Category Archives: Meetings

ANS’s Loewen visits local sections

Posted on February 20, 2012 by pbowersox| 1 Comment

Eric Loewen, president of the American Nuclear Society, kept up his rapid pace last week as he visited the ANS local section in Aiken, S.C., on February 15, and the one in Charlotte, N.C., on February 16. Loewen, as the featured speaker at the meetings of the two sections, presented his personal talk titled “Plutonium: Promise or Peril”.

During the morning on the 15th, Loewen toured the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility on the Savannah River Site, in South Carolina. The facility,which is being built by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, will convert surplus nuclear weapon-grade plutonium into reactor fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants starting in 2016. Under a 2000 agreement, the United States and Russia will dispose of 68 metric tons of surplus plutonium, enough material for many thousands of nuclear weapons (see Shaw Areva MOX Services for more info).

Later on the 15th, Loewen was hosted by Stephen Sheetz of the Savannah River National Laboratory for a tour of the lab and other facilities on the Savannah River Site.

At the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility: Zachary Kosslow (ANS), Amanda Bryson (Shaw Areva MOX Services), Eric Loewen (ANS-president), and Kevin Hall (NNSA).

 

NNSA-MOX Federal Project Director Clay Ramsey illustrates with ANS's Loewen how a fuel pellet boat will be used in the MOX fuel fabrication process.

The dinner meeting that featured Loewen on the 15th was attended by about 160 people. The dinner was hosted by Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, in cooperation with ANS. “Dr. Loewen’s presentation was very well received by all in attendance,” said Amanda Bryson, chair of the Savannah River ANS local section. “The event brought together professionals at all stages of their careers from all over the Central Savannah River Area, representing many facets of the nuclear industry in the area. This was one of the best-attended events for ANS–Savannah River in the past year, and provided the opportunity for lively and thought-provoking interaction among our membership and the membership of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. It was a pleasure and a privilege to have Dr. Loewen visit.”

The next day, in Charlotte,  Loewen was interviewed on WFAE NPR Radio Charlotte. Click the “Listen” button at the WFAE webpage to tune in to the interview via the Comments page, or tune in to the interview directly.

Dr. Clint Wolfe (Exec. Dir. CNTA), Dr. Loewen, Karen Bonavita (CNTA)

“Dr. Loewen had over 100 attentive local section members as an audience,” said Thomas Doering, chair of the Piedmont-Carolinas ANS local section, regarding Loewen’s talk in Charlotte on the 16th. “The Peidmont-Carolinas section historically has drawn nearly 100 local members for over two years; the greater Charlotte area is considered the energy capital of the nation. Dr. Loewen’s talk focused on the misconceptions of plutonium and how other energy sources suffered from a similar beginning.”

When asked about his trip, Loewen said, “I’m just so impressed with the vibrancy and vitality of these sections. They really are greater than the sum of their parts, and their parts are pretty great.”

Carolinas Section Officers James Bakke, Thomas Doering - chair, ANS President Loewen, Myron Koblansky, Andrew Sowder.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Department of Energy, Local Sections, Meetings, MOX Fuel, NASA, National Laboratories, News, Nuclear Energy Narrative, plutonium, spent fuel

ANS banner, donations support Fukushima workers

Posted on January 31, 2012 by pbowersox| Comments Off

A banner signed by American Nuclear Society members during the society’s Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, signifies the support and encouragement of ANS membership for the people of Japan and the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant who are rebuilding after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

In a letter to Eric Loewen, ANS president (page 1) (page 2), Tokyo Electric Power Company president Toshio Nishizawa thanked ANS for the banner and noted that donations totaling $240,000 have been collected through the ANS Japan Relief Fund to support the workers at the plant and their families. Nishizawa also noted that in December the Fukushima Daiichi plant was brought to a condition equivalent to “cold shutdown” and that it “entered into a new phase of mid- and long-term Roadmap for decommissioning of the reactors.”

Fukushima plant workers with ANS banner

 

Loewen said during the Winter Meeting, “We continue to honor the brave men and women of the Japanese nuclear community who are committed to the clean-up and rebuilding efforts after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We want them to know that we recognize their dedication and hard work. To do this, we created a banner to be signed by meeting attendees who can personally send encouragement and best wishes to demonstrate our continued support. Our Japanese colleagues know they are remembered through our financial support and the banner message.”

