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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 9h

Here's what neutron chain reaction dynamics kinda look like. The green bar is control rod position and the trace shows reactor power, starting at 1. After each control adjustment, there is a 'prompt jump' followed by a longer exponential tail from delayed neutrons.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 1d

Everyone absolutely freaked out. I know NIMBY is a thing, but it's good for us to be reminded of how visceral it is from time to time, even in totally pro-nuclear crowds.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 1d

Man! I was at a workshop in my home state of Michigan on Thursday and we were brainstorming ideas to bring more nuclear power industry to the state. I mentioned that the Upper Peninsula has pretty good geology for a long-term nuclear waste repository (reducing environment, precambrian rock)....

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 10d

Lol really? I love that that's even an option.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 10d

Can't reply on the post for some reason... but after 3 years of shutdown it does not take that much cooling to keep the spent fuel cooled. Something like a garden hose of water going in should suffice. I'm not super worried about it.

umpft.bsky.social @umpft.bsky.social · 10d

@whatisnuclear.com @energybants.bsky.social
What are the chances for a meltdown after years of cooling? Thanks!

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 11d

Taking a Geiger counter on a flight with the sound on is a great way to get some serious side-eye from your neighbors, maybe leading to a good discussion about dose rate

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 17d

That's a bit of a myth. Even after the large accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, people and animals are living and thriving in the areas today. thoughtscapism.com/2021/02/28/t...

The Animals of Chernobyl – Trip Report, Day Three

It was a great juxtaposition to see all this natural life so near the reactor sites. The wildlife doesn’t care about the thought of the radiation, since its presence at these levels has no pr…

thoughtscapism.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 17d

The only radiation that comes near water in a water-cooled reactor is in a closed loop so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 19d

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.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 21d

The first Boiling Water Reactor experiments (BORAX) www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLlK...

BORAX: Construction and Operation of a Boiling Water Power Reactor

YouTube video by What is Nuclear?

www.youtube.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 30

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.

model reactor from boy scouts https://archive.org/details/atomicenergy00boys/page/n1/mode/2up

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 18

Looking into the core of BORAX-5, which pushed the limits of what a BWR could do: nuclear superheat and natural circulation. The superheat region is in the center. BWRs today are not so bold as to superheat steam. Have materials improved enough to try again? Probably!

Looking into the BORAX-5 nuclear reactor core

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 10

Absolutely. Checking out card printing deals now.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 9

😊 Draft field definitions in YAML format here: github.com/whatisnuclea...

github.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 9

We need Nuclear Reactor Consumer Labels! whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-08...

Nuclear Reactor Consumer Labels

We should collect and display reactor data in 'Nutrition Facts' format to improve accuracy, standardization, and clarity

whatisnuclear.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 6

Yuuup www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-m...

Texas officials warn of "maneater" screwworm that burrows into open wounds, eyes and mouths to lay eggs

Just one fly can lay up to 300 eggs at a time and is drawn "to the odor of a wound or natural opening on a live, warm-blooded animal."

www.cbsnews.com

Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 6

yeah... very gross but drives the point home! Those screw worms are coming back now!

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 4

Getting these 45 historical nuclear films from 1955-83 dug up and digitized has been one of the coolest and most rewarding things I've done with What is Nuclear. Thanks to you all for your interest and support in this project!

There are only ~100 left to get.

whatisnuclear.com/museum/

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Aug 2

For all you Anki users out there (free spaced repetition learning app), I made a deck for memorizing the US Nuclear Power Plants. Planning to expand it more later but it's starting out with just the operational commercial units. ENJOY! github.com/whatisnuclea...

GitHub - whatisnuclear/nuclear-plant-anki-deck: Anki cards for memorizing info about nuclear power plants

Anki cards for memorizing info about nuclear power plants - whatisnuclear/nuclear-plant-anki-deck

github.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 26

I'd think so, but empirical observation suggests that there is unlimited funding available for nuclear startups, regardless of setbacks and issues. People with money fricking love investing in nuclear.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 26

Observation: the actions that get more investors to buy into your nuclear company are currently the opposite of those needed to develop an economical, operable, maintainable, and safe nuclear plant.

Anyone have ideas about how to bring these back into alignment?

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 26

There are tons of good reform ideas that would actually help. I have a list whatisnuclear.com/news/2025-05...

Regulatory Reforms the Nuclear Industry wants

I surveyed lots of people in the nuclear industry and made a list of reforms that most people agreed on

whatisnuclear.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 25

Yes! The founder said you could hold it and get no more dose than a typical CT scan. When prodded, he qualified that he meant after 30 days cooling (which... is not enough to make it safe...) and produced a comically flawed calc report.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 22

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...

The Nuclear Option - YouTube

www.youtube.com

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · Jul 3

As a penance I added CANDU to the scoping tool whatisnuclear.com/neutronics-s...

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