
Chris Wright on nuclear power, Nov 6, 2020
Yesterday, Chris Wright was confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Energy. After that important step in his energy career, it’s worth taking a few moments to learn what he thinks about nuclear power outside of any political context. In my experience, people like Wright form and hold opinions that do not shift much over…

Atomic Show #325 – Marco Visscher – The Power of Nuclear
After many years as an independent journalist with an antinuclear bent, Marco Visscher began questioning his long-held beliefs. He realized that the accepted alternatives to fossil fuel were not actually reducing fossil fuel…

Atomic Show #324 – Jay Hakes, Author of Presidents and the Planet
Jay Hakes, an accomplished author and historian, visited the Atomic Show to talk about his recently published book, Presidents and the Planet: Climate Change Science and Politics from Eisenhower to Bush. Sometimes referred…

Atomic Show #323 – Julie Kozeracki, Director of Strategy, DOE Loan Programs Office
Julie Kozeracki was the lead author for a U.S. Department of Energy strategy document titled Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear published in September 2024. The document was the result of a multi-agency,…

Atomic Show #322 – Westinghouse’s eVinci micro reactor
Westinghouse’s eVinci is a 15 MWth, 5 MWe micro reactor. Westinghouse often refers to it as a nuclear battery. Unlike conventional nuclear power plants, eVinci uses no water and doesn’t produce steam. The…

Atomic Show #325 – Marco Visscher – The Power of Nuclear
After many years as an independent journalist with an antinuclear bent, Marco Visscher began questioning his long-held beliefs. He realized that the accepted alternatives to fossil fuel were not actually reducing fossil fuel…

Atomic Show #324 – Jay Hakes, Author of Presidents and the Planet
Jay Hakes, an accomplished author and historian, visited the Atomic Show to talk about his recently published book, Presidents and the Planet: Climate Change Science and Politics from Eisenhower to Bush. Sometimes referred…

Atomic Show #323 – Julie Kozeracki, Director of Strategy, DOE Loan Programs Office
Julie Kozeracki was the lead author for a U.S. Department of Energy strategy document titled Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear published in September 2024. The document was the result of a multi-agency,…
Letter from the Editor: PM-3A, Pioneer in Anarctic Research
Recently I took my family to the Tampa, Florida Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), which had a traveling exhibit on Antarctica. The display included a great deal of information about the dedicated…
B&W’s mPowerTM Reactor – Who Says America is Behind in the Nuclear Renaissance?
Sometimes, games really do change while few people are watching. That is what happened yesterday when Babcock and Wilcox announced their mPowerTM modular nuclear power plant. The big difference is not the basic…
Keep it Simple: Complex Systems Cost More
It must also be understood that the 60 percent efficient gas turbine combined cycle is a very sophisticated piece of machinery operating with its material at close to maximum limits. A first generation…

NRC’s imposition of Aircraft Impact rule played a major role in Vogtle project delays and VC Summer failure
Projects that last as long as building nuclear reactors in the U.S. are analogous to extreme endurance competitions in which overall progress is the sum of all stages of the race. There is…
Irish people should ignore Arnie Gundersen because he’s wrong
A friend who often gets involved in discussions about nuclear energy stories with frightened people in his social media network contacted me to find out what I thought of an article titled Nuclear…
Crowd sourced debunking of Gundersen lies about AP1000 & Fukushima
I have an important request for Atomic Insights readers. Our old friend, Arnie Gundersen, has once again violated the admonition that it is better to remain silent and thought to be a fool…
Following the money: who’s funding Stanford’s Natural Gas Initative
A few days ago, I wrote about Stanford University’s new Natural Gas Initiative (NGI) and described why I thought the existence of that program helped to explain why some prominent Stanford professors —…
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,…
“Greens” fighting Pebble mine are helping Rio Tinto, Anglo-American and BHP Billiton
I came across an interesting saga yesterday. My introduction came from a May 14, 2015 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled The Greens’ Back Door at the EPA. (Hint: If you…
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.