 

Banner message in English and Japanese

 

At the 2011 ANS Winter Meeting: President Eric P. Loewen and Vice-President Michael Corradini. Flanking the ANS officers are Loewen’s son and daughter, Hans and Zatha

 

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Earthquake, Fukushima, Meetings, Natural disasters

Today is National Nuclear Science Day!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lscheele| Comments Off

Today is National Nuclear Science Day, an event celebrating nuclear science and technology. The American Nuclear Society is proud to be a sponsor of this full-day event at the Illinois Institute of Technology that features world-class nuclear experts in many fields of nuclear science and technology. The experts, during presentations during the day, are explaining what nuclear is all about during live internet webinars and question-and-answer sessions for students in grades 5-12 (and other interested parties).

You can register for the webinars by visiting the National Science Teachers Association Learning Center—a great all-around resource for science learning). The webinar is open to the public (free registration is required).

For details on the Nuclear Science Day agenda, the presenters, and all the day’s information, check out the Nuclear Science Day Press Release. About 1,000 classrooms are viewing the webcast throughout the day—representing more than 20,000 students and teachers across the United States.

Loewen

ANS President Eric Loewen spoke to students from six area high schools about nuclear careers. His presentation began at 1:00 pm Central Time and was  live-tweeted at ans_org using the twitter hashtag #NNSW12.

Don’t forget to check back at the ANS Nuclear Cafe for live reports!

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Education, lessons learned, Meetings, National Nuclear Science Week, Nuclear Advocacy Network, Nuclear Energy Narrative, Nuclear Literacy Project

Nuclear News and the new year

Posted on January 17, 2012 by rmichal| Comments Off

The January issue of Nuclear News magazine is available in hard copy and electronically for American Nuclear Society members (must enter ANS user name and password in Member Center). The issue contains the following stories:

  • The year ahead: This time for sure? by E. Michael Blake
  • 2012 Preview: Impact of Fukushima Daiichi on global prospects for nuclear, by Dick Kovan
  • 10-year D&D program under way at Zion plant, by Rick Michal
  • The index to 2011 Nuclear News content

There is also an in-depth report on the 2011 ANS Winter Meeting, along with side coverage of two topicals at the meeting: the first ANS Small Modular Reactor conference, and the Young Professionals Congress 2011 meeting.

Other news in the January issue:  NRC commissioner Jaczko votes to publish AP1000 certification final rule; revised emergency plan rule published in final form; study sees potential for small modular reactors to compete with gas-fired generation; is yellow inspection finding at Oconee an old design issue? Davis-Besse restart allowed while concrete studies continue; special inspection at Brunswick; NRC takes no significant action on four petitions; a status report on license renewal and power uprates; Fukushima-related motions in licensing proceedings continue to be denied; Levy site tour, limited statements scheduled; power reactor stress tests in the European Union said to be on track; European Union proposes additional €500 million to close Soviet-era reactors; fuel loading begins at Canada’s long-idled Bruce-1; Vietnam’s pact with Japan upheld, and new pact made with South Korea; three sites on short list for Poland’s first nuclear plant; United Kingdom chooses reuse as MOX to manage plutonium stock; nuclear research center opens in West Cumbria; and much more.

Past issues of Nuclear News are available here.

______________________

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Posted in accident, American Nuclear Society, Department of Energy, Earthquake, Education, engineering, Environmental Benefits of Nuclear, Fukushima, IAEA, knowledge transfer, lessons learned, Meetings, Natural disasters, News, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Literacy Project, Nuclear News, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, PWRs, reactor designs, Small modular reactors, spent fuel, Vietnam

ANS Students and Young Professionals Visit Capitol Hill

Posted on November 22, 2011 by pbowersox| 1 Comment

By Lenka Kollar

During the American Nuclear Society’s 2011 Winter Meeting in November, about 90 ANS members visited lawmakers to promote nuclear energy and technology as part of the ANS/Young Professionals Congress visit to Capitol Hill. As a student at Purdue University, which is located in Indiana, I met with legislative assistants from the offices of Indiana senators Richard Lugar (R.) and Dan Coats (R.) and Congressman Todd Rokita (R.).

Jeff Terry, a physics professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and a resident of northwest Indiana, joined me at these meetings.

