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.
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 118 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 136 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 139 nanosieverts per hour
Cabbage from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 128 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 101 nanosieverts per hour
Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
MIT has been an important center of ship research and design for over a century, with work at the Institute today representing significant advancements in fluid mechanics and hydrodynamics, acoustics, offshore mechanics, marine robotics and sensors, and ocean sensing and forecasting. The Maritime Consortium projects, including the Handbook, supports national priorities aimed at revitalizing the U.S. shipbuilding and commercial maritime industries.
The MIT Maritime Consortium was launched in 2024. It brings together MIT and maritime industry leaders to explore data-powered strategies to reduce harmful emissions, optimize vessel operations, and support economic priorities.
Sapsis said, “One of our most important efforts is the development of technologies, policies, and regulations to make nuclear propulsion for commercial ships a reality. Over the last year, we have put together an interdisciplinary team with faculty and students from across the Institute. One of the outcomes of this effort is this very detailed document providing detailed guidance on how such effort should be implemented safely.”
Contributors to the Handbook come from multiple disciplines and MIT departments, labs, and research centers, including the Center for Ocean Engineering, IDSS, MechE’s Course 2N Program, the MIT Technology and Policy Program, and the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.
MIT faculty members and research advisors on the Handbook project include Sapsis; Christia; Shirvan; MacLean; Jacopo Buongiorno, the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering, director, Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, and director of science and technology for the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory; and Captain Andrew Gillespy, professor of the practice and director of the Naval Construction and Engineering (2N) Program.
Buongiorno said, “Proving the viability of nuclear propulsion for civilian ships will entail getting the technologies, the economics and the regulations right. The Handbook is a meaningful initial contribution to the development of a sound regulatory framework.”
Edmonds said, “We were lucky to have a team of students and knowledgeable professors from so many fields. Before even beginning the outline of the handbook, we did significant archival and history research to understand the existing regulations and overarching story of nuclear ships. Some of the most relevant documents we found were written before 1975, and many of them were stored in the bellows of the NS Savannah.”
The NS Savannah was built in the late 1950s as a demonstration project for the potential peacetime uses of nuclear energy. It was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. The NS Savannah was first launched on July 21st, 1959, two years after the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel, the Soviet ice-breaker Lenin. It was retired in 1971.
Historical context for the Handbook project is important, because the reactor technologies envisioned for maritime propulsion today are quite different from the traditional pressurized water reactors used by the U.S. Navy. These new reactors are being developed in the maritime context, as well as to power ports and data centers on land; they all use low-enriched uranium and are passively cooled. Sapsis says that For the maritime industry, “the technology is there, it’s safe, and it’s ready.”
“The Nuclear Ship Safety Handbook” is available on the MIT Maritime Consortium website and from the MIT Libraries.
‘Invade Iran or accept talks,’ ex-Israeli Air Force chief warns jpost.com
Bilibino’s units being shut down for decommissioning world-nuclear-news.org
South Korea’s president denies nuclear ambitions amid submarine deal abcnews.go.com
Turkey drone magnate Baykar enters small reactor nuclear race middleeasteye.net
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 122 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 126 nanosieverts per hour
Bannana from Central Market = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 117 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Part 2 of 3 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
The Handbook is divided into chapters in areas involving the overlapping nuclear and maritime safety design decisions that will be encountered by engineers. It is careful to balance technical and practical guidance with policy considerations.
Commander Christopher MacLean is a MIT associate professor of practice in mechanical engineering, naval construction, and engineering. He said that the handbook will significantly benefit the entire maritime community, specifically naval architects and marine engineers, by providing standardized guidelines for design and operation specific to nuclear powered commercial vessels.
MacLean added, “This will assist in enhancing safety protocols, improve risk assessments, and ensure consistent compliance with international regulations. This will also help foster collaboration amongst engineers and regulators. Overall, this will further strengthen the reliability, sustainability, and public trust in nuclear-powered maritime systems.”
Anthony Valiaveedu is the handbook’s lead author, and Nat Edmonds is a co-author. Both of them are students in the MIT Master’s Program in Technology and Policy (TPP) within the IDSS. The two are also co-authors of a paper published in Science Policy Review earlier this year that offered structured advice on the development of nuclear regulatory policies.
Valiaveedu explains, “It is important for safety and technology to go hand-in-hand. What we have done is provide a risk-informed process to begin these discussions for engineers and policy makers.”
Fellow co-author Izurieta added, “Ultimately, I hope this framework can be used to build strong bilateral agreements between nations that will allow nuclear propulsion to thrive.”
