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Would
you like to know what your MPs in PC, Liberal and NDP think about the
sale of AECL, here is a great short video of MPs Mike Lake, Peter Julian
and David McGuinty discussing the sale of Atomic Energy of Canada's
commercial reactor division to SNC-Lavalin, what do you think? http://video.aol.com/video/assessing-the-aecl-sale/1887390447
amazing
photos of the expansion of NIST Centre for Neutron Research! it all
looks great and on time, can't wait to go back for more experiments
there, check out photos and more related to expansion here: http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/expansion2/yqims2/ ... note that in 2009 the NCNR reactor was relicensed to continue operation until July 2029: http://www.nist.gov/ncnr/ncnr_071409.cfm
... also interesting to note that the reactor became operational in
1967-68 only 10 years after NRU came on line... Great work maintaining
and expanding the reactor and neutron scattering group there been
producing great science already for many years and will be for many more
to come, great job!
UK
wants to be a serious nuclear nation once again, Charles Hendry, energy
minister said last week: "My view is that nuclear is vital for the
energy sector today and can be just as vital many years in the future.
And that's why we don't want to see one nuclear power plant built, but
we want to see a fleet. But for that to happen we need
certainty and clarity for industry and investors." ... "Hendry noted
that the government, and its predecessor, had been systematically
identifying and addressing the issues that could block investment in
nuclear power.
"We must go forward with new nuclear and we would be a
darker and less prosperous nation without it. After more than a decade
since we built the last plant, there should be no doubt that UK wants to
be a serious nuclear nation once again," concluded Hendry." Read more: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Britain_to_return_as_serious_nuclear_nation-0507111.html
... note that France has also serious plans for
maintaining and expanding its programs on nuclear energy: "French
President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed plans to invest €1 billion ($1.4
billion) in future nuclear programs including fourth generation reactor
research." See: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Sarkozy_supports_nuclear_with_%E2%82%AC1_billion_pledge2806117.html
What is Canada's plan??? Is there a national strategy? Where is the debate/discussion/national dialougue that is required to determine the national strategy??? http://www.hilltimes.com/page/view/macdonald-07-11-2011
This
news item was lost amidst the news of sale of AECL's Candu division
last week: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has renewed the
operating license issued to Hydro-Québec for a five-year period for its
Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station, and to merge it with its waste
management facility operating license. Read more: http://www.cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca/eng/mediacentre/releases/news_release.cfm?news_release_id=386
In
light of the post below on Q&A with Bill Gates, this is also a good
read trying to answer why anti-nuclear movement has had some track in
countries like Australia and how to win zero carbon electricity by
nuclear power argument: "in South Australia around 720g CO2-e/kWh (which
is one of the lowest levels in the country I might add. NSW, Victoria
and Queensland are all much higher), compared to a mere 90g CO2-e/kWh in
nuclear dominated France.": http://decarbonisesa.com/2011/07/08/why-pro-nuclear-has-failed-when-anti-nuclear-has-succeeded/
And here you could find the greenhouse gas
emissions from power generation by different methods, as seen: "Nuclear
energy is among those energy sources producing very low levels of carbon
dioxide emissions from their full life cycle. It is closely comparable
with renewables such as wind, solar and hydro in this respect." http://www.world-nuclear.org/why/greenhouse_gas_from_generation.html
"Gates
argues that nuclear power is still safer than all other energy options,
rich countries aren’t spending enough on R&D, and installing solar
panels on your roof is not helping to reduce CO2 emissions. It’s merely
“cute.”" ... "Coal and natural gas have much lower capital costs, and they tend to
kill only a few at a time, which is highly preferred by politicians."... see http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/06/mf_qagates/all/1 for more great insights from Bill Gates on world's energy crisis...
Dr.
William Buyers (NRC Canadian Neutron Beam Centre, Chalk River
Laboratories) has been appointed an officer of the Order of Canada "For
his contributions to condensed matter physics, particularly in the field
of magnetism.". This is great news! it so nice to see that a condensed
matter physicist has been recognized with such a high honour
and in a public manner (as opposed to only peers in the same field) for
his many contributions in the field of condensed matter physics using
neutron scattering. Dr. Buyers is a world-renowned scientist in the
field of condensed matter physics who has been using neutron scattering
facilities at Chalk River Laboratories and other labs to make major
advancements in the areas of quantum magnetism, superconductivity, and
other novel materials... This is a well-deserved honour...
Congratulations Bill! http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14175 also see: http://www.cins.ca/people/buyers/ and http://www.cifar.ca/william-j-l-buyers A great read on early days of neutron scattering at CRL written by Bill and published in Physics in Canada in 2000: www.cap.ca/wyp/profiles/Buyers-final-M00.PDF
I
am also not surprised by this report: "Canada slips further in
innovation rankings" it is simple, invest today and profit tomorrow...
"the country is spending less per capita on research and development,
business R&D is down, venture capital relative to GDP is down,
government spending on R&D has fallen and the ranking of Canadians
in high-school test scores is lower." not hard to guess all these are
among the reasons why the low marks for innovation. Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-slips-further-in-innovation-rankings/article2077788/
... not
surprised by the result of this survey (Canadians are least likely to
believe that Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), the Crown Corporation
responsible managing Canada’s national nuclear energy program, should be
privatized.), Canadian people have always shown common sense, the
decision makers, hmmm??? read more: http://abacusdata.ca/2011/07/04/canadians-support-retain-public-control-of-crown-corporations/
