Nick Touran

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/whatisnuclear.com

Ph.D./P.E. nuclear engineer and nuclear educator who runs [whatisnuclear.com](https://whatisnuclear.com ). Thinks about how to deliver nuclear power reliably and cheaply, advanced reactors, reactor history, energy.

🌉 [bridged](https://fed.brid.gy/bsky/whatisnuclear.com ) from 🦋 [whatisnuclear.com](https://bsky.app/profile/whatisnuclear.com ), follow Bridgy Fed for Bluesky (npub1pqr…2sck) to interact

Web site: https://bsky.app/profile/whatisnuclear.com
Link: https://whatisnuclear.com

Public Key

npub1s5yh8mh4r667l0ghvly6gysm9h9t6947n0kspfvcx4vs9s20qfnq3ackqr

NIP-05 Address

whatisnuclear.com_at_bsky.brid.gy@momostr.pink

Profile Code

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Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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Last Notes

2026-05-29 11:37:22 UTC

What does "going critical" mean? If you shoot a neutron into some uranium ore, some atoms will split by fission, but you haven't made a nuclear reactor. Too many secondary neutrons leak out or get absorbed without splitting neighboring atoms. 1/n
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreigcfxyt5s7jo4axmq6gs3kbavd2lgnprxecbd6fnnauja7it4gvsq

2026-05-02 12:13:41 UTC

Industrial Applications of Nuclear Explosives (1958)
That's one way to make a new harbor!
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9e...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9efE8A1nM )
[Industrial Applications of Nuc...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9efE8A1nM )

2026-03-02 18:15:04 UTC

Those new studies linking nuclear plant proximity to cancer use very weak scientific methods. No dose assessment, no control group. It's shameful that they passed peer review. Takedown here: [www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/two-new-pa...](https://www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/two-new-papers-are-wrong-about-cancer )
[Two New Papers Are Wrong About...](https://www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/two-new-papers-are-wrong-about-cancer )

2026-01-24 20:28:28 UTC

I made a new 'microreactors' page.
Benefits:
1. Novel power markets
2. Manufactured product
3. Within reach of VC
4. Fewer radionuclides
Challenges:
1. Economies of scale
2. Tyranny of neutron diffusion
3. Shielding
[whatisnuclear.com/microreactor...](https://whatisnuclear.com/microreactors.html )
[What are Microreactors?](https://whatisnuclear.com/microreactors.html )

2026-01-22 15:50:22 UTC

Presenting: A 1980s film describing uranium enrichment using gaseous diffusion. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gN...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gNxH1LcoI )
[The Enrichment of Uranium (198...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5gNxH1LcoI )

2026-01-19 13:28:13 UTC

It's not that advanced reactors aren't and can never be economical (that's crazy), but they haven't been economical so far (for very specific reasons) and have a steep hill to climb to achieve viability. As always, the only way to climb it is to build build build. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JL...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JLbNDhoO4 )
[Inside America’s $3T Nuclear B...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JLbNDhoO4 )

2026-01-18 19:43:03 UTC

Those were the highlights. Here's the full 12-mins in documentary form [www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVq...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVqkhpp0wQ )
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd/post/3mcloeva4x22k
[Nuclear Waste Canisters Being ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVqkhpp0wQ )
#note1667…rmmj

2026-01-17 03:30:51 UTC

Nuclear waste transport cask testing... with Red Alert music
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreifaandssghtgu7pqhf3yuxlyoncj26a56ms4jgezzsu7wfkcnmkka

2026-01-12 16:18:09 UTC

Flash animations from the 2006 version of whatisnuclear dot com, made by yours truly.
"This is what they stole from us" 😂
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreiawmvarns2evtlfrw2qdoskhgrkfeyhmsti2vx3vhf2whh2uwieo4

2026-01-07 02:09:03 UTC

I'm currently getting these historical nuclear films digitized. Standby!
As far as I can tell, none of them exist online yet except the Accident Testing one, which shows the Sandia cask tests. I'm getting that one scanned with hopes that it'll be extra high quality for everyone's pleasure.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreidatjhfywohgzk2zuv4pvsu7br7zbqlbdtsa5iawwahgo4xhc3iai

2025-09-23 13:29:55 UTC

It's a true miracle of nature that water is both a good neutron moderator and reactor coolant. Its ability to moderate and cool at the same time is quite underappreciated in today's pro-nuclear circles.

