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Listen to Atomic Show #079 Here!

First of all, I apologize for the sound quality. I goofed something up with the settings this week and could not make enough adjustments in post production to fix the strange background noises and echoing voices. I’ll try to do better next time.

On Sunday, 13 January, I got together with four atomic friends. John Wheeler of This Week In Nuclear, Kelly Taylor and Michael Stuart who both are occasional contributors to NEI Nuclear Notes Blog and Robert Margolis, a current reactor engineer at FPL’s St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant.

Robert started off the show with some interesting commentary about his experience as the shift engineer who was on duty at the Ft. St. Vrain nuclear power plant on the day when it shut down for good. He also talked a little about FPL’s recent outage where the company added new life to its plant by replacing steam generators, the reactor vessel head, one main coolant pump, and made a major modification to the containment sump.

We also talked a bit about the various fuels available for producing electricity, the cost of various forms of space heat and how they have changed in recent years, and about the prospects for new nuclear power plants in the US and UK.

John brought up the recent Union of Concerned Scientists report that indicated a rather surprising ranking of new nuclear power plant designs, and we chatted a bit about the conservatism of the electric utility industry.

In other words, it was a pretty good first attempt at a round table format that you might hear on this show on occasion. You might hear it on This Week In Nuclear instead - John and I have not yet figured that one out.

Please make comments here or send me an email if you have particular suggestions for topics - as you will hear, this is a very experienced and knowledgeable group of people. I think all of us have north of 20 years of experience, training and education associated with nuclear power, but we are also amusing (at least among ourselves) human beings with some passion for our craft.

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Listen to Atomic Show #075 Here!

On December 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station started supplying electricity to the Duquesne Light Company grid. By 7:00 am, it was producing 12,000 kilowatts of electrical power, enough to power about 12,000 homes. That development of that power station established an entire industry and led to the construction of more than 300 Pressurized Water Reactors that together produce about as much energy each day for global consumers as all of the oil exported by Saudi Arabia.

On December 18, 2007, I had the opportunity to have an hour long chat with Dr. Theodore (Ted) Rockwell, one of the key players on the team that designed and built the pioneering reactor. He provides us with a lot of insight into the exciting work and dedicated people who produced a reliable plant just 4.5 years after being initially assigned to the task.

Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

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Listen to Atomic Show #072 Here!

Dr. Jeremy Whitlock is a second generation nuclear profession who lives with his family in Deep River, a town he describes as an Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) company town. Others have talked about Deep River as the Canadian equivalent of Los Alamos.

Jeremy was one of the first nukes to recognize that the web was a powerful communications tool, especially for people whose voice is often not heard. As a nuclear professional living in a town full of PhD’s who like to sprinkle their conversation with terms like neutron and resonance absorption region, he did not feel that the general public was well informed about the technology that he has spent his life studying.

Topics in the conversation include Energy Alberta, DUPIC, Remembrance Day, ANS Winter Meeting (Washington DC November 10-15), used fuel plans in Canada, recycling, economics, atomic energy entrepreneurs, and several others.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Listen to Atomic Show #068 Here!

A good friend of mine contacted me recently and told me that I needed to interview Ray Haroldsen for the Atomic Show. He told me that Ray had a lot of interesting stories to tell about his experiences with many of the early test reactors developed at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho.

Ray is a good storyteller with a real depth of experience and a fantastic memory of long ago events. I guess that certain important days remain so clearly in memory that the stories can be told even after 55 years. Though these events happened even before I was born, they are still important parts of atomic history and influenced the development of major technical breakthroughs.

For this episode of the Atomic Show, Ray and I talked about his experiences with the Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 (EBR I) and his experiences with the BORAX (Boiling Reactor Experiment) series. I think you will find his stories worth a good listen and maybe even a repeat.

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Listen to Atomic Show #067 Here!

As we have discussed on a number of occasions, the renaissance in atomic energy has begun. For show 67, I had a chat with Bob Bromm, an old friend of mine who will be starting a new assignment on Monday, September 17, 2007.

His employer - Fluor - has recently won a contract to supply the architect-engineering services for a two reactor addition to the South Texas project. (Contractors in flux for South Texas Project) Bob has been reassigned from the Hanford site to Greenville, South Carolina to be part of the design team.

Bob has a long history with the nuclear industry and has some great stories to share. As a 56 year old professional, who cut his teeth as part of the design team for one of the most recently constructed nuclear power plants (Palo Verde), he is a shining example of what is both right and wrong with the industry.

He really knows his stuff and has vast experience, but at age 56 he is one of the youngest people in the industry to have actually designed a plant that was built and operated. As I told him during my sign-off, I sure hope that his company has planned to match up younger engineers with all of the experienced ones so that they can grow their capacity as the renaissance continues.

