An Interactive Global Nuclear Information System

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

For basic Google Earth navigation and questions please check the Google User Guide under Help in the menu bar.

Setup and Installation

1. Where do I obtain Google Earth?

Google Earth can be downloaded from http://www.earth.google.com. Check the licensing documentation from Google for confirmation, but the free version can be used for internal business purposes.

2. Should I buy Google Earth Pro?

It is not required to purchase the Professional edition to run Nuclear Earth. The main advantages to buying Google Earth Pro is that it will provide a faster connection to Google's servers for downloading satellite imagery, some enhanced tools to incorporate advanced GIS capabilities, and the ability to use the imagery in presentations and reports (with permission from Google). See http://earth.google.com/earth_pro.html for more details.

3. When logging in to Nuclear Earth, should I check the Remember me button?

Yes. This will limit the number of times that you have to re-enter your username and password while navigating in Nuclear Earth.

4. Should I save Nuclear Earth to My Places or come back to the website each time to open the KMZ file?

In order to ensure that you always have the latest version, we recommend that you obtain the KMZ file from the Nuclear Earth website each time you run Nuclear Earth.

Navigation in Nuclear Earth

1. How do I go to a particular facility?

There are several ways to navigate to a particular facility. You can zoom in to the facility's general area and look for its name, you can navigate through the facility listing in the My Places space in the left banner and double-click on the name, or you can go to Edit/Find on the menu bar at the top and type in the facility name and then double-click on it to go to the facility.

2. How is the facility listing organized under My Places?

The facilities are initially grouped by operating status (Future, Operating, Shutdown). Within each status grouping, the facilities are organized by facility type. Under each facility type, the facilities are listed in alphabetical order by country.

3. Can I see only particular types of facilities or operating status?

Yes. You can turn each group or individual facility on or off by using the checkbox next to its name in the My Places space.

4. Why does the icon for a facility not show up on the map?

Try zooming in to see the facility - as you get closer, more icons become visible and more names appear. It could also be that the icon is underneath some other facilities - try clicking on a facility icon to expand it to show all of the underlying icons.

5. How do I change the size of the left banner space and Profile report space?

Move the mouse over the dividing line between the window frames. Click and hold to drag the frame bigger or smaller.

6. What does Location Accuracy mean?

The Location Accuracy represents the approximate distance to the actual facility from the icon location. Most facilities are located to at least the site level while some places have the actual buildings onsite located.

7. If the satellite imagery is blurry or of poor quality, is there any way to see a higher quality image?

Maybe. You can try clicking on the Terraserver link in the Profile report for the facility to bring up additional satellite imagery of this location. Terraserver.com often provides multiple images from various dates.

8. How old is the satellite imagery?

See number 3 on Google Earth's FAQ at http://earth.google.com/faq.html

or this question on a Google Earth bulletin board:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Number=651484

9. How can I speed up the display of the imagery?

The speed of Google Earth is highly dependent on your Internet connection. There are a few things that can be done to minimize the delay in seeing the imagery, however. In the Layers section of the left-hand pane, you can turn off all layers that you are not interested in. The Terrain layer can be truned off until you want to tilt the view and see the topography. All other layers can be turned off as you like (it is recommended that you keep the borders layer on to provide a frame of reference). Upgrading to Google Earth Pro will also improve the speed.

Profile Reports

1. How do I access the profile reports?

Single-click on a facility icon to bring up the pop-up box. Click on the Profile link to open the report for that facility.

2. How do I get the report to appear within the Google Earth window?

Go to Tools/Options on the menu bar and click the General tab. Under Display, uncheck the box next to "Show web results in external browser".

3. How do I see summary Profile reports?

By clicking on the links in the Profile report, you will be taken to various summary reports. An index of all facilities is provided at the bottom of the report as well as a link to see the worldwide summary.

4. What does "Annualized Demand" mean for U3O8, UF6, Enrichment, and LWR Fabrication demand data?

For each reactor, the demand in a given year is calculated by taking the total demand for the reload batch and dividing it by an appropriate factor to convert it to an annualized number. For example, if a reactor is on 18 month cycles (startup to startup), then the demand for that reload is divided by 1.5 to obtain the average annual demand. This differs from standard Fuel-Trac demand data which provides the actual demand in the year in which it occurs. For Nuclear Earth, demand is only given for some given years and so it is necessary to annualize the data to avoid having reactors displaying zero demand just because they do not have a reload in that year.