2025-08-30 01:39:09 UTC

Pretty neat model of a PWR from the 1965 Boy Scouts Atomic Energy merit badge book. Honestly, building this would help kids understand quite a bit about a reactor.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreif2kou5uicwpk5clwh66ztuhkipybpjsdhlno2a23xmde2od5rn5m

2025-07-25 19:01:49 UTC

Good write-up of Valar Atomics, including their hypersensitivity to skepticism and critique, like when I criticized their absurd claim that you could safely hold their spent fuel and the guy said I was the most arrogant person he had ever interacted with. [www.utahinvestigative.org/who-is-valar...](https://www.utahinvestigative.org/who-is-valar-atomics/ )
[Who is Valar Atomics? - The Ut...](https://www.utahinvestigative.org/who-is-valar-atomics/ )

2025-07-22 12:11:54 UTC

CNA in Singapore produced a nuclear power documentary called "The Nuclear Option" that you can watch online. They visited many key places and talked to lots of people. It came together super well! [www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkMf14VQEvTZ0zWDHpbkKbCLvIKlV021E )
[The Nuclear Option - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkMf14VQEvTZ0zWDHpbkKbCLvIKlV021E )

2025-07-03 11:30:00 UTC

Here's Preliminary Pile Assembly-19, where rotating control drums were first mocked up in a critical facility around 1951. Note the six smaller hexagon outlines on each corner of the central hex, each of which represents a control drum.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreibqmo7p7lqgbv43ykg7dum63llgqrylofotxtlzpe7fffnqqol5mq

2025-07-02 11:17:50 UTC

We debate this endlessly within the pro-nuclear world, but I really don't think it's super complicated. There's plenty of room to promote either without throwing the other under the bus.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreiec3gnm5wvknqkqegpp2ljrjyvanlpmdr33cy3mwccmgxsw5cu7my

2025-07-01 13:20:47 UTC

New safety minute about the WTR fuel failure [whatisnuclear.com/safety-minut...](https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/westinghouse-wtr-fuel-failure.html )
[The Westinghouse Test Reactor ...](https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/westinghouse-wtr-fuel-failure.html )

2025-06-26 11:11:03 UTC

The Rickover memo in the form of a Dunning-Kruger curve [whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-06...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-06-26-nuclear-dunning-kruger.html )
[Rickover's Memo as a Dunning-K...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-06-26-nuclear-dunning-kruger.html )

2025-06-12 12:57:21 UTC

"The reaction among all the crews was: doesn't the country realize what they're losing here?"
"This was a neat machine, there wasn't anything wrong with it, but we had to shut it down"
Have you ever teared up watching a reactor film? Well get ready to! [www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf7O...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf7OtFIA6LY )
[Making a Contribution: The Sto...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf7OtFIA6LY )

2025-06-10 16:03:52 UTC

Here are 4 more digitized Clinch River Breeder Reactor films, all thanks to Aalo Atomics. This batch is a bit more on the technical/engineering side rather than the public interest/entertainment side, in that they're video recordings of experiments (thread)

2025-06-02 11:40:54 UTC

"The Next Step – Progress Report: The Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant Project" (1980) tells the Clinch River Breeder story and shows more components, the training control room, and the amazing physical model (not CAD) built at Burns and Roe. Thanks to Aalo Atomics!
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-G...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-GR2KjyGc )
[The Next Step – Progress Repor...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ-GR2KjyGc )

2025-05-31 15:01:11 UTC

A little demo showing how to use the What is Nuclear fuel cost calculator
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=meME...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meMEKT0tS6I )
calculator is here: [whatisnuclear.com/enrichment.h...](https://whatisnuclear.com/enrichment.html )
[Using the What is Nuclear Fuel...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meMEKT0tS6I )

2025-05-24 16:20:42 UTC

Here, I made a handy radiation dose conversion chart for ya
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreidq66emeocftnjw23osxw6b6xjivzco3mo4io7mrtosfmaypu4wvi

2025-05-20 13:26:05 UTC

An amazing film depicting General Atomic's development of the Peach Bottom High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) in Pennsylvania.
53 private utilities banded together to fund the prototype reactor.
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSXV...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSXV4t-2rcA )
[HTGR The High Temperature, Gas...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSXV4t-2rcA )

