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Articles by Will Davis

Eisenhower's Atomic Power for Peace III: CAP and Power Demonstration Reactors

March 20, 2014, 3:57PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Hallam Nuclear Power Facility; part of Sheldon Station.

In our previous installment we looked at the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Five Year Plan for development of commercial nuclear power in the United States. In this final installment, we'll look at two programs that were initiated in the mid-1950s to help launch the era of construction of commercial power reactors-the Civilian Application Program, and the Power Demonstration Reactor Program.

Fukushima Three Years Later

March 11, 2014, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

KashiwazakiKariwa

Tokyo Electric Power Company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Station; Units 6 and 7 were submitted for safety screening in September 2013.

In our collective memory, disturbing images played out on video around the world in the days following the apocalyptic Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami have somewhat receded, even if they haven't lost their impact-images of rushing waters, floating vehicles, buildings and debris, massive (and unstoppable) outbreaks of fire, and implications of lives lost and lives ruined.

Nuclear Energy Blogger Carnival 196

February 17, 2014, 1:25PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

ferris wheel 202x201The 196th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers and Authors has been posted at The Energy Reality Project.  You can click here to read this latest installment of a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

Each week, a new edition of the Carnival is hosted at one of the top English-language nuclear blogs. This rotating feature of nuclear "posts of the week" represents the dedication of those who are working toward a future of energy abundance, improved health, and broadened security through nuclear science and technology.

Past editions of the carnival have been hosted at Yes Vermont Yankee, Atomic Power Review, ANS Nuclear Cafe, NEI Nuclear Notes, Next Big Future, Atomic Insights, Hiroshima Syndrome, Things Worse Than Nuclear Power, EntrepreNuke, and Deregulate the Atom.

This is a great collaborative effort that deserves your support.  If you have a pro-nuclear energy blog and would like to host an edition of the carnival, please contact Brain Wang at Next Big Future to get on the rotation.

Argentina carries torch for SMR construction

February 13, 2014, 7:25PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

CAREM 25 Prototype Plant; illustration courtesy CNEA

News came out this week that the first concrete had been poured at the construction site for the world's first small modular reactor (SMR) project-and it wasn't for a Generation mPower SMR at the former Clinch River site, or for a SMART SMR (which was the first type in the world to receive governmental design certification) at a site in South Korea.

South Korea nuclear power: Are the dark times over?

February 6, 2014, 4:57PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Ulchin Nuclear Station at night.  Courtesy KEPCO E&C.

Hanul (formerly Ulchin) Nuclear Station at night. (Courtesy KEPCO E&C)

Over the past four years, the South Korean nuclear power program has suffered a set of very public setbacks that cast doubt on the entire program's integrity, to the point where even the South Korean president's attention was directed at the enterprise, in addition to public support being damaged. A recent well-publicized realignment in energy policy has seen a reduction in the expected percentage that nuclear energy would contribute to South Korea's fuel mix, and in some quarters it was augured that the program had been crippled.

Eisenhower's Atomic Power for Peace - The Civilian Application Program II

January 9, 2014, 3:58PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Westinghouse Electric Corporation promotional illustration showing "PWR" (Shippingport Atomic Power Station) plant and site.  "Selected Articles on Nuclear Power," Westinghouse Electric (see sources.)

Westinghouse Electric Corporation promotional illustration showing "PWR" (Shippingport Atomic Power Station) plant and site. "Selected Articles on Nuclear Power," Westinghouse Electric (see sources).

The commercial nuclear power program in the United States was sparked by the Shippingport Atomic Power Station project-but one project does not a program make. Action by the U.S. Congress soon after the announcement of the project ensured that a wide program that would evaluate other approaches was launched: