Lascher at Large » Science and Technology

Research shakes up seismic knowledge near Northwest nuclear plant

Bill — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:20:36 +0000

Letters sent as part of the licensing process reveal the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had multiple questions for Energy Northwest about the assumptions it used to develop its response plan for potential accidents. Among the questions: Why did Energy Northwest continue to use 15-year-old studies as the basis for earthquake preparations at the Columbia Generating Station -- the Northwest's only commercial nuclear reactor -- when much more up-to-date information about the region's seismic profile were available from the USGS and Hanford itself? [...]

Plutonium pride on the Mid-Columbia

Bill — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:14:35 +0000

This update originally appeared April 15 on the blog for the Spot.us story I’m working on about seismic risks at Eastern Washington’s nuclear power facilities. Later updates — including news of a petition by environmental groups to stop the NRC from nuclear plant licensing and other proceedings until it completes a review of the [...]

Uncertainty, seismic risks and nuclear regulation

Bill — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:30:09 +0000

This is a copy of a blog post I wrote today at spot.us to update supporters about my work on a story exploring the seismic dangers that could face the Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Washington. Click here to read more about that story and how you can help make it happen.

In more than [...]

What a Week for Wind

Bill — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:46:13 +0000

I’ve begun blogging about environmental justice and the West for High Country News My first post went up July 30 and discussed growth, economics and justice.HCN has been kind enough to allow me to cross-post, so beginning with this week’s edition I’ll also be putting my posts up here at Lascher at Large.

On [...]

All Things Not Considered in NPR’s Oil Drilling Coverage

Bill — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:18:25 +0000

Yesterday afternoon President Obama shocked the country when he announced plans to open parts of the Atlantic and Alaskan coasts to oil drilling. Though the Pacific Coast was left untouched, the move could open up huge expanses of ocean elsewhere.

Many environmentalists treated the news as a betrayal and yet another delay in the move [...]

Extreme Measures

Bill — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:36:43 +0000

Geomicrobiologists look to harsh environments for organisms “disobeying” traditional chemistry teaching. (This story was originally written and reported in October, 2008 at the University of Southern California).

Petri dishes might not be replacing AA batteries at Radio Shack any time soon, but a growing body of research shows it may soon be possible to [...]

Blurring the lines: Virtual human research promises real-world impacts

Bill — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:57:23 +0000

Halfway through my interview with Louis-Philippe Morency I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

Every nod, every movement of pen to paper, every glance in his eyes made me wonder what I might have been saying without saying anything. Would he catch my eyes straying to his bookshelves or the traffic on the [...]

Mt. Wilson Observed

Bill — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:32:00 +0000

“Two firefighters die.”

Each thick black letter blazes through the scratchy grime of the plexiglass newspaper rack. They ignite my attention. They singe my mind even after I pass, as I board a 754 Rapid at Wilshire and Vermont and as I disembark in Los Feliz. They smolder as I walk to the library, [...]

Will Going Green be the Next Way We Go Bust?

Bill — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:52:50 +0000

“Wheel is going green,” blared a television announcer during a Spring broadcast of TV’s popular game show “Jeopardy.” The wheel in question? “Jeopardy”’s sister show, the equally well-known “Wheel of Fortune.”

Pat Sajak and Vanna White — icons for decades of American dreams of easy money — became the latest public [...]