By Lenka Kollar

If you're looking for a reason to watch the newest season of Survivor, which premiers tonight at 8/7c on CBS, meet my colleague and friend, Dr. J'Tia Taylor! J’Tia received her PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was the first black female to successfully defend and receive a Ph.D. from the department. She now works at Argonne National Laboratory in the area of nuclear nonproliferation policy - learn more about J’Tia’s work at Argonne here.

J'Tia took a sabbatical from Argonne last summer to compete as a contestant on this season of Survivor, which is set in the Philippines province of Cagayan. The eighteen contestants are split into three tribes according to their skills: Brawn, Brains, and Beauty. Although J’Tia could easily qualify for the Beauty group, she is obviously on the Brains Tribe. 

I worked closely with J'Tia while I was at Argonne and I can vouch that she is strategic and competitive, so I am definitely rooting for her to be the "Sole Survivor" and win that million dollar prize! I took over some of her work when she was gone last summer so she at least owes me dinner if she wins! 

Read this article in full and learn more about J'Tia's involvement in the American Nuclear Society and work with STEM outreach to women on my post at the ANS Nuclear Cafe. And don't forget to tune into CBS tonight at 8/7c!

By Lenka Kollar

Happy Engineer's Week! Here at Nuclear Undone, we encourage women to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and other careers that are traditionally male-dominted. The stigma against women as engineers is slowly changing and this recent commercial from General Electric is evidence. GE's motivation behind this commercial was to "celebrate the childlike wonder in all of us." But actually, they are also portraying that women can be engineers and change the world for the better and also be moms and inspire their kids. This commercial is really encouraging and I hope that it shows young women that they can have a positive impact on the world by designing technologies that help humankind.

Another initiative changing the way women are portrayed is the Lean In Collection on Getty Images. Lean In is the nonprofit organization founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to empower all women to achieve their ambitions. The goal of the new image collection is to change the way women are portrayed in the work place from the traditional stock photos that feature women in heels climbing a ladder or a baby in briefcase. These photos show all types of women doing all kinds of jobs, including being mothers. Being a proponent of women in technology, the image below is one of my favorites. Let's add some women in nuclear to the collection!

By Lenka Kollar

This article posted on The Engineer provides some interesting updates for the new safe confinement at Chernobyl. The video below provides a detailed graphic and explanation of the construction of the confinement, which is occurring 600m away from the actual damaged reactor. The lower radiation levels in this area allow workers to work up to 40 ours a week. The head engineer describes the project as the most "technically rewarding of his life."

When the shelter is finished in 2015, it will briefly become one of  the largest moving structures on land as engineers carefully slide it along tracks to its final resting place over the damaged reactor. Read more here.


Share your thoughts in the comments below!

By Lenka Kollar

Happy Galentine's Day! The day before Valentine's day is the day to celebrate your female friends, or "gal" pals. It was first coined on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation by the feminist lead lady Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). If you haven't seen the show, you should know that it is hilarious and also refreshing in that the lead character is not only female, but also funny, smart, motivated, and compassionate.

So in honor of Galentine's Day, I want to give a shout out to all of of my favorite female nuclear professionals and students on Twitter. Be sure to follow them!

U.S. Women in Nuclear (website) @WomenInNuclear
Suzy Hobbs Baker (PopAtomic Studios, Nuclear Literacy Project) @popatomicstudio
Kristine Madden @kmadz21
Kirsty Gogan (Energy Blog) @kirstygogan
Emma-Jayne Gooch (NuExec Consulting) @ejGooch
Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides @nuclearliz
Sarah Nuclear @SarahNuclear
Meredith Angwin (Yes Vermont Yankee Blog) @yes_VY
Tracy Mason @traymay5
Rita Patel @RitaTherPita
Anagha Iyengar @AnaghaIyengar
Andrea Jennetta (Fuel Cycle Week) @NuclearBuzz
Caroline Cochran (Things Worse Than Nuclear Power Blog)  @CarolineCDW
Carol Berrigan @nukegrl
Julie Ezold @jgezold
Mimi Holland Limbach @MimiHolland
Sarah Dirndorfer @sarahdirndorfer

I'm sure I forgot some so please add your favorite female nuclear engineers in the comments!