2025-05-17 11:57:45 UTC

Hey TRISO modelers, when you build a neutronics input with TRISO fuel, what are your favorite ways to set a given packing fraction without cutting off particles on the edge of your pebble or compact? Does everyone just write a packing script?
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreiexsw2g2wav5naiknzkamrgz5tu6qwjq7qjreioee5mrm7tma6omu

2025-05-13 13:05:39 UTC

Crazy story: in the early 1990s, the USA purchased 6 TOPAZ-II space nuclear reactors from the USSR/Russia and flew them to New Mexico for testing. These reactors had thermionic cells directly surrounding each of their 37 fuel pins!
[whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-05...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-05-13-topaz-ii-space-reactors.html )
[The story of the TOPAZ-II spac...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-05-13-topaz-ii-space-reactors.html )

2025-05-10 20:25:44 UTC

This is one of the most important messages in advanced nuclear right now.
[www.ans.org/news/2025-05...](https://www.ans.org/news/2025-05-08/article-6961/hightemperature-plumbing-and-advanced-reactors )
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreibnxjwwila6lkryovprzqyymmc46pilqeya5pnyyjarcjjzy7ozki

2025-05-09 16:32:16 UTC

Here's the unfinished/abandoned Juragua Nuclear Power Plant in Cienfuegos, Cuba. They planned to build 12 VVER-440s with the help of the USSR but pulled the plug on the project in 1997. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juragua...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juragua_Nuclear_Power_Plant )
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreietpjjgoatfpiyv6njzrisvfypphjmzogggexxkdnrxou33laqone

2025-05-09 13:40:03 UTC

Intermediate heat exchanger comparison for some sodium-cooled reactors
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreidx42qad2eyndy7ecrl3mlz7rygvyavz6c475uxjidq6tfbgk2m5u

2025-05-07 11:33:49 UTC

The first US involvement in peaceful nuclear fusion research was called "Project Sherwood" and happened under much secrecy between 1951–1957. In 1958, it was presented publicly through films like this one. Just digitized, thanks to Adam Rizika for making this happen. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2W6...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2W6MXa1VT8 )
[The Magnetic Bottle: Hydrogen ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2W6MXa1VT8 )

2025-05-05 14:37:14 UTC

Beautiful animated breeder reactor film here from the late 1970s, with a to-the-point description of breeders and then a detailed depiction of the major systems in Superphénix, the largest sodium-cooled reactor ever built.
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSVH...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSVHbKX2i6s )
[Nuclear Breeder Reactors: Supe...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSVHbKX2i6s )

2025-05-03 13:14:50 UTC

Lots of major equipment was fabricated for the Clinch River Breeder. Here's testing of the reactor closure head. The rotating plugs allow fuel handling without opening up the reactor. Inset rotating plugs allow you to reach all core positions.
Thanks to @AaloAtomics for making this scan possible.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreicw6q53hjjqd6xgh6x75aswe77rr2zrdtnhotdcgqh7cw7ocwree4

2025-04-27 12:38:14 UTC

Okrent, "Nuclear Reactor Safety: On the History of the Regulatory Process" was written based on an 'unpublished' 1,100-page manuscript summarizing ACRS minutes. The book is out of print, but the manuscript is available here: [www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0906/...](https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0906/ML090630275.pdf )
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreicwzr5om4eur2zvxyjrgzieuo4n7kerkncdfztnazkofm52iap3se

2025-04-25 11:23:19 UTC

What are your favorite specific examples of overregulation causing wasted time and money in nuclear power? I know the Vogtle rebar tolerance and AIA stories... what else you got?

2025-04-21 23:20:14 UTC

If you want to see how dumb AI still is on specialist things, try asking it why the coolant flows downward through the core in gas-cooled nuclear reactors.

