Author: Kiersten Sundell Have you ever heard of the linear no-threshold model for measuring radiation exposure? In essence, this model posits that every tiny exposure to radiation accumulates, impacting you in the same way that one large exposure would. This is a controversial viewpoint in the scientific world, so let’s quickly dive in. Let’s say that […]
Gen A Every Day: Linear No Threshold Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell As you may well know, the history of uranium mining isn’t all that ethical. Consent-based siting is a relatively new concept, brought on in part by the widespread pollution of indigenous lands across the globe. Thankfully, present-day uranium mining operations adhere to strict engineering standards and robust regulatory protocols, meaning that former unethical
Gen A Every Day: Uranium from Seawater? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell You’ve heard that practice makes perfect, but have you heard that practice also makes faster builds, smoother supply chains, cheaper materials, and experienced regulatory bodies? I’m talking about nuclear plants, of course. Many nuclear opponents say, “if nuclear plants always go over budget and over time, why should we keep trying?” Well, this
Gen A Every Day: Practice makes perfect Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell What’s the difference between lifecycle emissions and …. regular emissions? Well, to tell you the truth, there is no zero-carbon energy source in existence. Bombshell. We often use the term “zero-carbon” to describe clean energy sources like nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro, because they don’t emit any carbon dioxide into the atmosphere while
Gen A Every Day: What Are Lifecycle Emissions? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Ever wish you could just send a nuclear plant to a place that’s in dire need of clean energy? Believe it or not, a future like that may be on the horizon. Floating nuclear plants are self-contained power stations on ships or barges, capable of docking in almost any coastal area or waterway.
Gen A Every Day: Floating Nuclear Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell A comment we recently received on social media: “Storing nuclear waste isn’t exactly getting rid of it… it’s more like moving it to a secure location, right? It’s still going to be around forever.” Well, yes. The way we typically dispose of nuclear waste IS by moving it to a secure location. But
Gen A Every Day: Nuclear Waste vs Hazardous Waste Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Something we are frequently asked on TikTok is: “If nuclear waste decays over time, how many years until it’s safe again?” This is a tricky question because technically, used nuclear fuel remains radioactive forever. Uranium’s half-life is 4.5 billion years. The good news is that it doesn’t remain equally radioactive the entire time.
Gen A Every Day: How Long Does it Take for Nuclear Waste to Become “Safe?” Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Something we were recently asked on TikTok was: “Why does the waste stored at Onkalo geologic repository in Finland need to be retrievable? Is there a specific Finnish law that requires this?” There is — you can find it in a 2001 report from the Nuclear Energy Agency titled “Stepwise Decision Making in
Gen A Every Day: Finnish Law at Onkalo Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Although permanent waste repository sites like Onkalo are 450 meters underground, a surprising number of people are worried that future civilizations will stumble across the site, accidentally dig deep underground, uncover the waste, irradiate themselves unknowingly, and spread it around the earth. Now this scenario assumes that first of all, there will be
Gen A Every Day: Notifying Future Civilizations About Nuclear Waste Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Did you know that nuclear waste is only waste if we waste it? That’s a lot of waste. What I mean is that after five years of use in a reactor, over 90% of the potential energy in spent nuclear fuel still remains untapped. France and Russia have extensive programs for recycling nuclear
Gen A Every Day — Why Don’t We Just Recycle Spent Fuel? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell What is a fast reactor, and how is it any different from a… normal reactor? Think of it this way. A ‘normal reactor,’ more correctly identified as a light-water reactor, is kind of like… stay with me… your typical landfill. They’ve been around for a long time, the technology is only as complex
Gen A Every Day: What’s a Fast Reactor? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell What the hell happened at Yucca Mountain? A gigantic, 19-billion-dollar disaster is what happened. Not a nuclear disaster — a political one. For those of you who don’t know, Yucca Mountain is a mound of desert about 100 miles from Las Vegas and is a great demonstration of what happens when politics override
Gen A Every Day — What the Hell Happened at Yucca Mountain? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell What the hell happened with NuScale? NuScale, an advanced reactor developer, had plans to start building six small modular reactors (SMRs) in Idaho. These would’ve generated enough electricity to power more than 300,000 homes… but as of November 8th, it’s no longer happening. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), which serves communities in seven
Gen A Every Day: What the Hell Happened with NuScale? Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Did you know that hydrogen comes in different colors? Well no, not exactly like this. Hydrogen gas doesn’t exist naturally in a usable form — it needs to be extracted from water using electrolysis, or extracted from another compound using a process called steam reforming. Either way, getting the hydrogen requires a lot
Gen A Every Day: Colors of Hydrogen Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell What is hydrogen fuel technology, and how does it relate to nuclear? Let’s start with hydrogen gas. It doesn’t exist naturally in an accessible form, so engineers extract it in one of two ways. The first is called methane steam reforming, which is a carbon-intensive chemical process currently used to produce 90% of
Gen A Every Day: Crash Course on Hydrogen Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Did you hear that Microsoft and OpenAI want to use nuclear reactors to power their artificial intelligence servers? As it turns out, online platforms like these consume a LOT of energy. In July of 2023, the EPA reported that in a typical year, Microsoft uses about 10,684 gigawatt hours of electricity. This is more than
Gen A Every Day: Microsoft and OpenAI Using Nuclear Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell Throughout history, less developed countries worldwide have grappled with the challenge of securing reliable energy access for their citizens. Energy expansion programs often utilize oil, natural gas, and coal, because they’re cheap to build, relatively reliable, and use easily-sourced materials. While there’s nothing wrong with building out fossil fuels in impoverished countries to
Gen A Every Day: Let’s Talk About Nuclear Newbs Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell As a lot of people know and hate to talk about, the nuclear industry has a bit of an ugly history as far as uranium retrieval goes. From 1944 to 1986, nearly thirty million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands under leases with the Navajo Nation. This was partly
Gen A Every Day: HPSA for Navajo Cleanup Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell If you see Generation Atomic content often, you may have seen more of us at COP28 than the formal policy negotiations that took place between nearly 200 countries. Let’s talk about the policy outcomes of COP, and what they mean for the future of clean power. To start off, nuclear energy made history at this year’s
Gen A Every Day: Policy Outcomes of COP28 Read More »
Author: Kiersten Sundell We’ve talked a lot about the COP pledge to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, but there’s more to unpack. The pledge began with 22 countries on board, which later increased to 25. There many more countries that utilize nuclear power which were conspicuously absent from the agreement, however, so let’s talk
Absent Nations in COP28 Nuclear Pact Read More »
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