Expansion of nuclear power technology to new countries – SMRs, safety culture issues, and the need for an improved international safety regime

This article reviews the status and prospects of nuclear power around the world and provides a perspective on the need to strengthen national and international safety regimes and bolster nuclear safety culture globally – one prerequisite for a sustained role of the technology in the future. It discusses the prospects in countries that have never deployed nuclear power before but have expressed an interest in adding it to their future national energy mixes. Many of these “newcomer” countries are considering small modular reactor (SMR) designs which hold promise for fitting better into their local electricity systems. Thus, the article considers the technical attributes of these designs and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of SMRs with an emphasis on economics, grid compatibility and most importantly, safety. Attributes of a safety culture are discussed from social and cultural aspects, including topics of good governance and the presence of an independent national regulatory authority. Beyond the need for strong national safety regulations, the article also highlights the need to strengthen the international regulatory regime, if nuclear power is to succeed in achieving the highest levels of safety globally. Finally, the qualities of such a regime are discussed

Urocortin Neuropeptide Levels Are Impaired in the PBMCs of Overweight Children

The corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and urocortins (UCNs) have been implicated in energy homeostasis and the cellular stress response. However, the expression of these neuropeptides in children remains unclear. Therefore, we determined the impact of obesity on their expression in 40 children who were normal weight, overweight, and had obesity. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma were used to assess the expression of neuropeptides. THP1 cells were treated with 25 mM glucose and 200 µM palmitate, and gene expression was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Transcript levels of neuropeptides were decreased in PBMCs from children with increased body mass index as indicated by a significant decrease in UCN1, UCN3, and CRH mRNA in overweight and obese children. UCN3 mRNA expression was strongly correlated with UCN1, UCN2, and CRH. Exposure of THP1 cells to palmitate or a combination of high glucose and palmitate for 24 h increased CRH, UCN2, and UCN3 mRNA expression with concomitant increased levels of inflammatory and endoplasmic reticulum stress markers, suggesting a crosstalk between these neuropeptides and the cellular stress response. The differential impairment of the transcript levels of CRH and UCNs in PBMCs from overweight and obese children highlights their involvement in obesity-related metabolic and cellular stress

The case for nuclear power in the Middle East and North Africa

Several Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries have, over the past decades, declared an interest in nuclear power, although aside from some limited R&D; programmes based on research reactors in a few Arab countries (Egypt, Algeria, and Libya, for example) and Iran, until recently no MENA state has committed to a concrete nuclear power programme. This changed in the new millennium, with the UAE’s firm nuclear programme that will add 20 MW of nuclear power by 2020, turning it into the first Arab country to produce nuclear power for domestic use. Other regional neighbours, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait have been announcing plans for similar programmes. This article summarizes the rationale for nuclear power in both the GCC and MENA countries, before reviewing economic competitiveness in the regional context, the requirements for infrastructure and regulation, and the status of regional programmes