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Listen to Atomic Show #057 Here!

There are two main types of light water reactors, pressurized water reactors (PWR) and boiling water reactors (BWR). They share some characteristics, but also have a number of differences.

There are plenty of sources of information on the web about the tradeoffs between the two technologies. You can seek them out, or you can listen to Shane and I muddle our way through an audio explanation on this show. We think that you might find the show entertaining and educational enough to spur additional interest. Enjoy.

Here are some sources of additional information:

• ESBWR fact sheet from Energetics.com
• Large view (1.16 MB) of ESBWR from GE. Shane and I are impressed by the details and clarity of this drawing. It looks best on a large screen.
• Natural circulation in ESBWR fact sheet
• Hitachi’s ABWR Key Features and an Update
• Video of the opening of the first private Atomic Power Plant at Vallecitos, CA

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Listen to Atomic Show #053 Here!

Commercial nuclear powered ships were tried in the 1960s and 1970s with little follow on units. The United States built the NS Savannah, Germany built the Otto Hahn, and Japan built the Mutsu. None of these remain in operation today and all demonstrated various levels of success.

The only non military surface ships current operating with nuclear power are Russian icebreakers which benefit by the high power capacity and long endurance provided by their power systems.

Shane and I carried on a lively (at least in geek terms) discussion about various aspects of nuclear ship history and the future potential for the technology. Hope you enjoy!

Promised links:

• National Historic Landmark Nomination for NS Savannah
• Why did the Savannah fail?
• US Maritime Administration Status report on NS Savannah decontamination and decommissioning

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Listen to Atomic Show #051 Here!

Uranium is as common as tin and can be found in measurable quantities almost anywhere in the world. Its price often varies by several hundred percent over short periods of time, often encouraging booms, busts and much speculation.

Each kilogram of the material contains as much potential energy as 2 MILLION kilograms of oil or three MILLION kilograms of coal, but we use only a tiny portion of that potential energy in currently operating nuclear plants.

Have a listen. We hope you find our conversation interesting and thought provoking.

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Listen to Atomic Show #050 Here!

Half of Atomic Show 50 comes to you from a food court in Norfolk, VA - I am on travel this week. Shane and I pressed forward despite the background noises and had a good chat on a variety of industry news topics. We talked about the new international symbol that has been developed to provide warning of immediate, potentially deadly radiation hazards like those that might arise from attempts to disassemble shielded sources like those used in irradiation or radiography.

Here is a link to the announcement of that new symbol from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/radiationsymbol.html.

We also talked a bit about France’s interest in selling large reactors to South Africa, a new mixed oxide fuel plant in Japan, the revival of interest in nuclear fuel recycling in the United States, and the recent expressions of interest in nuclear energy at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) energy executives conference.

If you can use your personal noise filters to listen past the background sounds, I think you will enjoy the show. We’ll try to improve the audio quality next time.

Here are a couple of additional links that might be of interest:

Japanese MOX development information:

http://www.jnfl.co.jp/english/reprocessing.html

And in compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) news of interest to our Aussie friends; the Australian government is phasing out incandescent bulbs over the next three years:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21258888-421,00.html

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Listen to Atomic Show #037 Here!

Shane and I chatted about recent announcements by Morocco, Algeria, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia that they have been talking with the International Atomic Energy Agency about developing nuclear power programs. All of the countries have indicated that they are interested in using nuclear power in cogeneration plants that produce useful products like fresh water in addition to electricity.

One of the key factors to consider is that oil producing countries currently have large reserves of cash, a key ingredient for a successful nuclear power plant development project. In addition, as energy producers, these countries have a base of people that understand the geopolitical importance of the industry, the importance of working carefully around high energy systems, and the impact that the energy industry can have on prosperity.

We talked about desalting plants, production of uranium from sea water, creating fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen, and history of nuclear programs in the Middle Eastern area.

Here are a few links containing information that might enhance your understanding of the show.

ORNL Review - Chapter 5: Balancing Act

Iran’s quest for power has deep roots

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Listen to Atomic Show #034 Here!

Shane and I have had a few busy days in our day jobs, so this show is a zero prep show with a variety of topics including long term storage of used nuclear fuel, the design and operation of Fermi’s CP-1, Steorn’s claim of “free energy”, Warren Buffett’s investments in nuclear power, the “broken window” theory, and an interesting nuclear point of view from a college newspaper. We hope you do not get frustrated in following our chat, but that is the way that conversations go at times.

Here are some links that you might find useful if any of the topics whets your interest.