Lugar

During the meetings, we discussed the importance of nuclear energy and technology in America’s future, and how continued funding for a few key programs would make a large impact. I highlighted the importance of nuclear engineering student programs in providing a future workforce in the nuclear field. Specifically, funding has been unstable for the Integrated University Program (IUP), which provides scholarships and fellowships through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. As chair of the Advanced Test Reactor Users Organization, Terry stressed the importance of an adequate and stable funding base for the ATR so that more universities, such as Purdue, could become partner organizations.

Coats

The legislative assistants in each lawmaker’s office were very receptive to talking about our issues. These Indiana lawmakers have been traditionally pro-nuclear and supportive of science and technology funding. Still, it was important for us to visit them and further promote nuclear energy and technology so that they will keep us in mind for future legislative decisions.

This visit to the Hill was not my first. For the past three years, I’ve been involved in the Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation, which is a group of students that travels to Washington every summer to advocate for nuclear engineering education. Through this experience, I was able to bring up nuclear issues as a constituent of Indiana and Florida (where I grew up) and form relationships with the legislative assistants. I now serve as a resource for them when it comes to nuclear energy and education legislation.

Rokita

Students and professionals both should become more involved in policymaking by simply reaching out to their legislators. The first time that I advocated on the Hill, it surprised me how easy it was and how willing my representatives were to listen to me. We elect our lawmakers, and thus they have a stake in addressing our concerns, especially when they affect the home district or state. For example, in my congressional meetings, I stressed that cutting the IUP in fiscal year 2011 directly affected me and the state of Indiana, because I had applied for funding and was unable to get it. When talking to policymakers, be sure to stick to the point, leave out the technical details, and relate to issues at home. Also remember that you represent yourself, and not your institution.

Reaching out to your representative is easy; simply visit their office, write them a letter, or give them a call. You can find out who your lawmakers are on the House and Senate websites, and all of them have offices in both their home state/district and in Washington, D.C. Also, be sure to visit the ANS and Nuclear Energy Institute websites for information and position statements on current issues.

_____________

Lenka  Kollar is a master’s student in nuclear engineering at Purdue University. She has been involved in Purdue’s ANS student chapter since 2006, and has been a national ANS member since 2009. At Purdue, Lenka established an extensive local nuclear science outreach program, including visits to high schools and a teacher workshop. She is also a member of the ANS Student Sections Committee. Lenka plans to graduate in May 2012 and is looking to start a career in nuclear energy policy and communications, preferably in the Chicago area.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Meetings, News, U.S. Congress, Young Members Group

Young nuclear professionals visit Capitol Hill

Posted on November 21, 2011 by pbowersox| Comments Off

One of the most exciting and important events at the American Nuclear Society’s Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, this year was the ”Capitol Hill Day” visit held on November 4.  This event allowed society members the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill to meet with congress persons and staffs, and to offer unique expertise as the world’s foremost experts in nuclear technologies.

Piercy

“This year, a new standard of success was set for future Capitol Hill Day visits,” said Craig Piercy, ANS Washington representative. “About 90 members participated, visiting congress persons and their staffs from 22 states and the District of Columbia. Given the events in Japan [beginning last March], it’s more important now than ever to have ANS members willing to engage their senators and representatives as sources of the most accurate and reliable information and expertise.”

Capitol Hill Day participants gather for an orientation session.

The event was the penultimate session of the highly successful ANS/NA-YGN Young Professionals Congress. “The central purpose of the Young Professionals Congress is to help prepare for the future of the nuclear industry,” said Peter Caracappa, general chair. “The Capitol Hill Day visit serves to remind policy makers that the nuclear industry has a future, and an important one, in this country.”

Mimi Limbach (Potomac Communications) hosts the Public Information Workshop panel on communicating with policy makers. Seated are Jarrett Adams, AREVA, and Craig Piercy, ANS DC rep.

“One objective of the ANS Young Members Group includes facilitating young professionals’ involvement in the society’s work and in the nuclear community,” said Jennifer Varnedoe, chair of the ANS Young Members Group. “The YPC Capitol Hill visit gave young professionals the opportunity to educate lawmakers, express our passion for nuclear science and technology to them, and network with both young professionals and more experienced members of the society.”

Varnedoe

Varnedoe continued, “In my group alone, we had three young professionals and two more experienced members. Each of us represented different areas of expertise, but combining our efforts toward one common goal we were able to convey our sincere belief that nuclear science and technology holds the answers to many challenges facing America, including energy supply, food safety, medical applications, and many other areas.”

