Obituaries of the “Nuclear Renaissance” have been widespread and frequent in the years since the Great Recession and reactions to the Great Northeast Japanese … [Read More...] about Are we finally approaching lift-off for a real Renaissance?
Atomic Show #265 – Atomic Optimism. Under-appreciated opportunities in sight.
On Sunday, Feb 17, I realized that I was feeling extraordinarily good about the future of atomic energy, the future of clean energy production, and the future prosperity of the world that my grandchildren are going to inhabit.
I immediately composed and sent an invitation to some atomic colleagues to join me in a conversation. I picked the invitee list carefully, hoping to obtain useful responses to my explanation for the numerous bases on which my optimism relied.
Guests were forewarned about my bubbly mood and asked to bring their best arguments to temper my enthusiasm and perhaps talk me down from an artificially induced state of euphoria.
Of course, I couldn’t provide much prior notice, If I waited too long, the mood might dissipate or my bubble might be prematurely punctured by some kind of real life event.
Guests who were able to join in the conversation included:
Meredith Angwin, author of Campaigning for Clean Air, Voices for Vermont Yankee and an intriguing, forthcoming book on the state of the grid in restructured regulatory “markets.”
Steve Aplin, blogger at Canadian Energy Issues
Jessica Lovering, Director of Energy at the Breakthrough Institute, and an expert on historical cost trends in nuclear energy generation systems
Canon Bryan, the CFO of Terrestrial Energy and a financial specialist with deep experience in the uranium market
I think you will enjoy the conversation. Spoiler, none of the guests succeeded in significantly dampening my enthusiasm for the possibility that we are very near an important inflection point in human history.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Android | Google Podcasts | RSS
Are we finally approaching lift-off for a real Renaissance?
Obituaries of the “Nuclear Renaissance” have been widespread and frequent in the years since the Great Recession and reactions to the Great Northeast Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami. I’m pretty sure those obits have been premature in declaring the subject to be dead.
Last week, I attended the 6th Annual Advanced Reactor Summit and Technology Showcase. The event alllowed me to reconnect with some of my favorite atomic innovators and to meet, in real life, a long-time friend and colleague in the atomic advocacy community.
It’s worth remembering that the historical period we refer to as “The Renaissance” took about 50 years of foundation-building before taking hold and flourishing in a burst of human creativity and achievement that lasted about 300 years.
While already on the US West Coast, I spent the weekend in the heart of Silicon Valley engaged in fascinating discussions about atomic investment opportunities and challenges in an under appreciated branch of high technology.
Ever since that transformative experience, I’ve been thinking deep thoughts and trying to find words with which to describe and explain my optimism for a new Atomic Age.
My reflective moments have been punctuated and reinforced by such experiences as watching several committee hearings during which there was near universal agreement that we have a CO2 production crisis in need of solutions, that nuclear energy is an important tool that must be refined and used more effectively, and that America still has a virtually unmatched set of advantages that enable advanced atomic development.
I won’t attempt to provide details here about individual presentations from the AR Summit that provided encouragement, but if you are curious, you might want to search Twitter for my tweets that included the hashtag #ARSummit.
Among the talks and discussions that I found most valuable for my recent reflections were David Wright’s description of his regulatory and leadership philosophies; talks about additive manufacturing and its associated capacity for continuous, in process inspections; talks about methods for accelerating irradiation testing and model verification; talks about new uses of silicon carbide and SiC-SiC composites; talks about molten salt systems designed for easy fabrication and lower capital costs; and discussions on the summit sidelines about multiagency progress in addressing radiation protection models and the underlying science justifying substantial changes.
My visit to the heart of American startup and high tech investing culture reminded me that we are a country that is full of human, financial, physical and technical capital. We have a well-established process for bringing the disparate ingredients of success together in a way that can produce surprisingly rapid and repeatable revolutions.
We know how to recognize opportunity, how to solve problems and how to spread those solutions around the world.
Stand by for the next Atomic Age. You can call it Nuclear Renaissance 2.0, if you prefer.
Acting EPA administrator appoints Dr. Brant Ulsh to head radiation advisory council
Sometimes, there are benefits to breaking things. It’s often the only way to eliminate barriers and walls that prevent progress. The process can create dust and debris that must be cleaned up to allow erection of a solid, stable path, but without the initial sledgehammer attack, nothing gets done. For more than 20 years, I’ve […]
ML-1 Mobile Power System: Reactor in a Box
This is a modest update of an article first published in November 1996. DOD’s recent issuance of an RFI for mobile, modest power output atomic power systems shows that the challenges that were clearly described in 1963 have not been addressed – yet. Now is a good time to start addressing them. The ML-1 experimental […]
Atomic Show #264 – Building momentum in advanced nuclear energy
It’s not glaringly obvious, but preparatory steps enabling a take off for advanced nuclear power systems are making measurable progress. Enabling legislative acts have been passed by both the Senate and House and signed by the President, turning them into laws requiring actions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is back to full strength and under a […]
Nature and Nuclear Power, the hills and valleys will be thankful and every creature rejoice!
By Wade Allison Emeritus Professor of Physics at Keble College, Oxford A canary, alive and singing in the coal mine, gave miners confidence that the air was safe to breathe. But today our problem is not carbon monoxide in a mine but carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. The Industrial Revolution was built on […]
Atomic Show #263 – Musicians choosing to be atomic advocates
Forgive me, dear readers and listeners. It has been more than two months since my last post and more than 11 months since my last Atomic Show podcast. It has been a refreshing pause in my atomic information sharing activities. I haven’t been completely separated from the fray. I’ve been keeping up with my reading […]
Kairos – Developing advanced nuclear energy in Alameda
In some ways, Kairos Power has a familiar sounding story. It is a California-based start-up founded by three bright people, all with a tie to Cal Berkeley (UCB). They have decided to turn their grant-funded tech research into a for-profit company. One of the founders, Dr. Per Peterson, is a long established UCB professor with […]
Turning nuclear into a fuel dominated business
Under our current energy paradigm, nuclear power has the reputation of needing enormous up-front capital investments. Once those investments have been made and the plants are complete, the payoff is that they have low recurring fuel costs. Just the opposite is said of simple cycle natural gas fired combustion turbines. They require a small capital […]
Serious, timely, vital conversation about effects of ionizing radiation
Recently, the American Nuclear Society and the Health Physics Society hosted an historically important meeting on updating the scientific basis for low dose radiation protection standards. Attendees discussed the effects of low dose radiation, the existing radiation protection construct that has evolved to minimize the impact of those effects, and ways to take advantage of […]
Making sense from radiation protection controversy
During the past two days, I’ve spent 20-30 hours listening to and participating in a sometimes heated and often polite discussion about the health effects of low dose radiation and the rules established or needed to ensure adequate protection. It’s part of a controversy that has deep roots and stubbornly entrenched sides with a much […]
Displacing LNT assertion with evidence
A joint ANS/HPS (American Nuclear Society/Health Physics Society) meeting titled “Applicability of Radiation Protection Models to Low Dose Protection Standards” (hashtag #LowDose2018) will kick-off tonight. This much anticipated event has attracted 200 medical, radiation and nuclear energy experts to the booming metropolis of Pasco, WA. The site is appropriate, Pasco is one of the three […]
