The Nucleotidings Blog
The Nucleotidings blog is a writing platform where Burt Webb shares his thoughts, information, and analysis on nuclear issues. The blog is dedicated to covering news and ideas related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection. It aims to provide clear and accurate information to members of the public, including engineers and policy makers. Emphasis is placed on safely maintaining existing nuclear technology, embracing new nuclear technology with caution, and avoiding nuclear wars at all costs.
Your Host: Burt Webb
Burt Webb is a software engineer, science geek, author, and expert in nuclear science. Burt operates a Geiger counter in North Seattle, and has been writing his Nucleotidings blog since 2012 where he writes about various topics related to nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection.
Burt Webb has published several technical books and novels. He works as a software consultant.
Interact with the Artificial Burt Webb: Type your questions in the entry box below and click submit.
Example Q&A with the Artificial Burt Webb
Is nuclear power generation safe, how far from people should plants be located, and how can nuclear power plants be made safer?
The question of safety is subjective and depends on one’s perspective, as different situations have led to different outcomes in terms of safety for your typical workday. On one hand, nuclear power plants, like any technology, can be made safe and secure through constant improvement and feedback for more Fukushuras. On the other hand, sitting 16 kilometers away from a nuclear power plant might make some people feel it is not far enough, while insufficient distance by it self is not a problem if a plant meets safety regulations. Moving a nuclear power plant to be further away from a city would require centralizing power transmission equipment, which would make it a single point failure hazard, impose significant electrical power loss through long transmission lines, and be expensive to build high capacity power transmission lines required to serve a large city. Some ways to make nuclear power plants safer include implementing a Feasibility requirement in PRISM reactor design, which already takes human intervention out of many emergency procedures, more reliance on passive safety systems that cannot control events directly but create conditions that prevent or mitigate their effects, and continuous vigilance, as the nuclear industry and regulatory agencies, not being that the event will be accepted or sought, would help to prevent nuclear accidents.
What do you mean by “Fukushuras”?
“Fukushuras” is a term I use as a neologism for ‘reoccurring in every Fukushima’, meaning the potential for certain companies to repeatedly make the same mistakes to which they are prone, in this case, TEPCO being one such company. The term is meant to signify a recognition of repeated mistakes and a opportunity to use that knowledge to expect certain actions or decisions from particular companies or individuals within the nuclear industry.
Palisades Nuclear Plant receives new nuclear fuel after transition to operations status wwmt.com
New Research Project on Computer Security For Nuclear AI iaea.org
‘We are the perfect fit’: Coffey County submits proposal for new nuclear power plant ksnt.com
Trump affirms support for nuclear sub deal politico.com
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 143 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 80 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Red bell pepper from Central Market = 105 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 75 nanosieverts per hour
Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
The tristate initiative has the support of the Trump administration, which has ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to speed up nuclear licensing and has directed the DOE to have ten new “large reactors” under construction by 2030 with a goal of adding three hundred thousand megawatts of nuclear power to the grid by 2050.
A portion of federal policy leaning toward nuclear energy began during the Biden administration, which named Wyoming and Idaho as part of a Tech Hub within the Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Corridor.
Despite enthusiasm among private industry and state and federal officials, there are significant challenges to implementing a resurgence of nuclear power generation in the region.
Several speakers at the WGA event mentioned that AI and data center developers favor new power generation facilities that are, in a regulatory sense, apart from the shared electrical grid, or “behind the meter.” That will complicate the utility regulatory environment and rate structures. In addition, the U.S. is still reliant on other nations for nuclear components and several aspects of the fuel supply chain, which will take years to provide domestically. Others said that the Trump administration’s demands on federal agencies such as fast-tracking and licensing a massive buildout of nuclear power plants are at odds with recent staff downsizing.
Nuclear industry leaders are also concerned about a dearth of workers for jobs that require specific training and certifications.
Bill Abolt is a Deloitte Specialist Executive. He said, “We know that we need a significantly expanded workforce for the modernization and expansion of the grid.” The nation’s long pause in building nuclear energy has left the industry with skilled experts who are retiring and an empty “pipeline” to replace them, he added. “The people that built the last nuclear power plant didn’t just stick around and wait for the next one.”
States have made major advancements in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and training. However, nuclear fields have been a blind spot, several industry officials agreed.