ANS President Eric Loewen said, “As a former ANS Congressional Fellow, I can attest to how vital it is that ANS Young Members engage their elected representatives on nuclear science and technology issues. A successful future of progress in nuclear science and technology truly depends on it.”

Scheele

Feedback from participants in the ANS/YPC 2011 Capitol Hill Day visit has been uniformly positive and enthusiastic. “Many people worked behind the scenes for the Young Members Group and ANS to make sure this event ran smoothly,” said Laura Scheele, ANS Communications Manager.  “A big ‘thank-you’ is in order to all the participants and everyone who contributed to making this event a success!”

For more coverage, visit NA-YGN’s  Clean Energy Insights blog, and be sure to visit the ANS Nuclear Cafe tomorrow for a first-hand perspective on Capitol Hill Day 2011!

________________

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Meetings, News, U.S. Congress, Young Members Group

Two members named ANS Fellows

Posted on November 6, 2011 by pbowersox| Comments Off

Two members of the American Nuclear Society were named ANS Fellows on November 1 at the ANS Annual Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo. These awards were presented by ANS President Eric Loewen in recognition of the Fellows’ significant contributions and achievements to nuclear science and technology.

The new ANS Fellows are:

Chin

Bryan Allen Chin, for his outstanding contributions in the development of theories to describe the welding of highly irradiated materials and mechanisms of irradiation effects on fatigue, creep and swelling of in-core materials.

 

 

Petti

David A. Petti, for his exceptional leadership in the development and demonstration of advanced fuels and materials for fission and fusion systems; in particular, the very successful re-engineering, re-establishment of industrial fabrication capability, and irradiation testing and demonstration of high burnup particle fuels for High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors.

The honored membership grade of ANS Fellow is awarded to Society members for outstanding accomplishment in any one of the areas of nuclear science and engineering. These two new ANS Fellows will be listed with their peers on the ANS Web site.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Fellows, Honors & Awards, Meetings, News, Radiation, reactor designs

Earthquake and tsunami signature banner

Posted on November 2, 2011 by pbowersox| 2 Comments

American Nuclear Society President Eric Loewen and ANS Vice-President/President-Elect Michael Corradini were on the Times Square Jumbotron in New York City with a banner signed by ANS members at the 2011 winter meeting. The banner expresses the support and encouragement of the ANS membership for the people of Japan as they continue to rebuild after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. Flanking the ANS officers are Loewen’s son and daughter, Hans and Zatha.

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Posted in accident, American Nuclear Society, Earthquake, Fukushima, Meetings, Natural disasters, News, Nuclear events, Radiation

Hall Talk – Licensing the Integral Fast Reactor design

Posted on November 2, 2011 by dyurman| 1 Comment

Our intrepid reporter files another update from the ANS Winter Meeting.

By Dan Yurman

Closing regulatory gaps for sodium fast reactors

Argonne West at the Idaho National Laboratory on the Arco desert

Anyone who thinks the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) died in the 1990s needs to think again. At a panel on Tuesday, November 1, at the ANS Winter Meeting, a group of senior scientists and engineers who have worked on the technology gathered to assess the results of more than two years of work. Their task was to look at the databases about the IFR and determine what gaps exist that would need to be closed to license a sodium cooled fast reactor in the United States.

This is not an academic exercise, as there are multiple commercial efforts to build small modular fast nuclear reactors for sale in this country and overseas. The work group assembled information on the state of knowledge about safety analysis for licensing issues such as leaks, fires, and other events under various scenarios including loss of external power and seismic events.

John Sackett

John Sackett, who was a manager for the IFR at the Idaho National Laboratory, said that the objective is to find gaps relative to the licensing process. Mike Corradini, one of the members of the team, said that, for instance, one of the areas of concern is how reactor systems would respond if there was damage to the primary heat exchange loop when using a CO2 based super critical system.

Sackett said that the interest in sodium cooled fast reactors is based on their passive safety features.

“What we know now is that there are no technical gaps that would preclude a licensing application if using known technology. Gaps might arise if a developer chooses to use a new fuel which would need testing. That process could be completed faster if simulation and modeling tools could be brought to bear on the problem,” said Sackett.

Sackett also said that most of the people who worked on the IFR are at or beyond retirement age.

“There is a risk that first-hand knowledge of the data about the technology will be lost,” he said.