By Lenka Kollar

Chicago-based Exelon is one of the biggest nuclear energy providers in the United States with 10 nuclear power plants, 6 of them in Illinois. Low natural gas prices and subsidies for renewables have driven down the price of electricity. Because of this, Exelon may need to shut down nuclear power plants in order to remain profitable. 

Although the uranium fuel is not expensive, nuclear plants are more expensive to run than other types of plants because of the high costs associated with strict federal regulations. Nuclear plants need more security and highly-trained employees and also pay high fees to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Natural gas and coal plants do not require the same measures and licenses and therefore are cheaper to operate, even if nuclear fuel is very cheap.

It seems like a complete waste to shut down a nuclear power plant because natural gas prices are low, right now. Natural gas prices have been extremely volatile in the past and there is absolutely no guarantee that they will remain low in the future. The federal government is also inhibiting nuclear energy by providing subsidies for renewables. Nuclear energy also emits no greenhouse gas emissions and should have access to this funding if it is provided to other "green" forms of energy.

Many people argue that the United States is a free market and that the government should not choose favorites by providing subsidies to some forms of energy and not others. This is a very controversial subject, especially in the debate of climate change and trying to reduce carbon emissions.

People in the nuclear community say that existing nuclear power plants are assets to this country because of the high initial investment, reliable baseload power, and number of jobs that they provide. Exelon argues that it should be payed a higher price for baseload electricity over intermittent electricity from wind and solar generators. 

Should the government intervene by subsidizing nuclear power plants to stay open or let the "free market" take over?

By Lenka Kollar

This video from BBC takes you inside a nuclear reactor to understand just how it works. Learn how heat is generated from the splitting of atoms and then turned into electricity for your home.

By Lenka Kollar

The January 2014 meeting of the Chicago Local Section of the American Nuclear Society featured keynote speaker, David Blee, Executive Director of the United States Nuclear Infrastructure Council. The council  is an industry-driven nonprofit organization that advocates for new nuclear energy build in the United States and deployment of the U.S. nuclear supply chain globally. Currently, the council is advocating for U.S. industry involvement in the decontamination and decommissioning of Fukushima Daichi in Japan, along with the swift negotiation of 123 Agreements and reformation of U.S. nuclear export control procedures.

David Blee notes that it is "the best of times, and the worst of times" for the U.S. nuclear energy industry. One one hand, natural gas is extremely cheap, diminishing the financial case for nuclear power, and the U.S. is not getting international contracts to build reactors. On the other hand, we still have the largest and safest fleet of nuclear reactors in the world and other countries want U.S. technology. Right now is truly a tipping point for the nuclear industry, as compared to the popular documentary, Waiting for 'Superman'. The industry can either start to phase out, or we can have that nuclear renaissance we were hoping for.

Blee says that we need small modular reactors to revive the U.S. supply chain, we need VC Summer and Vogtle to be online on-time to encourage investors, and we need to engage in the global market. There are currently 70 nuclear power plants being built outside of the U.S., many of them in new markets, and they all want the American supply chain and safety culture.

At the end of the meeting, White House Chronicle host Llewellyn King inspired the Chicago ANS Section members by saying that the nuclear field has lost the excitement we once had. People used to be thrilled about what the new nuclear technology could do for mankind. The industry needs to have that excitement again to excite the public and policymakers.

I slightly disagree with Mr. King in that I think the younger generation in nuclear is very excited. We see the potential of nuclear energy and other nuclear technologies, such as medicine, to solve our energy needs and enhance our lives. Now we just have to tell everyone else how excited we are!

What nuclear technology gets you the most excited? I'm most intrigued by small battery-type reactors that could power remote areas. I also think radiation therapy for cancer treatment is pretty awesome.