Specialist topics
MegaWatt
Having joined the nuclear industry through the nucleargraduates scheme sponsored by Magnox, Miguel Trenkel-Lopez and his team developed the Megawatt game to help educate about and advocate the role of the different energies in the energy transition. He now works full time on reaching a wider public via STEM for kids events and via science…
Read MoreRetreating to the forests of Bohemia
Soviet secrets revealed — history and warning This is the story of how Women in Nuclear (WiN) IAEA embarked on a fascinating time travel adventure visiting a sombre relic of the post-World War II arms race. Discovery of Atom Muzeum It was one of those lucky coincidences. As a member of the WiN IAEA Executive Committee,…
Read MoreSeven people who have made a difference for the global nuclear industry in 2021
As 2021 draws to a close there is a real feeling of positivity that the nuclear sector is entering a new era. Nobody can remember a time there was so much good news for the industry coming so quickly on so many fronts. Here we want to take a moment to recognise some of the…
Read MoreInsight – An Effective Initiative in Driving Employee Satisfaction and Motivation
By Callum Thomas, CEO of Thomas Thor Every now and then I hear about something that an organisation has done for the benefit of their employees which is sufficiently original and impactful to catch my attention. Recently, at the NESTet conference held by the European Nuclear Society in Brussels, I learned about an initiative launched…
Read MoreWhy I want to live near a Geological Disposal Facility
Laura Leay, Ph.D. – Scientist and podcaster with a background in nuclear energy and waste, computational chemistry, carbon capture, materials, and academia. In December 2018 the UK government announced a call to action: it asked communities to volunteer to host a national radioactive waste disposal facility. The facility will provide many benefits to the host…
Read MoreWill the EU follow the science on nuclear?
It has become impossible for the European Union to ignore nuclear power any longer in its response to climate change, now that its Joint Research Centre has concluded the technology’s impacts are on a par with renewables. But that doesn’t mean policy acceptance for nuclear just yet, writes Callum Thomas. The recently leaked report from…
Read MoreEirik Eide Pettersen: powered by a good idea
Eirik Eide Pettersen is the Chief Technical Officer of Seaborg Technologies, a start-up company based in Denmark with an expansive vision for small molten salt reactors. As a Norwegian, he followed friends into that country’s fossil fuel sector, but soon hit on some better ideas. Finding the fossil sector unappealing, Eirik left without much of…
Read MoreMythbuster – Reassuringly expensive?
By Mitchell McCombe, member of the Young Nuclear Generation Nuclear Institute. The race to low-carbon economies is a competition between expensive nuclear power and cheap renewables – is it that simple? Mitchell McCombe investigates. There is a misconception that the race to low carbon economies is a competition between nuclear power and renewables, and that…
Read MoreHow does Thomas Thor support Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in the nuclear industry?
The words “Equality’’, “Equity”, “Diversity’’ and “Inclusion’’ are used with increasing frequency these days. We are living in a time where the focus is evolving from conversation and good intentions to a call for meaningful action and systemic change. As with many other industries, the nuclear industry is also going through this transition and finally…
Read MoreWhy the UK needs both new nuclear power plants and new technology
The vast majority of people that are working on how we will achieve NetZero by 2050 agree that the answer is to use a combination of all available solutions. This means building as much wind, nuclear and solar energy as possible while developing solutions in energy efficiency, energy storage and carbon capture. When it comes…
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