Happiness Is a Cool Reactor A Journey in Nuclear Power Influenced by the Three Mile Island Accident Nuclear power has been and continues to be a mystery to many people. This book tells the story of the journey of an average individual who, for over forty years, because of unintentional turns of events, became an active member of the industry and learned to understand and support this challenging but rewarding technology. With global warming and growing demands for energy worldwide, nuclear power plants in conjunction with renewable energy sources is the most promising way to support our future generations. This book describes the fundamental concepts associated with nuclear power in a manner that can be easily understood by the average individual. It puts into perspective the risks from nuclear plant operation while using the 1979 Three Mile Island accident as a backdrop. It also explains the effects from uncontrolled reactor accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi in a balanced perspective and explains how the industry has learned from these tragic events to become a much safer one. You will learn about the fission process and how it is controlled, as well as how unstable atoms produce radiation and heat in the reactor core. The book describes how this heat continues to be generated even after a reactor is shut down and thus systems are designed to try to keep the core cool at all times, even during accidents. When a reactor cannot be kept cool, then emergency plans must be activated that provide measures to provide public protection. This book describes how these plans work and are regularly tested. You will also learn about radiation exposure controls that have improved over time and how you can calculate how much exposure to radiation that you personally receive on an annual basis.

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man in Letters to my Grandchildren and Other Friends In Volume II the 30 year old Keith returns to the UK and begins a career as Commercial Director in the UK Atomic Energy Authority. When, after 13 years, the institutional demands get too restrictive, he quits and moves on to be Regional Director for the Caribbean and Central America in the Commonwealth Development and Finance Company. Operating from Kingston, Jamaica, Keith is responsible for the investments in a wide variety of industries: commercial properties, an airline, rice farming, pipeline manufacture, hotel management, a turtle farm and many others. This experience gives Keith a taste of true entrepreneurship and he decides to set up on his own. From the first steps along the road from being his own boss he has never deviated from this path. Commercial rose growing in the Dominical Republic, refinancing of a hotel in Santo Domingo, real estate development in Cayman, raising finance and managing a uranium mining startup in Saskatchewan – are just a few of the businesses he is involved with. One major commitment is to accept the appointment by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands as Official Liquidator of a local Banking Group, comprising three banks and more than 100 operating subsidiary companies, ranging from a cattle breeding farm in Quebec to two inter-island trading vessels. Keith meets each challenge with his usual passion, dedication, energy and responsibility. The intensity of his work demands, though, has its price and leads to the breakdown of two marriages. This volume ends with Keith starting his own gold mining company and meeting the love of his life. Keith writes as honestly about his failures as he does about his successes. The analysis of the dictum of St Francis Xavier “Give me the child... and I will give you the man” continues through the search for the source of his decisions and whether those could be traced back to early experiences in his life.