Atomic Show #304 – Len Rodberg, Nuclear New York
Dr. Leonard Rodberg spent most of his adult life being opposed to nuclear energy. A half a dozen years ago, he abruptly changed his mind. Ever since, he has been a strong and vocal advocate for the increased use of nuclear energy. On Atomic Show #304 Len and I discuss his education, career, his changing…
Atomic Insights Latest Posts
IRA’s Clean Electricity Tax Credits (Sections 48E and 45Y) are an under-appreciated boon for new nuclear power
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should make an important contribution towards mitigating future inflationary periods. It accomplishes this beneficial goal by providing important support for facilities that increase US clean electricity production. The…
Oil and gas opposition to consolidated interim spent fuel (CISF) storage facilities in Permian Basin
An article titled “US sweetens pot to study siting for spent nuke fuel storage” was published in the January 26, 2023 edition of the Washington Post. The article included a paragraph that credited…
Atomic Energy Wells
Petroleum – a term includes oil, gas and derivatives – wells have been going dry for more than 150 years. Until the late 2000s, the solution to that problem of resource depletion has…
Enough with “renewables!”
The American Nuclear Society posted an article entitled How a nuclear victory at COP27 started with a teen and a text reporting on the wonderful story of Ia Aanstoot. This is the 17-year…
Atomic Show #304 – Len Rodberg, Nuclear New York
Dr. Leonard Rodberg spent most of his adult life being opposed to nuclear energy. A half a dozen years ago, he abruptly changed his mind. Ever since, he has been a strong and…
Atomic Show #303 – Bret Kugelmass, CEO Last Energy
Last Energy is an innovative new company governed by a philosophy of avoiding the invention of anything that has not been done before. They have created a business that is laser focused on…
Atomic Show #302 – Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon, Director General, World Nuclear Association
Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon, the Director General of the World Nuclear Association, visited the Atomic Show to provide an international perspective on the revival in interest in nuclear energy deployment. As the…
A Question of Economics: The Answer Depends on the Assumptions
In 1970, President Nixon affirmed that the United States had long term objectives in the Antarctic regions and consolidated responsibility for management and funding of all Antarctic operations under the National Science Foundation….
NRC accepted NuScale’s DCA. Will it complete its review on time? Estimated completion July 2020
Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted NuScale’s 12,000 page design certification application (DCA). That action starts the safety determination process, which is scheduled to take 40 months. Completed on December 31, 2016 and…
SL-1: Designed for Remote Power and Heat
The Army’s designation , SL-1, tells us that the plant was a stationary, low power reactor, and that it was the first of its kind. The design work was done by Argonne National…
AP1000 granted NRC Design Certification
The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor plant design has been awarded a Design Certification by the US NRC. The decision was published in the Federal Register on 30 December 2005 and will become final 30…
Who said modular construction would save money on first of a kind units?
On July 27, 2015, the Wall St. Journal published an article written by Rebecca Smith titled Prefab Nuclear Plants Prove Just as Expensive. That piece has been widely shared and discussed on social…
NAVIGANT analysis of Vogtle expansion provided to JEA in Sep 2017 understates fuel price risks
Aaron Zahn, the interim managing director and CEO of the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), believes it is time to give up on the Vogtle expansion project. On August 17, he sent a letter…
Smoking Gun Attack on Nuclear From Aloys Wobben, Enercon Managing Director
A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about a Tim Wirth pep talk to the natural gas industry that I called the best smoking gun ever. When I went on Clean…
Smoking Gun – Sierra Club admits donations targeting a natural gas competitor
On February 2, 2012, the Sierra Club allowed a Time magazine blog to break a poorly kept “secret” whose existence had threatened to get out of hand. In a post titled Exclusive: How…
Smoking Gun Part 9 – Carbon Sequestration advocates share an interesting funding source
A good friend sent me a link to an interesting diary on Daily Kos titled “Clean Coal”‘s Dirty Hands?. That diary entry used an article written by Peter Montague, titled INSIGHTS: Carbon Sequestration…
Nuclear Venture Capital
Nuclear Venture Capital
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…
Nucleating our carbon-managed future
If you’ve studied chemistry, you’ll know that the nucleation point describes the start of a change in physical state, such as from a solid to a liquid, or liquid to gas. Water starting to crystallize into ice nucleates where the first H2O molecules reorganize as a solid. We’re seeing a similar transformation of human society—forced…
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.