Another challenge is that quality assurance information for existing databases about the IFR would need to be reviewed to include it in a licensing review.

So, who wants to build one? Sackett noted there are four leading developers—Terrapower, Toshiba, General Electric, and the ARC100.

Leon Walters, who worked with Sackett on the IFR as the fuels manager, said that the ARC100 is being looked at by Morocco for possible use to power reverse-osmosis desalinization plants.

A licensing engineer from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sitting in on the session noted that General Electric submitted a licensing plan for its PRISM technology, but that there is no active review of that plan nor of any other non-LWR technology at the agency at this time. Executives from GE briefed Congress on the technology in June 2009.

Last June, a spokesman for Terrapower told the New York Times that the company was talking with potential partners to build a prototype in multiple countries, but that it had no plans to license the design in the United States.

For copies of the reports on the IFR gap analysis work, contact:

Matthew Denman, Ph.D.
Senior Member of the Technical Staff,
Risk and Reliability Analysis Department
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O. Box 5800, MS 1141
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0748

Email: mrdenma@sandia.gov
Phone:  (505)284-9988
Mobile:  (617)999-2848
Fax:  (505)844-2829

# # #

Yurman

Dan Yurman publishes Idaho Samizdat, a blog about nuclear energy and is a frequent contributor to ANS Nuclear Cafe.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Department of Energy, integral fast reactor, Meetings, National Laboratories, News, reactor designs, Small modular reactors

Hall Talk Nov 1 – social media

Posted on November 2, 2011 by dyurman| Comments Off

Our intrepid reporter files another update from the ANS Winter Meeting.

By Dan Yurman

Social media session draws 55 nukes

Social media meet up poster

Getting the message out about nuclear energy using blogs, Twitter, and other forms of social media drew an enthusiastic crowd on Tuesday night, November 1. In a session co-sponsored by the American Nuclear Society, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and Areva, the group held a round table discussion about using social media tools to communicate with the public, thought and opinion leaders, and the news media.

It is not just the same online stuff you read about in USA Today. There are exciting new developments coming on tablets and real time interactive video on the web.

Curtis Roberts, who now leads the social media work for Areva in the United States, told the group, “We are committed to using social media to shape the conversation about nuclear energy.”

Jarrett Adams from Areva showed off a social media application for mobile devices that will be released soon and handed out a printed sheet of QR codes to help people access all forms of Areva’s social media online and sources of information via smart phones.

Eric McErlain, who is the senior manager at NEI for social media, said that the power of social media is in distributed networks of people who do not let anti-nuclear nonsense go unanswered.

“Use social media to get in there and make yourself heard,” McErlain said.

The round robin discussion that took place over the next 90 minutes covered a lot of topics. Here are a few highlights.

Lars Hanson, a member of the ANS social media listserv, raised the topic of commenting online when the mainstream media publishes articles that contain inaccurate information. Numerous suggestions were offered about how to use the comment fields effectively to get accurate information across about nuclear science and engineering topics.

Miriam Mazer, an intern at Fuel Cycle Week, said that as someone who is new to the industry, she sees a need for nukes to make the technical terminology accessible. Andrea Jennetta, the publisher at Fuel Cycle Week, said that “facts don’t always work because people are emotional about the risks of radiation exposure even when there is no risk.”

Margaret Harding, a former General Electric nuclear energy executive with more than three decades of experience in the area of nuclear fuels, suggested that people read the book Don’t Be Such a Scientist.

Here’s a clip from the book …

“In 1997, marine biologist Randy Olson recognized that scientists needed better communications skills to address a growing backlash against ‘rational data-based science.’ Inspired by the ‘power of video,’ Olson gave up a tenured professorship and went to Hollywood to reach a broader audience through filmmaking. The crucial lesson he learned was how to tell a good story, a largely absent concern for scientists, who focus on accuracy rather than audience engagement.”

Dave Pointer, the chairman of the ANS Public Information Committee, told the group that ANS plans to do more projects like the recent webinar with the NRC, which had an interactive component through the Internet.

Art Wharton, who is working on the new ANS Strategic Plan, said that the use of social media will continue to play a role in future society outreach to the public, the news media, and K-12 education.