2025-04-11 18:29:11 UTC

Just heard a brutal joke:
A fusion scientist goes to heaven. For all his hard work he is allowed to ask God one question. He asks 'will fusion power ever be economically feasible' and God says 'yes, but not in my lifetime'

2025-04-11 12:18:46 UTC

📽️🍿Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project update from ~1982. The US was building it to establish long-term energy abundance and independence. This shows the CRBRP office with GM Bill Rolf and neat images of some major reactor components. Big thanks yet again to Aalo!
!
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3iX...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3iXvtiFSVE )
[Clinch River Breeder Reactor s...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3iXvtiFSVE )

2025-04-10 11:00:17 UTC

Premiere 📽️: "Sodium Spill on Protective Suit" film by HEDL.
The second half of the film, starting at 04:08, shows a guy donning such a suit and then climbing a ladder, adjusting a wrench, etc. Big thanks to Aalo Atomics for helping with the digitization.
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhLz...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhLzdpYd1HQ )
[Sodium Spill on Protective Sui...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhLzdpYd1HQ )

2025-04-01 11:30:24 UTC

Since liquid metal sodium is opaque and reactive, it can be hard to find equipment or loose parts under it. So ultrasonic under-sodium viewing technology was developed. This film shows an early form of the technology being used at the Fast Flux Test Facility. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPWb...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPWby030kTM )
[Under-Sodium Viewing technolog...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPWby030kTM )

2025-03-29 10:34:13 UTC

Presenting "Sodium Safety: Action & Reaction", a 1979 liquid metal safety film produced at the Fast Flux Test Facility as part of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Program.
This and many more forthcoming CRBRP ones generously made possible by Aalo Atomics. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF6G...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF6GJ8zupms )
[Sodium Safety: Action & Reacti...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF6GJ8zupms )

2025-03-25 12:47:08 UTC

New Decouple podcast dropped today. This time with Chris and I discussing Molten Salt Reactors. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP5O...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP5OfjQ0Vrk )
[Are MSRs Too Hot to Handle?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP5OfjQ0Vrk )

2025-03-23 00:21:11 UTC

Early lineage of all (*most) reactors that came later
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreibkz32opmknjvei6qwbk7vdv6s7j7z4tnocu573da7heraw5ldf7y

2025-03-21 12:58:23 UTC

CONFIRMED: China built and has brought to full power the world's first-ever thorium-containing molten salt reactor, the TMSR-LF1. Initial criticality occurred on Oct 11, 2023. Full power on June 17, 2024. Pa-233 from thorium was detected Oct 8, 2024. [www.gen-4.org/resources/we...](https://www.gen-4.org/resources/webinars/education-and-training-series-97-overview-and-update-msr-activities-within-gif )
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreidxkf5xljsb6e7uzejjfjpfnh5gwah7yv63l6gsby2w7qxnbsnqem

2025-03-07 13:44:53 UTC

Oh no, I hope they don't search for Glory Hole next and delete a bunch of old labeled reactor documents off of OSTI!
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:emhyi4kljodgqlusdsopgfgd/post/3ljqzokdhvc2h
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreigdjgurwggeemysqzdztwju5xciphgctev6ehslf3pneig5xhmc7i
#note1z5k…rgjv

2025-03-02 16:53:59 UTC

I've updated the What is Nuclear enrichment/SWU calculator so you can compare multiple sets of equilibrium fuel cycle cost assumptions side by side. Here's a few I was whipping up. If you know the reload fuel enrich + form and avg discharge burnup, you know a lot! [whatisnuclear.com/enrichment.h...](https://whatisnuclear.com/enrichment.html )
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreiaemqacmmpbo5kwdarhsgorcvnplhptqpgvu52letydzum5retnya

2025-02-21 17:59:30 UTC

Dark mode anyone?
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreig7tq2hxfjctffvx7z5mnluyl2ly5rlxkdzitidb3hxhez6rcjudq

2025-02-18 03:50:06 UTC

As part of my attempt to be less dependent on platforms, I've added a simple mailing list to my whatisnuclear website. If you don't like RSS and just want emails, feel free to sign up. [whatisnuclear.com/mail-signup....](https://whatisnuclear.com/mail-signup.html )
[Join our mailing list](https://whatisnuclear.com/mail-signup.html )

2025-02-03 13:03:17 UTC

An incredible NUCLEAR-POWERED FLIGHT film is newly available online! This declassified film shows 30 minutes of detail from the major reactor development program at its peak, between 1956-1958.
Thanks to Nuclear Talent Scout for sponsoring the scan.
[whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-02...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-02-03-declassified-nuclear-powered-aircraft-progress-update-manned-flight-film.html )
[Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion: M...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-02-03-declassified-nuclear-powered-aircraft-progress-update-manned-flight-film.html )

