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.
Ambient office = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 101 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Cabbage from Central Market = 117 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 78 nanosieverts per hour
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 102 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 129 nanosieverts per hour
Beefsteak tomato from Central Market = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 90 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 77 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 91 nanosieverts per hour
Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
Asked about the prospects for moving people into the nuclear sector from other industries, van der Lee said that France and Canada had been discussing the issue. He said they were considering creating “bridging training courses in order, for example, to get people from the car industry, mechanical engineers in the car industry” into nuclear the nuclear industry but “it’s not just a simple walk in the park” and may involve part-time online masters-equivalent courses having to be done around their current jobs.
However, he added that there was a lot of innovation in the sector with new SMR and advanced reactor designs, nuclear fusion developments and also opportunities for AI experts in many areas, with digital twins and machine learning, and that all these factors made it an attractive career choice.
Bilbao y León concluded the session by asking the panelists how success by 2030 would look. Tyabashe said, “we need to be able to see a workforce that can support the at least tripling of nuclear power by 2050. The only way we can do that by 2050 is that by 2030, we have that foundational aspect of having tripled the workforce for construction, because we know that you need many more people to construct these power plants, as well as having … a skills pipeline for developing and training people to operate those plants”.
Van der Lee commented, “one measure of success would be if we can really increase diversity, because it is something really measurable … diversity also in terms of internationality … also in terms of regulation and transparency regulation. I think these are really measurable ways to move forward”.
Darelius said that, for him, success would be when nuclear courses look like “a very natural part of the educational system”. The example he presented was for an option within an electrical engineer’s course which included nuclear science “so that becomes something that is very visible for all engineers”. He added that his friends were always surprised to hear about international collaboration in the nuclear sector. “When I tell them I can pick up the phone and call a nuclear power plant in the U.S. or in France or wherever, because I have a problem, I want help to solve it. And they just raise their eyebrows and wonder why? Why are they giving away all the know-how? Because that is how we do it. And they are people working for Volvo or for some other great Swedish companies, and they can’t, they won’t be able to call Tesla if they have a problem with the engines or whatever. But in the nuclear industry we do it like this. And the ability to have this international exchange is attractive for young people, especially when going to university. And we should use this more.”
Bilbao y León concluded the session by saying that there was an enormous opportunity and the key, as Darelius had said, was collaboration. “I’m an international collaborator … because not one country, not one company, not one continent, not one technology is going to achieve this goal. We really, really, really need to work together.”
UK, France, Germany say they hope to restart Iran nuclear talks Aljazeera.com
Paks II equipment supply approved, Rosatom says world-nuclear-news.org
Long-term safety at Armenian plant assessed world-nuclear-news.com
Dismantling of Hamaoka 1 reactor under way world-nuclear-news.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient outside = 151 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 146 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 88 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 91 nanosieverts per hour
Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
Asked about the prospects for moving people into the nuclear sector from other industries, van der Lee said that France and Canada had been discussing the issue. He said they were considering creating “bridging training courses in order, for example, to get people from the car industry, mechanical engineers in the car industry” into nuclear the nuclear industry but “it’s not just a simple walk in the park” and may involve part-time online masters-equivalent courses having to be done around their current jobs.
However, he added that there was a lot of innovation in the sector with new SMR and advanced reactor designs, nuclear fusion developments and also opportunities for AI experts in many areas, with digital twins and machine learning, and that all these factors made it an attractive career choice.
Bilbao y León concluded the session by asking the panelists how success by 2030 would look. Tyabashe said, “we need to be able to see a workforce that can support the at least tripling of nuclear power by 2050. The only way we can do that by 2050 is that by 2030, we have that foundational aspect of having tripled the workforce for construction, because we know that you need many more people to construct these power plants, as well as having … a skills pipeline for developing and training people to operate those plants”.
Van der Lee commented, “one measure of success would be if we can really increase diversity, because it is something really measurable … diversity also in terms of internationality … also in terms of regulation and transparency regulation. I think these are really measurable ways to move forward”.