This was the fourth social media meet up held at ANS national meetings.  The conversation continues online at the ANS social media listserv and the ANS Nuclear Cafe blog. For more information, contact Laura Scheele, ANS manager of Policy & Communication, via email:  lscheele [at] ans.org

_____________

Yurman

Dan Yurman publishes Idaho Samizdat, a blog about nuclear energy and is a frequent contributor to ANS Nuclear Cafe.

 

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Education, general media, knowledge transfer, lessons learned, Meetings, News, Nuclear Advocacy Network, Nuclear Energy Narrative, Nuclear events, Nuclear Literacy Project, nuclear opponents, Publications, Social Media

Hall Talk – Nov 1

Posted on November 1, 2011 by dyurman| Comments Off

Our intrepid reporter files another update from the ANS Winter Meeting.

By Dan Yurman

Vermont – Do you know where your electricity comes from?

Power for electric cars comes from where?

At the ANS Green Bag lunch on Monday, Howard Shaffer, PE, of the ANS Vermont Pilot Project, recounted a story of how advocates for the electric car brought one to an anti-nuclear rally in Vermont. Painted on the side in bright letters was the slogan “no nukes.”

Asked if the owner had any sense of the irony that the electricity that charged the car probably came from a carbon emission-free source—namely Vermont Yankee—Shaffer said no.

Granola power!

Shaffer added that anti-nuclear sentiment in Vermont runs much deeper than other places because it is linked to a unique blend of lifestyle politics. Some people in Vermont hold post-industrial Utopian visions of a future society that is decidedly low tech, powered by windmills and solar energy.

Granola is not a usable fuel for fossil or nuclear power plants

People who have a strong hold on these views are aligned with more mainstream green groups. These groups have a broad political base augmented with funding from national organizations.

This is a potent mix that has opposed the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee reactor and which now forms a visible chunk of Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin’s political base. Shumlin has been a leader of the anti-nuclear movement in Vermont, making closure of the plant a central plank of his successful campaign for the governor’s chair.

Green groups are particular rankled by the decision of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating license for Vermont Yankee.

A participant in the ANS Green Bag lunch said in response, “The granola culture is very influential, but they have a lack of reality about where their electricity comes from.”

It would seem so.

#  # #

Yurman

Dan Yurman publishes Idaho Samizdat, a blog about nuclear energy and is a frequent contributor to ANS Nuclear Cafe.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Education, electric cars, Honors & Awards, knowledge transfer, Meetings, News, nuclear opponents, View from Vermont

Hall Talk – Monday Oct 31

Posted on November 1, 2011 by dyurman| 2 Comments

Our intrepid reporter files another update from the ANS Winter Meeting.

By Dan Yurman

What does the news media want from nukes?

We spend a lot of time as nuclear professionals, especially since Fukushima, worrying about how to communicate with the press. We know from painful past experiences that sharing technical data with a general assignment reporter sometimes produces unintended results. But what about the reporter’s point of view? What does a journalist want from a nuke?

Matt Wald, New York Times reporter, at ANS Winter Meeting 2011

ANS Nuclear Cafe asked that question of Matt Wald, a reporter at the New York Times. Wald, who was a panel speaker in a forum on communications, took a few minutes afterward to ponder the issue.

He said that when there is an event at a reactor, he wants to go there, see it, and talk directly with plant staff. He cited two recent examples where that approach worked out well.

The first was a site visit to the Ft. Calhoun site, in Nebraska, while the Missouri River was at flood stage last July. The second was at the North Anna reactor, in Virginia, following the August 3 East Coast earthquake.

In both cases, Wald said, “It was helpful to see as much as possible and to talk to engineering staff, to ask them questions directly. It is best to be able to see things first hand.”

So there you have it. The utilities that own and operate these plants could have gone the usual route of having their public information staffs do the talking. Instead, they opted for transparency and earned excellent media coverage as a result. It’s food for thought for future interactions with the media.

What works in Vermont?

Howard Shaffer displays a pro-nuclear t-shirt at the ANS Green Bag lunch on Oct 31, 2011

Howard Shaffer, PE, and Meredith Angwin, who blogs at Yes Vermont Yankee, shared some thoughts about pro-nuclear activism at an informal “Green Bag” lunch.  ANS Outreach has worked with them and the ANS New England Section for over a year providing nuclear information and educational materials to try to dispel myths about nuclear energy. The focus of all this attention is the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Shaffer and Angwin said that one one of the most important things they’ve learned is the power of positive demonstrations. On October 23, they and others held a pro-nuclear rally at the gates of the plant to show support for plant workers at shift change.