2025-01-24 20:44:40 UTC

UK to throw away 140 tonnes of civil plutonium. That's enough to power the entire UK for 3 years (if it was 100% nuclear powered). Bummer! [www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-...](https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-opts-for-disposal-of-plutonium-inventory )
[UK opts for disposal of pluton...](https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-opts-for-disposal-of-plutonium-inventory )

2024-12-29 02:20:27 UTC

WEIRD.
The Smyth report, released days after the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, has almost the same cover style as the first programming book I ever read.
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2024-12-24 14:29:19 UTC

The Pacer fusion concept is an idea to generate electricity from thermonuclear explosives. You drop them into a 300m diameter salt cavern and fire em off to heat steam which drives a turbine on the surface.
1000 MWe requires one 50 kt device per day.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreihqwnguhgkzhkto57vt2kfajhn5evearztygb67z3lfooz3hdvc2i

2024-12-14 21:49:49 UTC

Took a road trip to see the Nuclear Ship Savannah today in Baltimore! This is a civilian nuclear-powered cargo/passenger ship/showboat for Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace campaign. It's now decommissioned with the reactor removed, and occasional tours available.
https://shiitake.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:wcgqqell7etiqcdpzhucrtcd&cid=bafkreiaapqah56ns4bevzbnf5b44btr7fi3eljgiv7jw4sovzgc5kpvf3m
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2024-12-13 23:19:01 UTC

*Organic* nuclear reactors use hydrocarbons as the coolant/moderator. These allow low-pressure operation, are non-corrosive, and hardly neutron activate at all. We just got a 1958 film about the first-ever organic cooled/moderated reactor digitized. Here it is! [whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-12...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-12-13-organic-moderated-reactor-experiment-film.html )
[The Organic Moderated Reactor ...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-12-13-organic-moderated-reactor-experiment-film.html )

2024-12-08 19:47:07 UTC

My friend Chris had a bone scan and came into the office a few years ago, so we busted out the Geiger counter to measure the Technetium-99m in him. He lit it right up!
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2024-12-02 12:30:20 UTC

Happy December 2nd, a day that marks the first man-made nuclear chain reaction (CP-1, 1942) and the first chain reaction in the first purely civilian nuclear power plant exactly 15 years later (Shippingport, 1957).
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2024-12-02 01:21:38 UTC

"The Nuclear Ship Savannah", a 29-min documentary from 1964 about everyone's favorite way to decarbonize the shipping industry. I got this digitized in 2023 from the National Archives. [whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-07...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-07-12-the-nuclear-ship-savannah-film-digitized.html )
[The Nuclear Ship Savannah -- n...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-07-12-the-nuclear-ship-savannah-film-digitized.html )

2024-11-29 02:25:36 UTC

Happy Thanksgiving.
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2024-11-26 12:32:50 UTC

While designing your nuclear reactor, remember that ~10% of the heat from fission will be released as radiation. Much of this will travel out of the core and deposit in your shield structures. Don't forget to cool the shields as needed. Here are some shield coolant lines at the SRE in California.
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2024-11-23 14:12:49 UTC

Here's a newly digitized film about Dresden, the first big privately financed BWR! Thanks to [anonymous previous Dresden employee] for sponsoring! [whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11-23-operating-experience-dresden.html )
[Film digitization announcement...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11-23-operating-experience-dresden.html )

2024-11-18 18:53:19 UTC

This staircase chart of the nuclides at MIT is very [chef's kiss]
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2024-11-17 16:07:32 UTC

I'm enjoying my "speaking tour" on nuclear reactor history. Had a great time at Univ of Michigan's colloquium on Friday, headed to MIT next.
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2024-11-13 12:29:40 UTC

In which we discuss needing 5 feet of high-density concrete radiation shielding on all sides of any nuclear reactor, even a tiny one. Neutron leakage & fuel costs are also constraints on microreactors. They're still awesome, and I want more, but we must face facts. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wye...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wyeSkht7tQ )
[Microreactors, Macro Problems](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wyeSkht7tQ )

2024-11-12 03:29:09 UTC

My favorite audience in years! It was so fun talking nuclear power with these folks. Thanks @npub1fyq…5c3h for putting this together.
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:6qhmjhylluu7iwxufcn6d4qs/post/3lapquorlw22m
#note1lze…v4xn

