canada, especially those designing small modular reactors (SMRs).
Importantly, all are walk-away-safe, which means the reactor just won’t melt down or otherwise cause any of the nightmares people think about when imagining the worse for nuclear power. It just shuts down and cools off.
Nuclear Power Always Ready For Extreme Weather
By James Conca at Forbes
As Polar Vortices, Bomb Cyclones and massive hurricanes pummel America more and more often, nuclear power plants keep on putting out maximum power when all other sources can’t.
For the last month, the Pacific Northwest’s only https://www.energy-northwest.com/ourenergyprojects/Columbia/Pages/default.aspx">nuclear power plant has been under a “No Touch” order to help keep the heat on as record cold and snow covered the region. I was stuck in my house for eight days.
https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article226954819.html">As reported by Annette Cary of the Tri-City Herald, the https://www.bpa.gov/Pages/home.aspx">Bonneville Power Administration, which markets the electricity produced at the nuclear plant near Richland, asked http://www.energy-northwest.com/">Energy Northwest, the operator of the power plant, not to do anything that would prevent the plant from producing 100% power at all times during an unusually cold February across the state that increased the demand for electricity – no maintenance activities, even on its turbine generator and in the transformer yard. Don’t do anything that would stop the reliable and constant power output of nuclear.
Used Nuclear Fuel with Dr. James Conca
Many people cite "nuclear waste" as the reason we shouldn't pursue more nuclear energy. But there also exists a big disconnect on what nuclear waste, or used nuclear fuel, actually is. And what it isn't.
In this short video (Pt. 1 of 3), Dr. James Conca, a scientist with degrees from Cal-Tech, formerly of NASA, and Los Alamos and Pacific Northwest National Labs, explains the what and the why behind used nuclear fuel and how it is stored.
How much do you know about radiation? In Part II of his series on used nuclear fuel, Dr. James Conca looks at the radiation involved in storing used nuclear fuel and how long it lasts.
In the third and final segment from scientist Dr. James Conca, we look at the safety of used nuclear fuel, the confusion some people have with defense waste - and the need for a long-term repository.
Retaking the Global Lead in Nuclear Technology
by Tom Blees
The United States is indisputably a world leader in many technologies. Yet the country’s leadership role in nuclear power has been in steady decline for many years. Spurred on by the specter of climate change and the insatiable and rapidly growing demand for energy in developing countries, a variety of advanced nuclear power concepts are being developed around the world, nowhere more so than in the USA. Yet transforming those exciting ideas into actual deployable products is a nearly impossible challenge here.
The consequences of losing a global leadership role in the nuclear power arena implies a lot more than a loss of prestige. Nuclear technology is spreading to many countries that are not members of the “nuclear club” of nations with nuclear weapons technology, so the international oversight of nuclear materials has never been more important. By abandoning our leadership in nuclear power technology, America is losing its influence in forging non-proliferation policies at the international level that should be allowing the spread of nuclear power to be accomplished safely.
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