• Steorn’s “free energy” claim
• Village voice article that discusses graffiti and “broken windows”
• Warren Buffett versus Amory Lovins on nuclear power
• N-waste storage plan grows dim in Skull Valley
• Ashley Yeager’s article titled “Nuclear Power on the Rise”

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Listen to Atomic Show #033 Here!

At the request of several listeners and blog readers, Shane and I decided to focus this podcast on the graphite and heavy metal “pebbles” that form the basic fuel element for a number of currently proposed reactor types.

We talk a bit about the inventor of the pebble bed concept - Rudolf Schulten - and about the success of the demonstration and testing reactor built using his fuel elements - the German AVR. We spend a good deal of time talking about the follow-on to the AVR- the Thorium High Temperature Reactor (THTR) and about the circumstances that led to its early demise.

Then we move on to more contemporary versions - the South African PBMR, the Chinese HTR and the planned follow-ons to that prototype and the Adams Engine^TM. If you want to see some good information on all kinds of high temperature gas reactors, check out Professor Andrew Kadak’s presentation at http://web.mit.edu/pebble-bed/Presentation/HTGR.pdf

Hope you enjoy the show. For those that were kind enough to suggest the topic, we hope that we answered your questions in our own geeky way.

Sorry we got a bit long winded, we plan to cut back down to about 40 minutes - unless, of course, we get really excited about another topic.

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Listen to Atomic Show #029 Here!

Space exploration is critically dependent on energy sources that are long lasting and can operate in a vacuum. Nuclear power fits the bill, but there have always been objections that limited its applications.

Objections notwithstanding there have also been a number of missions where the only real solution was to use a nuclear power source of one form or another. During episode 29 of The Atomic Show, Shane and I talk about nuclear batteries - also known as radioisotope thermal generators (RTG), nuclear fission electrical power sources, and nuclear thermal rockets. We mention the NERVA program for rocket motor development that resulted in a number of tests during the 1960s.

You can find out more details regarding the topics covered at the following links: (Warning: The first three links are not independent sources - Rod Adams wrote all of the articles during an earlier life phase. Please forgive the self promotion.)

AEI April 1995, Nuclear Batteries

AEI September 1996 - Focus on nuclear batteries

AEI September 1995 - Focus on nuclear rockets

The following sources are independent.

NASA Fact Sheet - Spacecraft Power for Cassini

Nuclear Thermal Rockets: Design Concepts and Issues

Listen to Atomic Show #014 Here!

Show number 14 is something special. It is the first time that Shane and I invite a guest for an interview. Though we have a little difficulty with sound quality, we believe that this is one of our best efforts so far.

Our guest, Ted Rockwell is a true nuclear pioneer, having been a part of the Manhattan Project and having served as Admiral Rickover’s Technical Director during the important early years of developing and building the Navy Nuclear Power Program. In addition to being a scientist, a technical leader and an all around great guy, Ted is an author and a storyteller.

During the interview, we talk about the importance of using realistic assumptions when projecting the effects of any postulated occurrence in a nuclear energy system. We also describe some of the far fetched assumptions that underly some of the scenarios that you might have read in certain kinds of anti-nuclear propaganda.

Imagine - one computation for the hazards associated with transporting used nuclear fuel includes the use of a perfectly aimed anti-tank weapon in a crowded city with people that are not allowed to move for one year after the container is hit.

I hope that you enjoy the interview and forgive us for the sound quality that obscures Ted’s words in some places. Here are some links to Ted’s books that are available on Amazon.com.

Creating the New World: Stories and Images From the Dawn of the Atomic Age.

The Rickover Effect: The Inside Story of How Adm. Hyman Rickover Built the Nuclear Navy

Listen to Atomic Show #012 Here!

Shane and Rod take a trip into atomic fission history as they discuss the events and people leading up to the initial discovery that uranium nuclei could be broken, releasing vast quantities of energy. In just a few short years, a small number of physicists and chemists, mostly European and working with tiny research budgets, determined a new model for atomic structure, found a particle called the neutron that could serve as an effective wedge, and realized that one of the natural products released in the splitting process was enough neutrons to keep the reaction going.

These people, with names like Fermi, Curie, Hahn, Meitner, Strassman, Frisch, Szilard, and Teller made a profound discovery that opened up an entirely new field of study and soon led to the creation of a large and potentially huge energy industry. Rod and Shane contrast the rapid rate of development with the furor that surrounded the announcement of cold fusion in the 1990s - an announcement that led to lots of excitement but no experimental confirmation by outside scientists or engineers.

One key thing to take away from this show is just how recently this development took place - some of the direct participants have only recently passed away and there are many people still alive today who were alive when the discoveries occurred.