Over the weekend, The Guardian excerpted seven tools for thinking from Daniel Dennett’s new book. They seemed to me to distill how scientists work. Let’s see how they apply to thinking about nuclear power. 

On Friday April 19^th Russian President Putin and Egyptian President Morsi met in Suchi to discuss expanded cooperation and trade. As part of the discussion, Egypt broached the idea of working with the Russian government agency Rosatom.

A number of nuclear power plants are in the area that Sandy hit: Calvert Cliffs, in Lusby, Md.; Salem and Hope Creek, in Hancocks Bridge, N.J.; Oyster Creek, in Lacey Township, N.J.; Peach Bottom, in Delta, Pa.; Three Mile Island 1, in Middletown, Pa.; Susquehanna, in Salem Township, Pa.; Indian Point, in Buchanan, N.Y.; and Millstone, in Waterford, Conn.

Russia's nuclear agency, Rosatom, is reaching out to form partnerships with other countries. Rosatom has been seen by the Russian government as one of the few enterprises that can boost Russia's exports. Rosatom signed an agreement with the French nuclear company AREVA, which is part government-owned. But that's not the whole story.

 Post-Fukushima, the Japan had a large protest with more than 100,000 anti-nuclear protesters marching in Tokyo yesterday as the government seeks to balance energy demands and impacts on the economy.

Natural energy for healing disease and lighting cities. That’s how people thought of radioactivity in the early part of the twentieth century. How is it, then, that so many now see radioactivity as an object of fear? Spencer Weart tackles that problem in his new book, The Rise of Nuclear Fear.

How much 20% enriched uranium does Iran need for their 5 MW thermal Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) and how much have they produced? Is Iran producing more 20% enriched uranium than is needed and can it be used to produce a nuclear weapon?

There is a recent report by R. Alvarez, former Policy Adviser to the Secretary of Energy, under the Clinton administration which claims that an earthquake at Fukushima Unit 4 could cause a widespread disaster by the release of Cs-137 from the spent nuclear fuel stored in the cooling pond. Let’s examine some of the information and see if this has any factual or technical basis.

Like the various nation-states of the world, Google (GOOG) vs. Amazon (AMZN) are also approaching their own nuclear war: both technology titans will have such growing energy demands that they will have to consider nuclear energy.

The US, UK, Japan and Germany are all struggling with their countries' commitment to nuclear power over the next 10 years.

While nations may pause in their pursuit of nuclear power, demand for new plants would likely expand in the long term.