2024-11-11 00:02:58 UTC

"Cooking with Atom juice" and "Nuclear Hamburgers": America's first commercially distributed atomic electricity came from the land prototype beryllium-moderated sodium-cooled Submarine Intermediate Reactor (SIR) in a giant steel sphere in West Milton, NY in 1955. [www.britishpathe.com/asset/59841/](https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/59841/ )
[ATOM POWER 'ON THE GRID' (aka ...](https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/59841/ )

2024-11-09 13:38:15 UTC

What questions do you have about nuclear power?

2024-11-09 02:07:24 UTC

The nuclear reactor that flew?! Yes indeed, the US Air Force flew an operating nuclear reactor around on 47 flights as part of a 1950s nuclear-powered airplane program. Later, the reactor was hoisted up on a huge tower and operated again! We just digitized this film [whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11-08-astr-tower-experiment.html )
[ASTR Tower Experiment Film The...](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2024-11-08-astr-tower-experiment.html )

2024-11-05 13:28:25 UTC

I had fun talking to Chris on Decouple about Admiral Rickover and the birth of nuclear power. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UGr...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UGrY_8pmCQ )
[The Fascinating Life of the "F...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UGrY_8pmCQ )

2024-11-03 22:45:36 UTC

Nuclear-powered manned underwater base anyone? Behold: the TRIGA Oceanographic Power Supply for a Manned Underwater Station (TOPS/MUS) reactor concept. [apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/p...](https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/AD0836066.pdf )
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2024-11-03 15:27:04 UTC

The PM-3A nuclear power plant (foreground) powering and heating McMurdo Station in Antarctica. [www.southpolestation.com/env/env1.html](http://www.southpolestation.com/env/env1.html )
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2024-11-03 13:51:15 UTC

Model of the first atomic ice breaker, Lenin, at the USSR exhibition, 1959 in NY [www.britishpathe.com/asset/196243/](https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/196243/ )
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2024-10-24 01:42:32 UTC

Here's a rare sight, commemorating the PM-3A nuclear reactor that avoided the transport and combustion of more than 21 million liters of diesel in Antarctica.
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2024-10-24 01:18:57 UTC

After powering the Greenland ice base at Camp Century, the PM-2A was taken to Idaho for post-service testing. [www.osti.gov/biblio/1364385](https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1364385 )
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2024-10-18 11:55:49 UTC

I'm embarrassed to admit that I learned the other day that 12 out of 12 undergraduates polled in nuclear engineering at MIT had never heard of whatisnuclear the website. Where are 20 yr old nuclear people hanging out? tiktok?

2024-10-10 01:22:04 UTC

Hoping everyone stays safe in Florida tonight. Meanwhile, I discovered that Google Earth has a pretty incredible 3-D interactive model of St. Lucie nuclear plant. [earth.google.com/web/@27.3486...](https://earth.google.com/web/@27.34860993,-80.24667713,16.50863929a,703.71289456d,35y,70.82925522h,60.82312617t,0r/data=CgRCAggBOgMKATBKDQj___________8BEAA )
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2024-10-02 12:27:01 UTC

What about Hanford? Catch up on some perhaps surprising study conclusions and realities. [madihilly.substack.com/p/hanford-wh...](https://madihilly.substack.com/p/hanford-what-a-waste )
[Hanford: What a Waste](https://madihilly.substack.com/p/hanford-what-a-waste )

2024-10-01 02:24:00 UTC

Here are some pros and cons of different reactor types as seen through the eyes of Walter Zinn in November, 1953. Zinn was the legendary reactor developer who developed EBR-1 and the BWR. You can see he lays the case out for the LWR and the HWR. [archive.org/details/sim_...](https://archive.org/details/sim_nucleonics_1953-11_11_11/page/30/mode/2up )
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2024-09-30 13:49:15 UTC

Important new DOE Advanced Nuclear Liftoff report posted! Got a preview of it last week in NYC. [liftoff.energy.gov/advanced-nuc...](https://liftoff.energy.gov/advanced-nuclear/ )
[Advanced Nuclear - Pathways to...](https://liftoff.energy.gov/advanced-nuclear/ )