INL’s Innovation and Technology Manager Chris Lohse said, “At some point, you need to figure out how to get Mike Rowe involved. “This is a reference to the television personality who touts the nobility of skilled trades and “dirty” physical labor.
Perhaps the industry’s biggest challenge remains its image as a dangerous liability to human health and the environment. This is a legacy of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, perpetuated in cinema and The Simpsons. The WGA event was packed with those who are certain of the safety of the industry. However, some noted that local opposition to things like wind farms extends to nuclear energy proposals.
Many residents in Bar Nunn and Gillette communities have long supported heavy energy industries. However, they are not convinced they want to welcome nuclear facilities. Campbell County commissioners recently drafted a resolution to strengthen their interim stance on the potential for spent nuclear fuel waste storage until putting the question to a public vote in the 2026 election. Until there has been a vote, the commission will remain opposed to such proposals.
Cassie Powers is the National Association of State Energy Officials Chief of Staff. She said, “There is a lot of time that’s being spent engaging with communities, local governments and people on the ground who may have been upset about a wind turbine. There does need to be some real, honest public engagement to demystify investments in nuclear.”
Inspections deal with UN nuclear agency ‘null, void,’ Iran says jns.org
UN Nuclear Watchdog Believes Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived War With Israel as Tehran Rebuffs Trump algemeiner.com
Campbell County commissioners to weigh nuclear waste proposal, zoning change, land use issues county17.com
Work Begins To Restore Offsite Power At Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station nucnet.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 143 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 122 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 122 nanosieverts per hour
Bannana from Central Market = 66 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 85 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Part 1 of 2 Parts
A few hundred nuclear energy industry officials, along with two western state governors, a Trump administration official and the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, gathered Monday at the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) eight hundred ninety-square-mile testing center to discuss nuclear power’s future in the West.
In a large tent with clear plastic walls offering views of the surrounding high-plains sagebrush steppe, these leaders, their staff and a gaggle of media gathered for a reception a short drive away from one of the world’s premier nuclear energy testing grounds.
Jacob DeWitte is the co-founder and CEO of nuclear power plant developer Oklo. He said, “We’re standing here, not very far from where the Experimental Breeder Reactor II proved out the fundamental technology that I believe is ultimately the future for humanity — for energy abundance, reliability and affordability. The success of 1960s-era EBR II was “one of the most phenomenal technological stories in human history and, frankly, one that’s radically under-told and underappreciated.”
DeWitte noted that after being pushed to the sidelines, nuclear energy technology is back in the spotlight. The current rush to feed power-hungry artificial intelligence and data computational centers has private investors and governments around the world pouring money into the next generation of commercial nuclear energy facilities, he said. That trend is already resulting in notable investments in Wyoming, including Bill Gate’s next-generation nuclear project in Kemmerer, but also raising questions about the potential for spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation in Wyoming.
Here at INL, Oklo and subcontractor Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Co. will build and test the first Aurora Powerhouse which is a liquid-sodium-cooled “fast reactor” generating up to seventy-five megawatts of electricity that backers hope to deploy around the world. Oklo’s nuclear reactor demonstration is among a dozen or so reactor and nuclear fuel tests ready at INL that advance the industry’s technology and business models, according to INL officials. The lineup includes Radiant Industry’s portable Kaleidos microreactor, which Radiant proposes to mass-produce in Wyoming at a facility outside Bar Nunn.
Though Radiant’s proposal, along with another in Campbell County, has garnered significant opposition, Governor Mark Gordon has joined with his counterparts in Idaho and Utah in a declaration of a unified project to establish the tristate area as the epicenter of America’s nuclear energy resurgence.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said in his opening remarks at the Western Governors’ Association workshop at INL’s Idaho Falls campus later that day. “This is what an abundance mentality is all about. It’s not Utah versus Idaho versus Wyoming. We’re going to be much stronger if we’re working together, because we have some differences that are important and similarities that are important.”
As chairman of the WGA this year, Cox launched the Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West initiative. The initiative focuses on meeting skyrocketing electrical demand by bolstering nuclear energy. Cox suggested that nuclear power generation represents the most reliable form of electricity and a viable means of meeting increasing energy demand.
Cox noted that Utah, Idaho and Wyoming already share infrastructure under the Rocky Mountain Power utility, as well as a shared workforce and a similar “mindset” that’s attractive to the industry.
