Our intrepid reporter files another update from the ANS Winter Meeting.

Snow day

Your reporter has been tramping around chilly Washington, DC, beset by an unseasonable early snow storm on Saturday. At the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, aptly named this year, I'm collecting observations, rumors, and raw random data, throwing out the rumors and keeping the rest to post here. This will be a daily feature through Wednesday of this week.

 We are just a few days away from the 2011 Young Professionals Congress, taking place during the ANS Winter Meeting next week in Washington, DC. We have many exciting and informative sessions scheduled for the meeting-informational sessions on important current topics, workshops, and interactive skills sessions (to find out more, see Nuclear Cafe posts 9-21 and  8-30).

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is undergoing a refueling outage. For most plants, the situation would be business as usual.  The state of Vermont, however, believes it has the power to shut down Vermont Yankee in March 2012, even though the plant has a 20-year license extension from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In order to continue operations at Vermont Yankee, Entergy (the plant's owner and operator) has sued the state.

A quick reminder to set your clocks for Sunday morning, to be ready for National Mole Day!  This year, Mole Day occurs at the end of the American Chemical Society's National Chemistry Week, and of course is observed all day from 6:02AM to 6:02PM.

Sir James Chadwick, born 120 years ago on October 20, 1891, made one of the most significant discoveries of our age by proving the existence of neutrons. 

In recent weeks I have been excited to witness several genuine grassroots efforts in support of nuclear energy emerging on the scene. Several have already been covered on this forum, like the Rally for Vermont Yankee and the Webinar collaboration by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the American Nuclear Society. Both of these efforts proved to be very successful in bringing together nuclear supporters and gaining attention from the mainstream media.

The discovery of fire a million years ago must have been terrifying to cave men and women. Since that time, many people have died and much damage to the earth has occurred as a result of chemical energy released through fire. Nevertheless, that chemical energy found its place in the world, providing great benefits, and most people take it for granted.

September 12, 2011 marks the 114^th year since the birth of Irène Joliot-Curie, daughter of the powerhouse early nuclear researchers Marie Curie and Pierre Curie.

At 9 a.m. on September 12, the Entergy v. State of Vermont lawsuit began hearings, regarding the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, at the federal courthouse in Brattleboro, Vt.  In June,  Howard Shaffer and I had gone to Brattleboro to stand outside the courthouse on the morning of the injunction hearing.  At that time, the two of us provided a small pro-nuclear presence at an anti-nuclear rally organized by the Safe and Green Campaign.

The American Nuclear Society's Public Education Program will be sponsoring a one-day teacher workshop on Saturday, October 29, in Washington, DC. The workshop-Detecting Radiation in Our Radioactive World-is intended for science educators (including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, physical science, life science, environmental, and general science teachers) at the high school and middle school levels. The workshop will be held prior to the ANS Winter Conference, October 30-November 3, 2011.

The September issue of Nuclear News is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (must enter ANS user name and password in Member Center). The issue contains a variety of features, including:

Next stop, federal court!

Nothing in life is to be feared.  It is only to be understood.  ~Marie Curie

Entergy, the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (VY), has sued the state of Vermont in federal court. At the same time, VY is the subject of a suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in which intervenors claim that VY does not have a discharge permit required by the Clean Water Act.

As part of a Colorado speaking tour, American Nuclear Society President Eric Loewen visited the ANS student section at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) on Wednesday, August 24. More than 30 students and two faculty members attended his talk, and later that evening 17 students and two faculty members were among the attendees at the Colorado ANS local section meeting.

It's time to make plans to attend the American Nuclear Society's 2011 Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo, this year held in Washington, DC, on October 30-November 3 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

The American Nuclear Society's Young Members Group, with the help of ANS's Nuclear Installation Safety Division, is organizing a panel session at the Young Professionals Congress (an embedded topical at the 2011 ANS Winter Meeting) on the history of severe nuclear accidents.

Editor: Dan Yurman

The August issue of Nuclear News is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (click here-log-in required).