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.
Energoatom gets backing for new nuclear fuel facility world-nuclear-news.org
Canada could join Aukus defense pact as Trudeau considers nuclear sub patrols in Arctic waters telegraph.co.uk
IAEA head and Romanian foreign minister discuss danger at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Pravda.com.au
Uranium mined near Grand Canyon as prices soar amid push for nuclear power coloradopolitics.com
Ambient office = 65 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 104 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 103 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 100 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 95 nanosieverts per hour
The Swiss government does not want to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It believes participation within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is more effective.
The government said that change of strategy at the present time is not advisable for several reasons. Ministers explained that joining the TPNW was not in Switzerland’s best interests in the current geopolitical climate. A new war in Europe has once again brought security policy to the fore.
Furthermore, the government considers the TPNW to be of little import since it is not recognized by existing nuclear powers. Almost all Western and European countries do not participate. The Federal Council said, “A world without nuclear weapons can only be achieved with and not against states with nuclear weapons”.
The TPNW came into force in 2021 and contains a comprehensive and explicit ban on nuclear weapons. It prohibits the use, threat of use, production, stockpiling, acquisition, possession, deployment, transfer and testing of nuclear weapons as well as support for these activities.
To date, the TPNW has been ratified by 70 states. However, it has not been signed by those nations with nuclear weapons and their allies. The Swiss government has already rejected the idea of acceding in 2018 and 2019. Its latest assessment of the TPNW was based on an analysis by an interdepartmental working group and assessments by external experts.
According to the government, the rejection of TPNW accession does not mean that Switzerland will remain passive. It says that “the use of nuclear weapons would hardly be compatible with international humanitarian law.” Ten days ago, Switzerland made its position clear in the UN Security Council. It declared that there would be no winners of a nuclear war, which should never be allowed to happen.
In its Foreign Policy Strategy 2024-2027, the government spoke in favor of a world free of nuclear weapons. It said that Switzerland will continue to demand that the states concerned fulfil their disarmament obligations.
Switzerland has also been a member of the NPT since 1977, which was signed by 191 member states. These signatories include nuclear powers such as USA, Russia, China, France and the UK. The NPT is considered to be the cornerstone of nuclear arms control and the global security architecture.
According to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) from 2023, nine states possess nuclear weapons. Russia has the most warheads with five thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, followed by the USA with five thousand two hundred and forty-four, then China with four hundred and ten.
In Europe, France and the UK have two hundred and ninety and two hundred and twenty-five warheads, respectively. They are followed by Pakistan with one hundred and seventy and India with one hundred and sixty-four. Israel is believed to have ninety warheads and North Korea has thirty. SIPRI puts the total global nuclear arsenal at 12,512 warheads.
The question of how the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons can be realized is the subject of controversial domestic political debate in Switzerland. Five years ago, the Swiss parliament called on the government to sign the TPNW as quickly as possible and then submit it to parliamentarians for approval. By ratifying it, Switzerland would show a clear commitment to international humanitarian law and the values associated with it.
The further delay in the decision on the ratification of the treaty is unlikely to satisfy many. In November of 2023, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) launched a people’s initiative to join the TPNW. The Group for a Switzerland without an Army (GSoA) has also announced that it intends to join the NGO alliance.
Small nuclear reactors fuel Woodlands County public hearing townandcountrytoday.com
Russia alleges Ukrainian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, no serious damage arabnews.com
New British nuclear technology applies for justification decision power-technology.com
PSEG tells NRC it plans on renewing licenses for three South Jersey nuclear plants njspotlightnews.org
Ambient office = 74 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 118 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 115 nanosieverts per hour
Asparagus from Central Market = 91 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 116 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 108 nanosieverts per hour
Second union votes for strike action at nuclear site bbc.com
New-generation nuclear power plant begins heat supply in east China English.news.cn
LIS Technologies Inc. Establishes Corporate Affiliation with the Nuclear Institute globenewswire.com
St. Louis-area residents make plea for compensation for illnesses tied to nuclear contamination goskagit.com
Ambient office = 69 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 148 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 143 nanosieverts per hour
Banana from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 122 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 112 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient office = 86 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 130 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 134 nanosieverts per hour
Avocado from Central Market = 56 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 113 nanosieverts per hour
Funds awarded to assist Xe-100 deployment in the UK world-nuclear-news.org
Organization for maritime nuclear launched world-nuclear-news.org
Bangladesh considering two more nuclear units at Rooppur world-nuclear-news.com
Rosatom and the government of Primorsky Krai on the Pacific Coast of Russia have signed an agreement for a feasibility study and location options for floating nuclear power units off its coast.
The agreement was signed at the Atomexpo 2024 event in Sochi. It aims to produce reliable and carbon-free electricity in the region, which borders China and North Korea and is about 250 miles west of Japan.
Rosatom said the agreement will also include the financial, economic, legal and technical aspects necessary for a prospective project, as well as how it would be organized. It is estimated by the country’s Unified Energy System operator that the Far Eastern region of Russia will need at least one billion three hundred and fifty megawatts of power by 2030.
Andrei Leontyev is the Minister of Energy and Gas Supply of the Primorsky Territory. He said, “Initially, we see the need for four floating power units to eliminate the energy shortage in the south … in addition to small-scale nuclear energy, we also consider it necessary to create a nuclear power plant with two 600 MW units in the medium term for the development of our region.”
Andrey Nikipelov is the Rosatom Deputy Director General for Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Solutions. He said, “Small-scale nuclear power is a modern green way of stable energy supply with energy costs projected for decades … floating power units with their mobility and scalability are a doubly flexible solution not only to cover the current needs of a region with actively developing industry and infrastructure, but also new opportunities that will further expand the economic potential of the region and provide better living conditions for people.”
Rosatom has developed floating nuclear power plants based on the RITM-200 reactor. This reactor has been used on Russia’s new fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Construction has begun for units to supply the Baimsky Mining and Processing Plant, with “dozens of countries and region” showing an interest. It says that there is a need for up to fifteen floating nuclear power units for Russia’s Arctic zone.
Russia already has one floating nuclear power plant named the Akademik Lomonosov (AL). The AL is currently stationed at Pevek where it supplies heat and power to the town. Two KLT-40S reactors generating thirty-five megawatts each are supplying the power. The KLT-40S are similar to those used in a previous generation of nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Rosatom also signed an agreement with Russia’s TSS Group at the Atomexpo forum. The agreement spelled out terms for the formation of a joint venture for the construction and operation of floating nuclear power units for foreign markets.
The floating power plants will contain RITM-200 reactors and have a capacity of one hundred megawatts and a service life of at least sixty years.
Sergei Velichko is the Chairman of TSS Group. He said, “Floating power units are an effective solution to the problems of current and future energy shortages in regions with rapidly developing economies … we see high demand for a stable and green source of energy in almost all countries in Africa and the Middle East … we believe that the largest sovereign funds will be serious drivers of investment in this technology.”