“The media covers rallies because they are visible,” Shaffer said.

His advice for others who want to pursue pro-nuclear activism in their communities is to build networks of volunteers, link to affinity groups including elected officials, and reach out to others who are pro-nuclear and are looking for a way to express those views.

Angwin pointed out that “people want a third party to explain nuclear issues without bringing along hysterical fear about it.”

She emphasized the need to use “home-grown material” rather than canned stuff from national groups, though she also said that getting correct technical information from them is an important first step.

“All politics are local,” Shaffer said, “and that’s why a focus on the community is so important.”

Coming up Tuesday November 1

Mark your calendars

  • ANS releases report of the Special Committee on Fukushima (early March 2012)

ANS 2011 Twitter Hashtag

  • Tweet #ans11 for conference news

# # #

Yurman

Dan Yurman publishes Idaho Samizdat, a blog about nuclear energy and is a frequent contributor to ANS Nuclear Cafe.

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Posted in accident, American Nuclear Society, Earthquake, Education, general media, knowledge transfer, Local Sections, Meetings, Natural disasters, News, Nuclear Energy Narrative, Nuclear events, Nuclear Literacy Project, PI Spotlight, Social Media

Hall Talk at ANS Winter Meeting – Sunday

Posted on October 30, 2011 by dyurman| Comments Off

By Dan Yurman

Snow day

Your reporter has been tramping around chilly Washington, DC, beset by an unseasonable early snow storm on Saturday. At the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, aptly named this year, I’m collecting observations, rumors, and raw random data, throwing out the rumors and keeping the rest to post here. This will be a daily feature through Wednesday of this week.

Don’t forget the Twitter hash tag for the conference is #ans11. Post something to Twitter with it and it could wind up here!

India section draws attention from nuclear luminaries

Cory McDaniel, head of the ANS India Section, notes that a recent meeting in Mumbai, attended by ANS President Eric Loewen, drew four of India’s leading nuclear figures including Anil Kakokadar, former head of India’s Atomic Energy Commission. Dr. S. Banerjee, the current head of the same agency, R.K. Sinha, director of a major nuclear R&D laboratory and VP of the ANS India Society, and S.K. Jain, chairman of NPCIL.

We’ll have more information about that meeting in a video interview on the ANS YouTube channel soon.

Focus on Communication on Monday, Wednesday

Mimi Limbach of Potomac Communications reminds readers that there are three sessions on communications with the public, two are on Monday and one on Wednesday.

  • Meet the Media, on Monday, Oct. 31, at 2:30 p.m., will feature New York Times reporter Matt Wald, whose work leads media coverage of nuclear energy; Platts’ editorial director of energy policy and host of Platt’s Energy Week, Bill Loveless, who supervises Platts’ Washington office and edits Inside Energy; and The Energy Daily’s Jeff Beattie, who covers the commercial energy industry for this important publication. They’ll each have a few things to say about journalism and then they’ll take your questions. It’s in the Forum Room.
  • Communicating with Policy Makers, on Monday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m., has a terrific panel: Matt Bennett, senior vice president and founder of Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank that supports nuclear energy; Annie Caputo, who is on the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and who is well known for her work with the commercial nuclear energy industry; Jon Epstein, who is senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he oversees the DOE and research issues for the committee; Dale Klein, former NRC chairman, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs, and vice chancellor for special engineering programs at the University of Texas; and Mike Corradini, University of Wisconsin professor of Nuclear Engineering and ANS vice president and president elect. Mike and Dale will be leading a discussion on the ANS’s special task force on Fukushima. Each of the panelists will share their insights and then they’ll take your questions. This session also is in the Forum Room.
  • Focus on Communications: Building Support for Nuclear Energy with Policy Makers, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4:30 p.m. will feature beer, wine, and snacks, courtesy of Areva. In this session, ANS Washington rep Craig Piercy and I will discuss the politics of nuclear energy and their implications for how best to communicate with policy makers. We’ll also hold an open forum on actions that ANS should take going forward. This session is in the Hampton Ballroom. It is being held in conjunction with the  Young Professional Congress.

Idaho on an iPad

The Idaho National Laboratory has a new mobile application that displays information about lab programs and capabilities on smart phones and mobile devices. Think of it as the Idaho lab on an iPad or iPhone or any mobile device that can read a QR code.

