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Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Pro Nuclear Video

The Assay TV speaks with Rod Adams, Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital and Atomic Insights host

February 20, 2022 By Editor Leave a Comment

The Assay is a media project of the 121 Group, based in Hong Kong, that serves investors, fund managers and analysts who are involved with and/or investing in a wide range of mining ventures. As part of their efforts to bring a greater understanding of the complex markets that control the prospects of mining ventures, The Assay TV produces a video series with CEO interviews from all over the world. On February 16, Adam Thompson hosted Rod Adams in a wide-ranging conversation about nuclear energy, uranium and the emergence of advanced nuclear designs in the coming years. This is the beginning of an exploration of the growing concerns about where and how the advanced nuclear sector will secure their projected fuel supplies and the impact of the growth of SMRs and Gen IV develop on uranium miners.

You can watch this interview with Rod by clicking on the above video or at Youtube here.

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic education, Atomic Entrepreneurs, New Nuclear, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Waste, Podcast, Pro Nuclear Video, Uranium mining Tagged With: 121 Group, Adam Thompson, The Assay, The Assay TV, uranium, uranium market

A Path from Coal to Nuclear is Being Blazed in Wyoming

August 12, 2021 By Valerie Gardner 37 Comments



Many of those who care about finding solutions to the physical distress that our climate is experiencing, as reported on this week in a landmark 1,300 page report by the IPCC‘s Sixth Assessment Working Group 1 (Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis), are not looking at Wyoming.

But based upon the announcement made in early June by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, together with senior Senator John Barrasso, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, TerraPower founder and Chairman, Bill Gates, President and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power Gary Hoogevene and others, maybe they should.

In a well-orchestrated 30-minute event, Wyoming’s political leadership, while making no bones about their total support for coal, announced that Bill Gates’ advanced nuclear venture, TerraPower, had selected Wyoming and a yet-to-be-determined retiring Rocky Mountain Power coal plant, as the site to build and operate the first sodium-cooled advanced Natrium™ reactor, with matching funding from the DOE’s ARDP program.

Aside: Several times during the presentation, a speaker mentioned their interest in carbon capture and sequestration. Many of the technologies being pursued for that capability require nearly continuous clean power in massive quantities. Nuclear plants are the leading source for that kind of power. End Aside

The Governor’s plan to test the conversion of coal plants to new nuclear is being supported with a combination of private and federal funding as well as advance work by Wyoming’s legislature, which passed HB 74 with overwhelming bipartisan support, allowing utilities and other power plant owners to replace retiring coal and natural gas electric generation plants with small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The bill was signed by the Governor immediately and is now House Enrolled Act 60.

Wyoming will see the development of a first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear power plant that validates the design, construction and operational features of the Natrium technology and enables Wyoming, which currently leads the country in coal exports, to get a lead in the form of energy best suited to replace coal—built right at coal plants, potentially around the world. This conversion path not only reuses some of the physical infrastructure at the coal plant but also takes advantage of the skilled people and supporting community that have been operating that plant.

In December, 2020, Staffan Qvist, Paweł Gładysz, Łukasz Bartela and Anna Sowizdzał published a study that looked at the issue of retrofitting coal power plants for decarbonization in Poland.  They published their findings in Retrofit Decarbonization of Coal Power Plants—a Case Study for Poland, showing that decarbonization retrofits worked best using high-temperature small modular reactor to replace coal boilers.

What makes this announcement truly “game-changing and monumental” in the Governor’s own words, is just how cost-effective and efficient converting a coal plant to advanced nuclear might be. According to the Polish study, retrofitting coal boilers with high-temperature small modular nuclear reactors as a way to decarbonize the plant can lower upfront capital costs by as much as 35% and reduce the levelized cost of electricity by as much as 28% when compared to a greenfield installation.

