A Tough Week for Missile Defense Advocates

April 8, 2015

It’s not the easiest of times for national missile defense advocates. The normally friendly House Armed Services Committee hearings on missile defense hosted some tough talk centered around a recently released, critical memo from two of the Joint Chiefs. And this weekend the LA Times release a pair of damning articles drawing connections between Senators and Congress members who sheltered expensive but poorly conceived and eventually cancelled national missile defense programs and their districts’ financial benefits from these programs. Read More

Latest Posts

Nuclear Safety Perfection

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

April 7, 2015

Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #52

It’s the sum of six consecutive prime numbers (3, 5, 7, 11, 13, and 17). Read More

Three Reasons the UCS Satellite Database is Different from Other Satellite Catalogs

Laura Grego, senior scientist

April 2, 2015

The purpose of the UCS Satellite Database is to provide information about the on-orbit capabilities of different actors and to provide a research tool for specialists and non-specialists alike, using open-source information about operational satellites.

We try very hard to keep the list accurate and useful, so we appreciate communication from the space community and our users suggesting improvements and pointing out errors. Read More

Why is China Modernizing Its Nuclear Arsenal?

Gregory Kulacki, China project manager and senior analyst

April 1, 2015

As we approach the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) the 178 nations that have honored their obligation not to develop nuclear weapons are wondering when the five nuclear weapons states who are party to the treaty will honor theirs. Read More

Nuclear Plant Aging

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 31, 2015

Fission Stories #185

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) originally licensed nuclear power reactors to operate for up to 40 years. Beginning in 2000, the NRC relicensed nuclear power reactors to operate for up to an additional 20 years. And there has been interest within the nuclear industry about for relicensing for yet another 20 years. Read More

China’s January 2013 Missile Defense Test

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist

March 26, 2015

Some of the best sleuthing and analysis these days is being done by the group at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. So when Catherine Dill and Jeffrey Lewis emailed me to help fit a few pieces together I was happy to help. Read More

Watts Bar Community Action Panel

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 26, 2015

Last year, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created a Community Action Panel (CAP) as its Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor neared the end of construction and prepared to request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issue an operating license. Read More

CSI Nuclear

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 24, 2015

Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #51

Cops responding to a reported disturbance sometimes find an individual holding a smoking gun standing over a dead body oozing blood from bullet holes. Such crime cases are easy to solve even without a confession from the person holding the gun or a declaration from the corpse on the floor. Read More

China’s Nuclear Forces Feeling U.S. Pressure

Gregory Kulacki, China project manager and senior analyst

March 20, 2015

A new UCS white paper on Chinese nuclear strategy indicates China’s military may increase alert levels in response to U.S. investments in missile defense and conventional prompt global strike technologies. Chinese military strategists believe the combination of these two technologies could permit a disabling U.S. Read More

When Open Door Policies at Nuclear Plants Go Awry

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 17, 2015

Fission Stories #184

Nuclear industry and NRC representatives often talk and write about their Open Door policies. For example, Doug Coe and June Cai, leaders of a task force formed to examine the NRC’s internal safety culture, briefed their Chairman and Commissioners on the agency’s Open Door policy for concerns raised by NRC staffers. Read More

New Quarterly Update to the UCS Satellite Database

Laura Grego, senior scientist

March 13, 2015

A new version of the UCS Satellite Database, which includes launches through January 31, 2015, has been posted at http://ucsusa.org/satellites and includes 1265 active satellites.

Ed Lyman, senior scientist

March 11, 2015

Today, on the fourth anniversary of the Fukushima accident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is on the verge of a major decision that could determine whether or not the types of regulatory errors that set the stage for the accident in Japan will be effectively fixed in the United States. Read More

UCS Pen Pals

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 10, 2015

Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #50

NEAT #29 explained how you can sign up to receive email notifications from the NRC when it issues things like press releases and reports on specific nuclear reactors. What I wasn’t keeping secret but had failed to mention was that you can also sign up to receive notifications when UCS posts new commentaries to our All Things Nuclear blog. Read More

5th Annual UCS Report on the NRC and Nuclear Power Safety

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist

March 9, 2015

Today UCS released its 5^th annual report on the NRC and nuclear power safety. UCS started these reports in 2010 to examine each year examples of when the NRC acted to ensure nuclear safety as well as when it fell down on the job. Read More

No More Ft. Calhouns!

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist

March 8, 2015

The nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan in March 2011, which resulted in the meltdown of three reactors and the release of huge amounts of radiation, led to intense study of the causes of the accident and the catchphrase “No more Fukushimas!”

Last week, Dave Lochbaum released a report that looks in detail at an event that occurred around the same time but garnered much less attention and scrutiny—the shutdown of the Ft. Read More

www.UNready.gov??

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

March 3, 2015

Fission Stories #183

The NRC’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report on its audit of the agency’s communications security program. The NRC’s headquarters, regional and resident inspector offices have special equipment that is used to exchange classified information during routine and emergency conditions. Read More

Supporting the Nuclear Front Line

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

February 24, 2015

Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #49

NEAT #31 described the NRC’s resident inspectors assigned full-time to each operating nuclear plant as representing the first-line of defenders of nuclear safety. The commentary also cited results from a recent survey by the agency’s Office of the Inspector General revealing that only about half felt that they receive adequate support in performing their duties. Read More

Obama’s Nuclear Legacy #4: Give Nuclear Weapons a Sole Purpose

Stephen Young, Washington representative and senior analyst

February 23, 2015

As I outlined in an earlier piece, President Obama has the opportunity to make significant changes in nuclear policy in the remaining two years of his presidency—changes that would make every American more secure, while also saving money and enhancing his legacy. Read More

Millstone Unit 3 Reactor’s AFW Near-Miss (to be continued)

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

February 17, 2015

Fission Stories #182

Redundancy and diversity are two keys elements of nuclear power plant safety. The auxiliary feedwater (AFW) system for the Unit 3 reactor at the Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford, Connecticut illustrates these principles. Read More

Accident Sequence Precursors for Nuclear Reactors

Dave Lochbaum, director, Nuclear Safety Project

February 10, 2015

Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #48

I answer hundreds of questions each year from people living close to nuclear plants, reporters, staff members of local, state, and federal officials, and colleagues about a wide array of nuclear safety issues. The queries provide me useful insight about the topics of most interest to people. Read More

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Nuclear Energy Activist Toolkit #52

Fission Stories #185

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