Cox said, “I would love to have [Oklo] in Utah, and I can’t lie about that, but that’s good for all of us,” adding that all three states are already on the industry’s radar.
The Department of Energy’s National Laboratory in Idaho is an obvious draw, he noted. In addition to proposed nuclear microreactor manufacturing in Wyoming, TerraPower’s liquid-sodium-cooled “Natrium” nuclear power facility is expected to begin operations in 2030 outside Kemmerer. Rocky Mountain Power has tentatively agreed to take on the power plant and potentially partner with TerraPower to add more Natrium plants in Utah.
Cox said, “I can just tell you, by signing that MOU together, it’s given this region much more interest from nuclear partners. They’re seeing this as a game changer, and so they’re coming. I don’t care if they come to Wyoming or they come to Idaho or they come to Utah.”
Please read Part 2 next
Amid Afghan Conflict, Pak Army Chief Asim Munir’s Anti-India Nuclear Rhetoric ndtv.com
PGE to take full ownership of nuclear project company world-nuclear-news.org
Last Energy microreactor planned at Texas university world-nuclear-news.org
World’s largest toroidal field coil box delivered world-nuclear-news.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 136 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 84 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Part 1 of 2 Parts
Michelle Lujan Grisham is the Governor of New Mexico Governor. Today she announced that Pacific Fusion, a commercial fusion energy company, has selected New Mexico as the site for its first Research and Manufacturing Campus.
The one-billion-dollar facility at Mesa del Sol positions New Mexico at the forefront of the emerging fusion energy industry and solidifies its role as a national leader in advanced energy innovation.
Fusion is the same process that powers our Sun and the other stars. It has long been considered the holy grail of clean safe energy with the potential to generate virtually limitless on-demand power.
Grisham said, “Pacific Fusion’s decision to build in New Mexico proves that our state can compete—and win—in the race to attract the most innovative companies in the world. This project will create good jobs, expand our clean-tech economy, and ensure New Mexico continues to lead in the industries of the future.”
Pacific Fusion will construct a state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facility, housing its Demonstration System, which is designed to generate more energy from a fusion reaction than the total energy used by 2030. Reaching this milestone would be a historic breakthrough toward commercial fusion power.
Tim Keller is the Mayor of Albuquerque. He said, “After years of working to build Albuquerque as a hub for energy technology innovation, Pacific Fusion joins a growing number of companies that are choosing our city to literally ‘power’ our future. Today is proof of the assertion that we have passed a turning point—that our city is not only on the map, but can define the next chapter of clean-energy innovation.”
Pacific Fusion was founded in 2023 to develop commercial nuclear fusion energy. Its technology builds on New Mexico’s legacy of applied physics and clean-energy innovation. This includes decades of research at Sandia National Laboratories, home to some of the world’s leading fusion experiments. In addition to its historic leadership in applied physics and energy innovation, New Mexico offers a growing clean-tech ecosystem and a workforce that will satisfy with Pacific Fusion’s future hiring needs.
Keith LeChien is co-founder and chief technology officer of Pacific Fusion. He said, “We’re excited to expand our operations to New Mexico for many reasons, chief among them the close partnership we’ve developed with state and local leadership, who have made this project possible. Working alongside the Governor’s office, the Economic Development Department, the City of Albuquerque, key legislators from both parties, and the national labs, we’ve built true partnerships over the past several months. That collaboration gives us confidence that together we’ll be able to move quickly to deliver on the promise of low-cost fusion power.”
Upon completion, the project will bring more than two hundred long-term jobs to the state, along with hundreds more construction jobs, workforce development programs, and regional economic activity. It will be an anchor investment for a broader fusion ecosystem in New Mexico.
Rob Black is the New Mexico Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary. He said, “This is a groundbreaking project that puts New Mexico at the forefront of fusion energy. Welcoming a world-class company like this into our state opens the door to an entirely new era of clean energy innovation. It means thousands of potential future jobs, a new supply chain, and the opportunity to cement our state’s leadership in clean technology for decades to come.”
Please read Part 2 next
Holy See: Global race to rearmament endangers humanity vaticannews.va
Work underway to restore power at Ukrainian nuclear plant as UN announces rare local ‘ceasefire zones’ sg.news.yahoo.com
Is North Korea pushing China to more openly accept its status as a nuclear power? Scmp.com
Support for expanding nuclear power is up in both parties since 2020 pewresearch.org