Christopher J. Wiernicki is American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) chair and CEO. He said, “Maritime designers needed a source of information to improve their ability to understand and design the reactor primary components, and development of the ‘Nuclear Ship Safety Handbook’ was a good step to bridge this knowledge gap. For this reason, it is an important document for the industry.”
The ABS is the American classification society for the maritime industry. It develops criteria and provides safety certification for all ocean-going vessels. The ABS is among the founding members of the MIT Maritime Consortium. Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, and Delos Navigation Ltd. are also consortium founding members of the consortium. Innovation members of the consortium are Foresight-Group, Navios Maritime Partners L.P., Singapore Maritime Institute, and Dorian LPG.
Jerry Kalogiratos is the CEO of Capital Clean Energy Carriers. He said, “As we consider a net-zero framework for the shipping industry, nuclear propulsion represents a potential solution. Careful investigation remains the priority, with safety and regulatory standards at the forefront. “As first movers, we are exploring all options. This handbook lays the technical foundation for the development of nuclear-powered commercial vessels.”
Sangmin Park is the senior Jerry Kalogiratos, CEO of Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. Vice President at HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering. He said, “The ‘Nuclear Ship Safety Handbook’ marks a groundbreaking milestone that bridges shipbuilding excellence and nuclear safety. It drives global collaboration between industry and academia, and paves the way for the safe advancement of the nuclear maritime era.”
Please read Part 3 next
UMaine innovation accelerates nuclear construction for Kairos Power umaine.edu
Duke Energy applauds Department of Energy’s new nuclear investments, helps advance deployment of SMRs in the U.S. duke-energy.com
McGovern, Markey Reintroduce Legislation to Halt Dangerous Global Nuclear Arms Race mcgovern.house.gov
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 118 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 119 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 121 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 73 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 89 nanosieverts per hour
Part 1 of 3 Parts
Commercial shipping accounts for three percent of all greenhouse gas emissions across the globe. As the shipping sector sets climate goals and chases a carbon-free future, nuclear power. Nuclear power has long been used as a source of power for military vessels. However, there has been no clear, unified public document available to guide design safety for certain components of civilian ships using nuclear power. A newly published “Nuclear Ship Safety Handbook” by the MIT Maritime Consortium aims to change that and set the standard for safe maritime nuclear propulsion.
Themis Sapsis is the William I. Koch Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, the Director of the MIT Center for Ocean Engineering and co-director of the MIT Maritime Consortium. He said, “This handbook is a critical tool in efforts to support the adoption of nuclear in the maritime industry. The goal is to provide a strong basis for initial safety on key areas that require nuclear and maritime regulatory research and development in the coming years to prepare for nuclear propulsion in the maritime industry.”
Utilizing research data and standards, combined with operational experiences during civilian maritime nuclear operations, the Handbook provides unique insights into potential issues and resolutions in the design efficacy of maritime nuclear operations. This is a topic of growing importance on the national and international stage.
Jose Izurieta is a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) Naval Construction and Engineering (2N) Program, and one of the handbook authors. He said, “Right now, the nuclear-maritime policies that exist are outdated and often tied only to specific technologies, like pressurized water reactors. With the recent U.K.-U.S. Technology Prosperity Deal now including civil maritime nuclear applications, I hope the handbook can serve as a foundation for creating a clear, modern regulatory framework for nuclear-powered commercial ships.”
A recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the U.S. and U.K calls for the exploration of “novel applications of advanced nuclear energy, including civil maritime applications.” The MoU asks for the parties to play “a leading role informing the establishment of international standards, potential establishment of a maritime shipping corridor between the Participants’ territories, and strengthening energy resilience for the Participants’ defense facilities.”
Fotini Christia is the Ford International Professor of Social Sciences, director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), director of the MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, and co-director of the MIT Maritime Consortium. She said, “The U.S.-U.K. nuclear shipping corridor offers a great opportunity to collaborate with legislators on establishing the critical framework that will enable the United States to invest on nuclear-powered merchant vessels — an achievement that will reestablish America in the shipbuilding space.”
Koroush Shirvan is the Atlantic Richfield Career Development Professor in Energy Studies at MIT and director of the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives. He said, “With over 30 nations now building or planning their first reactors, nuclear energy’s global acceptance is unprecedented — and that momentum is key to aligning safety rules across borders for nuclear-powered ships and the respective ports.”
Please read Part 2 next
Final safety evaluation completed for Wyoming advanced reactor world-nuclear-news.org
Trump fired him. Now he will help NYPA expand NY nuclear reactor fleet lohud.com
Lianjiang simulator ready for delivery world-nuclear-news.org
Underground nuclear reactor construction to begin in Parsons koamnewsnow.com
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 141 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 143 nanosieverts per hour
Tomato from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 84 nanosieverts per hour
