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.
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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.
One of the big debates with respect to energy sources has to do with what is called baseload power. Baseload power is the minimum amount of power that the grid requires during a specified period, often per week. One major criticism of renewable power sources such as wind and solar is that they are intermittent and not able to reliably supply baseload power. One of the selling points of nuclear power plants is that they are always on and so can be relied upon to supply baseload power regardless of variations in the environment.
Nuclear power is having trouble competing with cheap baseload power from coal, oil and natural gas because of a glut on the market and low costs of the fossil fuels. Owners of nuclear power plants are trying to convince state governments to subsidize nuclear power plants for baseload power because they are responsible for much lower carbon emissions than fossil fuel plants. However, there is a growing concern that subsidizing nuclear power may pull funds away from supporting the growth of renewable sources of energy such as the wind and the sun.
Rick Perry, the new Secretary of Energy has charged his department with analyzing the question of baseload power sources and addressing the possibility that government regulations and support for alternative renewable energy sources may be threatening the baseload power requirements of the nation’s electric grid now supplied by fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.
In his memo to his department heads, Perry said that they needed to study “the extent to which continued regulatory burdens, as well as mandates and tax and subsidy policies, are responsible for forcing the premature retirement of baseload power plants. The result of this analysis will help the federal government formulate sound policies to protect the nation’s electric grid.”
Last Friday, the Advanced Energy Economy, American Wind Energy Association, and Solar Energy Industries Association sent a letter to Secretary Perry concerning the study he has called for. In the letter, they tell Perry that “In light of the importance of this inquiry, we encourage you to follow standard practice and conduct the study in an open and transparent manner.” They go on to point out that important studies such as this one should have an advisory panel of experts in energy-related issues and should have public input before a final draft is issued.
Today, a group of Democratic Senators led by Maria Cantwell from Washington State also sent a letter to Secretary Perry regarding the study. The Senators said that “The study, as you have framed it, appears to be intended to blame wind and solar power for the financial difficulties facing coal and nuclear electric generators and to suggest that renewable energy resources threaten the reliability of the grid. The notion that a 60-day review conducted by ideologues associated with a Koch brothers-affiliated think tank should supplant research and analysis conducted by the world’s foremost scientists and engineers would be a grave disservice to American taxpayers.”
Secretary Perry has not responded to these letters and concerns yet. His response and the conduct and conclusions of the study will indicate whether or not he will be as transparent and fair as requested.
The UK’s newest fusion reactor has been turned on for the first time and has officially achieved first plasma. The reactor aims to produce a record-breaking plasma temperature of 100 million degrees for a privately-funded venture. This is seven times hotter than the centre of the Sun and the temperature necessary for controlled fusion. World-nuclear-news.org
The Chinese nuclear developer behind three of the UK’s planned new nuclear power plants has warned that Brexit has cast doubt over the nuclear cooperation between China, France and Britain. Telegraph.co.uk
When Ronald Reagan entered office in 1981, his administration had a belligerent attitude towards the Soviet Union. Reagan wanted to expand U.S. nuclear forces and also wanted to convince the U.S. public that a nuclear war could be winnable. He supported the construction of a network of bomb shelters and called on states to draft plans for the evacuation of millions of citizens from major U.S. metropolitan areas if a nuclear attack appeared to be imminent.
I volunteered to look into the issue of evacuating Seattle for the Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1982. The idea was to have most of the citizens of Seattle flee over the mountains to communities in Central Washington in a three day period. Reviewing the probable flow of traffic to Central Washington, it was obvious that within twelve hours, all of the major arterials out of Seattle would be impassable due to accidents and breakdowns. I estimated that the proposed evacuation would take at least three weeks instead of the called for three days.
John Spellman, the governor of the state of Washington between 1981 and 1985, rejected the call for evacuation plans in spite of the threat by the Reagan administration to withhold some federal funding from Washington State if evacuation plans were not drawn up. The governor, backed by the state legislators, refused to draw up the evacuation plans demanded by the Reagan administration. The governor said that such plans would an exercise in futility and that the federal government could keep their money.
In 1983, a bill (RCW 38.52.030) was passed by the Washington State legislature that said, “The comprehensive, all-hazard emergency plan authorized under this subsection may not include preparation for emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear attack.”
Although the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia inherited their nuclear arsenal and their fear of a nuclear war with the U.S. Relations have been deteriorating between the U.S. and Russia and we are closer to an all-out nuclear war than we have been since the height of the Cold War.
Now North Korea is working on the development of miniature nuclear warheads and ICBMs to carry them. Analysts say that N.K. may achieve these goals within a few years. North Korea has repeatedly threatened to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons. The first U.S. cities that would be vulnerable to such an attack would be cities in Hawaii, Alaska and on the West Coast including Seattle.
While it would be wise for emergency planners to consider measures to deal with a nuclear attack on the Seattle area, the idea of an evacuation of Seattle in three days is still ridiculous and the provisions of the state law prohibiting evacuation planning are still valid. The population has Seattle has grown from about two million in 1980 to over three and a half million today. There has not been a comparable growth in major roads leading out of the Seattle metropolitan area. Any attempt to evacuate the city would take more than the three weeks I projected in 1982.
Seattle:
The UK’s newest fusion reactor has been turned on for the first time and has officially achieved first plasma. The reactor aims to produce a record-breaking plasma temperature of 100 million degrees for a privately-funded venture. This is seven times hotter than the centre of the Sun and the temperature necessary for controlled fusion. World-nuclear-news.org
The Chinese nuclear developer behind three of the UK’s planned new nuclear power plants has warned that Brexit has cast doubt over the nuclear cooperation between China, France and Britain. Telegraph.co.uk
