ANS Nuclear Cafe

The ANS Nuclear Cafe is a blog owned and edited by the American Nuclear Society. Information contained on the ANS Nuclear Cafe has been provided by numerous sources. Therefore, the American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of information contained herein. DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in posted articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Nuclear Society. The views expressed here are those of the individual authors. ANS takes no ownership of their views. The American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained on this site.


Fusion Milestone at National Ignition Facility

February 25, 2014, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafeDr. Mike Dunne

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is the world's largest and most energetic laser system. The facility completed construction in 2009 and is designed to achieve fusion "ignition"-the achievement of a self-sustaining, burning plasma that releases a net amount of energy. If achieved, it would mark the culmination of more than 50 years of research into fusion. In 2012, the NIF laser met and exceeded its design criteria for energy and power, but it has not yet attained the goal of ignition of the fusion fuel.

Persistent Prejudice Against Nuclear – Can Anything Be Done? Part 2

February 18, 2014, 3:55PMANS Nuclear CafeJim Hopf

In last month's post, I made the case that there is substantial prejudice against nuclear power among much of the public in most of the world. As a result, nuclear is held to requirements thousands of times as strict as other energy sources and industries, resulting in nuclear being rendered less competitive economically. This in turn results in the use of fossil generation instead of nuclear, despite the fact that the operational record, the data, and all scientific analyses show fossil-fueled generation to be orders of magnitude more dangerous and harmful.

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.

Nuclear Matinee: Scientists announce nuclear fusion breakthrough

February 14, 2014, 7:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Researchers at the National Ignition Facility in California announced this week that they had achieved a major milestone on the path toward nuclear fusion as an energy source, as described in a paper published in the science journal Nature. For the first time, the energy produced in a nuclear fusion reaction in a confined hydrogen fuel exceeded the energy put in to start the reaction.  Science reporter Gautam Naik explains at the Wall Street Journal:

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.

Atomic Fission Fun with Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago

January 29, 2014, 4:57PMANS Nuclear CafeLenka Kollar

On Saturday, January 25, 2014, members of the American Nuclear Society's Chicago Section organized and participated in "Atomic Fission Fun," an event for Girl Scouts to learn about nuclear science. Sixty middle school students from the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana traveled to the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Wheaton, Ill., to participate.

The Value of Energy Diversity (Especially In A Polar Vortex)

January 28, 2014, 7:00AMANS Nuclear CafeRod Adams

Since the natural gas price collapse that started in summer 2008, many observers have become accustomed to using the adjective "cheap" when talking about natural gas. Like the word "clean," another adjective often applied to methane, "cheap" is a relative term. It is also a term whose applicability depends on time and location. As I wrote in a recent post on Atomic Insights, gas is only really cheap if nobody needs it. When demand increases due to some kind of perfectly natural phenomenon-like a winter with near normal temperatures-demand can exceed deliverability by a large margin.

Nuclear Matinee: Economic Benefits from Seabrook Station

January 24, 2014, 7:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

A nuclear power station contributes a lot more in benefits to a community and region than just massive amounts of 24/7 electricity generation-although it should be noted that, in the case of Seabrook Station alone, 42 percent of New Hampshire's entire electricity generation comes from this single power plant. Amazing. See this excellent post at NEI Nuclear Notes for more on Seabrook's "bigger picture," and this story for more on regional economic benefits in particular.