From bombs to boilers: Seven decades of nuclear failure
James Heddle James Heddle

From bombs to boilers: Seven decades of nuclear failure

The history of nuclear power is a tale of economic miscalculation, technological hubris, wishful thinking, political expediency, and corporate malfeasance that resulted in the largest managerial disaster in industrial history

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The nuclear mirage: why small modular reactors won’t save nuclear power
James Heddle James Heddle

The nuclear mirage: why small modular reactors won’t save nuclear power

Everywhere you look, the nuclear industry’s hype machine is in overdrive. Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy urges a “warp speed” nuclear revival. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the UK government all tout small modular reactors (SMRs) as the silver bullet for climate change and energy security. Tech billionaires are hiring nuclear veterans. Wall Street is whispering about “round-the-clock power” for AI data centers. The UK is betting billions on “mini nukes” to fill its looming energy gap.

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Olympic Surfing Comes to America’s Largest Nuclear Waste Dump
James Heddle James Heddle

Olympic Surfing Comes to America’s Largest Nuclear Waste Dump

Professional surfing fans are responding to the LA28 Olympics Organizing Committee’s announcement that the Los Angeles-based 2028 Summer Olympics’ surfing event will take place at Lower Trestles. Depending upon whom you ask, Lowers is either the most perfectly level playing field for the sport of surfing short of an artificial wave pool, or the most boring venue imaginable for a surf competition.

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Palisades ASLB Rejects All Environmental, Safety, & Health Contentions; Watchdogs Vow Appeal
James Heddle James Heddle

Palisades ASLB Rejects All Environmental, Safety, & Health Contentions; Watchdogs Vow Appeal

COVERT, MI and WASHINGTON, DC, APRIL 4, 2025–On March 31, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) refused to grant a hearing on the merits for seven contentions brought by oppponents of Holtec International’s scheme to restart the Palisades atomic reactor on the Lake Michigan shore in southwest Michigan.

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Christie Brinkley: Don’t let the US resume nuclear weapon tests that ended decades ago | Opinion
James Heddle James Heddle

Christie Brinkley: Don’t let the US resume nuclear weapon tests that ended decades ago | Opinion

The United States and other nuclear powers are now moving closer to resuming nuclear weapons tests, decades after testing ended. This highly disturbing trend must be halted. Since the atomic age, 2,056 nuclear weapons have been detonated, 528 of them above the ground. The United States and Soviet Union accounted for about 85% of these tests. The explosive power of atmospheric tests equaled 29,000 Hiroshima bombs. Airborne radioactive fallout circled the globe, re-entered the environment through precipitation, and entered human bodies through food and water.

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