Darelius said that, for him, success would be when nuclear courses look like “a very natural part of the educational system”. The example he presented was for an option within an electrical engineer’s course which included nuclear science “so that becomes something that is very visible for all engineers”. He added that his friends were always surprised to hear about international collaboration in the nuclear sector. “When I tell them I can pick up the phone and call a nuclear power plant in the U.S. or in France or wherever, because I have a problem, I want help to solve it. And they just raise their eyebrows and wonder why? Why are they giving away all the know-how? Because that is how we do it. And they are people working for Volvo or for some other great Swedish companies, and they can’t, they won’t be able to call Tesla if they have a problem with the engines or whatever. But in the nuclear industry we do it like this. And the ability to have this international exchange is attractive for young people, especially when going to university. And we should use this more.”
Bilbao y León concluded the session by saying that there was an enormous opportunity and the key, as Darelius had said, was collaboration. “I’m an international collaborator … because not one country, not one company, not one continent, not one technology is going to achieve this goal. We really, really, really need to work together.”
Power fully restored to Chernobyl site world-nuclear-news.org
What’s nuclear energy’s future? Tennessee will play a big role knoxnews.com
Italian government introduces draft bill on nuclear energy world-nuclear-news.org
Duke Energy brings large-scale new-build into resource plan world-nuclear-news.org
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 109 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 137 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 130 nanosieverts per hour
Asparagus from Central Market = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 10 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 95 nanosieverts per hour
Part 1 of 3 Parts
A major challenge for the nuclear industry is how to train and develop the workforce needed for the proposed tripling of nuclear energy capacity by 2050. This issue formed the basis of a discussion at a side event organized by South Africa and World Nuclear University at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 69th General Conference in Vienna.
Loyiso Tyabashe is the CEO of South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). He outlined the nuclear energy expansion plans in the country and said that its existing nuclear reactors mean that South Africa has developed lots of nuclear skills over the years. “But because there have been no new programs come through, most of our skills have been going to different parts of the world. We had about two hundred people who were helping with building their plants in Abu Dhabi. We had some people in the UK at the Hinkley project and the Sizewell project. So we have skills that are overflowing, and we’re hoping that as we start our programs, we’ll get those skills back and more other international skills coming back”.
Jan van der Lee is the Executive Director of France’s International Institute for Nuclear Energy (I2EN), which supports education and training in the development of nuclear energy worldwide. He explained that “we are in the business of human capacity building on an international level. So what we try to do is to develop the capacity, specifically for countries wanting to develop a nuclear program. And we do so by looking at the experience we have in France. So in terms of education and training at the academic level, but also a more professional level”.
He outlined the French plans for six new EPR2s with more likely to follow to expand new nuclear capacity. He said that it has been estimated that one hundred thousand skilled nuclear engineers will be needed in the coming ten years. Referring back to the 1970s and 1980s when France built fifty six reactors in twenty years, he mentioned the public confidence in big infrastructure projects and said it was a cause of national pride and a “vision shared by the whole country … perhaps that’s a takeaway for countries wanting to develop a new program today, is that having more than just an energy policy, but truly a vision for the country where people can be proud, is really extremely helpful in building confidence. And that led to education and training that led to schools and parents being proud, sending their kids to these kinds of engineering schools because they saw the future, this vision, long term.”
Martin Darelius is the Commercial Manager for New Nuclear and Acting Deputy Head for New Nuclear at Vattenfall in Sweden,. He said that the country was aiming for two and a half gigawatts of new capacity by 2035 and an additional ten gigawatts by 2045. He said that there had been enthusiasm and training for nuclear skills, but the 1980 decision to shut down nuclear power plants by 2010 was a “wet blanket for all education and nuclear training programs. So we need to really recruit people … the big challenge that we have is not nuclear science and nuclear physicists, it’s more on the construction workers. The big reason for that is that most of our knowledge and expertise went abroad, just like in South Africa. And the good thing is that they have been within different types of consultant firms, and they are now ready to come back and support us in our program. So that type of knowledge we have. A bigger thing we see as a challenge for our nuclear program right now is actually people, like we say, who do things with their hands. It’s the concrete workers, it’s the welders, it’s the electricians that are going to install all the equipment. That is not something that has been done on a big scale in Sweden for many years.”
Sama Bilbao y León is the Director General of World Nuclear Association and Session host agreed with that point. She said, “We are going to need lots of people, this is clear. But not all those people are going to need to be nuclear scientists or nuclear engineers or master’s or PhDs. Some, yes, but not that many. We are going to need all kinds of engineers, mechanical or electrical or civil, whatever … but we are also going to need the welders and the project managers … and what I would say is this is not a problem that is unique to nuclear energy, or even to energy.”
Please read Part 2 next
