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…
X-300 Blazing a Different Kind of Trail in Smaller Nuclear Reactor Development
GEH spent about half a billion dollars designing, testing and certifying the ESBWR. Despite that investment, the 1,520 MWe Enhanced, Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) design documents are just gathering dust with no…
Pebble bed reactor safety demonstration test – ABC video from 2007
I spent about 15 years trying (unsuccessfully) to get a small modular reactor company off the ground. Our concept was based on an adaptation of the successful German pebble bed demonstration reactor called…
Turning small modular reactor concepts into reality in Idaho Falls
In the past half dozen years, the term “small modular reactor (SMR)” has entered the nuclear energy lexicon. Numerous projects have been initiated to develop various concepts, all aimed at producing nuclear reactor…
Next Round of AP1000s in China Will Actually Be CAP1000s With No Westinghouse Involvement
A little more than three years ago, I wrote an article expressing my belief that the four AP100s that Westinghouse sold to China in a landmark deal signed in December 2006 would be…
Toshiba Announces $6.3 B Writedown On A $229 M Construction Company Acquisition
Toshiba’s chairman, Shigenori Shiga, has accepted the responsibility for his company’s financial challenges and operating losses and resigned his position as chairman and as a board member. He remains an executive with the…
Is the NRC the “gold standard” of nuclear regulation or the “DMV standard”?
On October 13, 2011 the Reuters news service published an article titled NRC delays reactor certification to study Japan damage that led with the following paragraph. WILMINGTON, N.C., Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S….
Eurogas head says if nuclear not acceptable, talk to nat gas suppliers (Smoking gun)
I have recently been introduced to a fascinating energy industry information source called European Energy Review. It is useful to find new perspectives on a topic as broad and as important as the…
ExxonMobil aiming to capture growth in US electricity market
On January 9, 2012, The Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University held a hydrofracking workshop. The organizers invited a number of speakers from both industry and academia to discuss a contentious,…
Smoking Gun Part 10 – Scottish government signals support for reopening Longannet
In the midst of the debate about whether or not the UK should include new nuclear power as one of its major options in a new energy strategy designed to lessen the island…
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.