Point your smartphone camera at this QR code to access the application.

Point your device at:  nuclearapp.inl.gov and lock on to the QR code there for free access.  No registration is required to get a stunning visual tour and catalog of capabilities of what’s going on at the DOE lab. The site can also be seen on a laptop or desktop using the Google Chrome web browser.

That’s it for tonight. More Monday.

_____________

Yurman

Dan Yurman publishes Idaho Samizdat, a blog about nuclear energy and is a frequent contributor to ANS Nuclear Cafe.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Department of Energy, Education, Meetings, News, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Young Members Group

The ANS Young Professionals Congress 2011 – follow on Twitter!

Posted on October 29, 2011 by pbowersox| Comments Off

By Peter Caracappa

 We are just a few days away from the 2011 Young Professionals Congress, taking place during the ANS Winter Meeting next week in Washington, DC. We have many exciting and informative sessions scheduled for the meeting—informational sessions on important current topics, workshops, and interactive skills sessions (to find out more, see Nuclear Cafe posts 9-21 and  8-30).

We will open with a bang on Monday afternoon at the YPC plenary, and sessions will run all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday evening will feature the YPC social, and Thursday will include a visit to the Hill with representatives in the US Congress (for those that signed up at pre-registration).

We hope that those attending the ANS winter meeting will be able to participate in many of the YPC sessions—but of course, we understand if you are occasionally drawn away by some of the excellent sessions in the meeting proper. And we know how many people would like to participate, but won’t be able to make it to Washington this time around.

So how to keep track of all the goings-on? The best way to follow the happenings, if you are in Washington or not, is through the #YPC2011 hash-tag on twitter. No, it won’t be the same as being there, but you will be able to catch some of the highlights from the featured speakers and workshop sessions. We will also be soliciting twitter input to the “Challenges Facing the Young Generation in Nuclear” session on Wednesday afternoon.

Remember, #YPC2011 for all your Young Professionals Congress info! See you soon.

____________

Caracappa

Peter Caracappa is a clinical assistant professor and radiation safety officer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York State. He is General Chair of the ANS NA-YGN Young Professionals Congress and is a regular contributor to the ANS Nuclear Cafe

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, Education, Meetings, News, Nuclear Energy Narrative, Young Members Group

ANS president Eric Loewen visits The City College of New York

Posted on October 27, 2011 by pbowersox| 1 Comment

Eric Loewen, president of the American Nuclear Society, on October 13 visited the new ANS Student Section at The City College of New York (CCNY). Loewen presented talks on “Fukushima and the Role of Past Severe Accident Research” and “The American Nuclear Society President’s Special Committee on Used Nuclear Fuel Management Options” to an audience of more than 50 faculty members and students. (Loewen’s previous visit to CCNY, in February 2011, is detailed here).

“President Loewen’s return to The City College of New York was another highly anticipated and popular event,” said Charles Sosa, president of the CCNY student section. “The positive response was enormous and encouraged a number of students to enroll in our reactor physics course for the coming spring semester!”

From left, Matthew Rich (vice president), Ignacio Garca (treasurer), Masahiro Kawaji (faculty advisor), Eric Loewen, Charles Sosa (president), and Fahad Chaudhury (treasurer)

In addition, Loewen presented the CCNY student section with its ANS certificate of inauguration. About 30 students are members of the new group. “We as a student section are steadfast in our commitment to educating our local student population on the benefits of nuclear technology for peaceful applications, and hosting President Loewen is an important part of that commitment to education,” said Sosa. “The section expresses its gratitude for his informative, engaging, and fact-driven presentations on topics that are often misrepresented and therefore controversial.”

Loewen, when asked about the visit, said, “The vitality of our professional society is demonstrated by our active student sections, and nothing shows the promise of nuclear science and technology more than events like this one. The students at CCNY are so committed to the community and to ANS that they formed this new chapter, and I’m proud that one of my duties as president is to welcome them to the society.”

Loewen the following day visited and presented to the ANS Student Section at the United States Military Academy at West Point—his fourth visit to student groups since taking over the presidency in June this year (press release). It was his first visit as ANS president to a service academy, where he was able to meet with students in the academy’s newly-inaugurated nuclear engineering program.

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Posted in American Nuclear Society, ANS Student Sections, Environmental Benefits of Nuclear, Local Sections, Meetings, News, PI Spotlight