Professional Opinions
Interview with Elena Sokova, the Executive Director of VCDNP
by Susan Cohen What is the VCDNP? Why is it based in Vienna, Austria? How does the VCDNP promote peace and security? How can it further nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation? VCDNP’s Executive Director, Elena Sokova, can answer these questions. She talks to Susan Cohen about the work of the organization. Susan Cohen: Would you briefly…
Read MoreSafeguards for Reprocessing: The Rokkasho Experience
by Susan Cohen Do women experience any unique challenges working for the IAEA? Or in Japan? What is safeguards by design (SBD) and how was it introduced into the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant? What was the international concern over the building of a commercial scale reprocessing plant in a non-nuclear-weapon State? Shirley Johnson has spent most…
Read MoreChatGPT: Is it all talk and what use is it for the nuclear sector?
By Jeremy Gordon Everyday use of artificial intelligence has taken a huge leap forward with the release of ChatGPT. It feels like a tool we can really begin to make use of, but will its technology make it in the nuclear industry? ChatGPT caused a sensation with its ability to quickly produce texts that respond…
Read MoreInterview with Laura Holgate, United States Ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna
By Susan Cohen What unique challenges does your work as US Ambassador to the IAEA present? How does the US support the UN’s sustainable development goals? How does the USA facilitate the IAEA’s promotion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy worldwide? Ambassador Laura Holgate, US Ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna, can answer…
Read MoreCommunicating nuclear
by Susan Cohen How can we convey the benefits and risks of nuclear power in a balanced way to a public who are often ill-informed and mistrustful? Where can unbiased clarification of concepts such as radiation, fuel cycle or waste management be found? What approach can best work with nuclear sceptics? In August 2015 —…
Read MoreTea Törmänen: moving forward for the planet
Tea Törmänen is living proof of a quiet revolution underway in the environmental movement. As International Coordinator of RePlanet, she wants the new environmental group to fill a space in the NGO scene with campaigns informed by science that put forward concrete solutions – nuclear energy among them. Despite her lifelong concern for the environment – from…
Read MoreInterview with Chris Englefield: Nuclear and Radiation Regulator
How is the regulation of nuclear and radiological facilities and material related to national security and occupational safety? What does it have to do with public health and environmental protection? What is a dirty bomb? How can the safety and security of radiation sources be ensured? When are they called orphan sources? Chris Englefield, who…
Read MoreNuclear Power: To Be or Not To Be
by Susan Cohen-Unger and Yanko Yanev Power of poetry To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them.[1] Great poetry in all cultures has always…
Read MoreUS Nuclear Energy Careers Evolving Along with Next-Generation Plant Designs
By Jarret Adams U.S. nuclear energy sector has long offered promising careers for highly skilled workers earning salaries much higher than other electricity generation, U.S. policy organization of the nuclear technologies industry Nuclear Energy Institute reports. But the mix of nuclear energy workers is evolving along with the next generation of nuclear plant designs. The…
Read MoreInterview with Laura Rockwood
by Susan Cohen What nuclear threats are we facing right now? How can stakeholders best use open-source information? How can its analysis keep pace with the nuclear threats worldwide in order to effectively deter escalation? Open Nuclear Network (ONN), a Vienna-based NGO founded in 2019 by its current Director Laura Rockwood, addresses questions such as…
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