Atomic Show #316 – Emmet Penney, Pronuclear Poet
Emmet Penney is an unlikely, but effective pronuclear advocate. He earned his degrees in fine arts and great books and worked for several years as a professional poet – along with working in a bookstore as a way to keep paying the bills. He gradually transitioned from poetry into writing thoughtful essays on a variety…
Atomic Show #315 – Doug Sandridge, Oil and Gas Executives for Nuclear Energy
Doug Sandridge is a lifelong oil and gas guy whose father was a geological engineer. While he was growing up, Doug lived a significant portion of his life overseas as his father’s job…
Why is nuclear energy an important influence on both natural gas and hydrogen futures?
The Feb 6, 2024 Energy Gang podcast was titled “A pause in US gas export approvals: a big win for the climate?US hits the brakes on gas exports!” It was described as a…
Pro-nuclear advocates should stop bashing advanced nuclear
I wish I knew why some nuclear advocates feel that it’s worth their time to spread as much negative information as they can find about the potential utility and value of advanced nuclear…
Why would climate publications disrespect nuclear fission?
Here is another instance of climate reporting that treats nuclear fission as if it barely exists. Before COP28, Cipher published an “Exclusive” that led off with “The United States is working behind the…
Atomic Show #316 – Emmet Penney, Pronuclear Poet
Emmet Penney is an unlikely, but effective pronuclear advocate. He earned his degrees in fine arts and great books and worked for several years as a professional poet – along with working in…
Atomic Show #315 – Doug Sandridge, Oil and Gas Executives for Nuclear Energy
Doug Sandridge is a lifelong oil and gas guy whose father was a geological engineer. While he was growing up, Doug lived a significant portion of his life overseas as his father’s job…
Atomic Show #314 – Economies of scale for micro, small, medium, large reactors – with James Krellenstein
James Krellenstein is a physicist, consultant and nuclear energy historian. He is currently employed as a senior advisor to Global Health Strategies. He started up their decarbonization practice with an emphasis on nuclear…
Fission is an elegant way to heat a gas
What if it was possible to combine the low capital cost, reliability, and responsive operations of simple cycle combustion gas turbines with the low fuel cost and zero-emission capability of an actinide (uranium,…
Economy of Scale?: Is Bigger Better?
It is possible for engineers to make incredibly complex calculations without a single math error that still come up with a wrong answer if they use a model based on incorrect assumptions. (Originally…
Bechtel And BWXT Quietly Terminate mPower Reactor Project
Generation mPower, one of the early leaders in the development of small modular reactors (SMR), has decided to fully terminate its partnership and put the design material that was developed onto a corporate…
Markey is lying. The AP1000 design certification has been anything but “fast tracked”
A letter to the editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times published on January 6, 2012 got me riled up. The letter is intended to encourage people who live in Asheville to organize to resist…
Unintended Consequences – Redesign for Aircraft Impact Rule Calls AP1000 Shield Design Into Question
One of the lessons that should have been learned during the first nuclear age was that rule changes aimed at solving a new “issue” can have unintended consequences in another area of plant…
China breaks ground on world’s first Westinghouse AP1000
Chinaview.cn published a story on February 26, 2008 titled China starts excavation for world’s first 3rd-generation nuclear plant. The plant is the first of four reactors whose order was initially announced in December,…
Corporate environmental contributions: Greenwashing or worse?
Ken Silverstein posted a thought-provoking piece on Forbes.com titled Being ‘Good Neighbors’ And Staying Out Of Print Motivates Companies To Be Environmental Stewards. The following quote stimulated me to provide a slightly different…
Smoking pop gun – Inside the Green Energy Ball
I have recently become an active participant on TheEnergyCollective.com. It is an interesting site that is aggregating commentary and blog feeds from diverse source that include Dan Yurman’s Idaho Samizdat and Joe Romm’s…
Smoking Gun Part 18 – An Oldie But a Goodie – Oil Heat Institute of Long Island Ad Using Scare Tactics to Fight Shoreham
One of the most famous battles against nuclear energy in the US, a struggle whose effects remain important to this day, was fought on Long Island. The saga involved nearly two decades of…
Investing in Nuclear
Nuclear investments – enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy
Parnassus Versus Green Century: A Contrast in Styles
Cross-posted from Nucleation Capital June, July and August of 2023 were the three hottest months the Earth has ever seen by such a large margin, it left climate scientists agog. Climate disasters are abounding apace, with the U.S. hit by 23 large-scale disasters, a record-breaking year already. In Pakistan, extreme rainfall and flooding affected 33…
How Hot is Cold Fusion?
The 24th International Conference on Cold Fusion (ICCF24) was held at the lovely and spacious Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA over four days in late July. As a venture investor looking at evaluating and investing in a wide range of advanced nuclear ventures, I was invited to participate and/or sponsor the event. While…
Rod Adams
Managing Partner, Nucleation Capital, a venture fund enabling broader investor access to a diverse portfolio of advanced nuclear energy and deep decarbonization ventures. Nuclear energy expert and former submarine Engineer Officer with nuclear propulsion plant experience. Founder, Adams Atomic Engines, Inc. Host and producer, The Atomic Show Podcast.