The analysis looked at the potential within a coal retrofit of re-using the existing assets that are already there. While there will be large differences across plants as to the effective age and useful life condition of major plant components, the study found that “compared to very early retirement, re-using non-coal-related auxiliary buildings and electrical equipment, turbogenerators, cooling water systems, cooling towers, and pumphouses can thus avoid the stranding of up to 40% of the initial investment at a new coal plant.” (See Qvist p. 7)



Additionally, converting to nuclear can maintain the level of energy output from the plant and even exceed it, while eliminating emissions. In contrast, annual output replacement would not be possible using other clean energy options such as biomass, wind, solar or geothermal. (See Qvist p. 11)


In October, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), awarded TerraPower $80 million in initial funding from the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to demonstrate the Natrium reactor and energy system with its technology co-developer GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and engineering and construction partner Bechtel. The award will provide TerraPower and its partners with up to $1.6 billion in federal funding during the project to build the reactor, to be operational within five to seven years. TerraPower is also partnering with PacifiCorp and Rocky Mountain Power, subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Energy Northwest and Duke Energy, which will also provide expertise in the areas of licensing, operations, maintenance, siting and grid needs.

Currently, the DOE is funding a number of promising reactor development projects and President Biden’s recently passed Infrastructure Bill appears to have increased those budget allocations. That is very good news for the climate. According to the Qvist study, some 1,300 GW of coal power units globally could be suitable for retrofitting with advanced nuclear reactors by the 2030s. If large-scale retrofitting were to be implemented starting then, up to 200 billion tons of CO2 emission could be avoided, which equates to nearly six years of total global CO2 emissions, and “would make the prospects of reaching global climate targets far more realistic.” (Qvist p. 33)

For those of us anxiously logging milestones along the way towards our future 100% clean grid, TerraPower’s decision to site its new plant in Wyoming and Wyoming’s embrace of this opportunity—where not that long ago the legislature reacted with an “‘unheard of’ IRP investigation” to push back on PacifiCorp’s 2020 IRP showing the retirement of 20 of 24 coal plants—is remarkable. It is definitely worthwhile keeping an eye on Wyoming, where some entirely miraculous brew of audacious political leadership, climate-fueled economic anxiety and job-seeking technological brinkmanship appears to have paved the way for Wyoming to become a birthplace of 21 century clean energy. As Governor Gordon said, this is truly “game-changing and monumental” news—not just for Wyoming but also for the world. You can view the full announcement below.

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Another Blogger for Nuclear Energy, Atomic Entrepreneurs, Atomic history, Atomic politics, Clean Energy, Climate change, Coal, decarbonization, Fossil fuel cooperation, Innovation, New Nuclear, Pro Nuclear Video, Smaller reactors Tagged With: Bill Gates, Gary Hoogeveen, GE Hitachi, Governor Mark Gordon, IPCC, Jennifer Graholm, physical sciences basis, Senator John Barrasso, TerraPower, Wyoming

Nucleating our carbon-managed future

April 22, 2021 By Valerie Gardner 104 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Aging nuclear, Atomic Advocacy, Clean Energy, Climate change, decarbonization, Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, Fossil fuel competition, Grid resilience, Innovation, Investing, New Nuclear, Pro Nuclear Video, Venture Capital Tagged With: CCUS, nuclear investment, Nucleation Capital

Challenging established paradigms in one of the world’s largest industries

November 28, 2017 By Rod Adams 28 Comments

Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie, the co-founders of Transatomic, are striving to make a difference in the world. They want to bring power and light to those who do not have it and they want to show a way to turn “waste” into valuable fuel. In this Fast Company Freethink production, Dewan shares her inspirations […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic Advocacy, Atomic Entrepreneurs, Pro Nuclear Video

Ad Campaign Touts Marvels Of Atomic Technology With Tagline ‘Nuclear. Power The Extraordinary’

October 5, 2017 By Rod Adams 2 Comments

New Power Changes Everything. It's Not New. It's Nuclear

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) announced in early September that was starting a new advertising campaign with reimagined creative materials. Using the general tagline of “Nuclear. Power the Extraordinary” the U.S. nuclear industry’s trade organization will be speaking “to the critical role that nuclear technology plays in our lives. With dramatic visuals, the new campaign captures the […]

Filed Under: Atomic Advocacy, Business of atomic energy, Pro Nuclear Video

Atomic Show #259 – David Schumacher The New Fire Movie

September 29, 2017 By Rod Adams 12 Comments

David Schumacher is a filmmaker who was inspired to learn more about nuclear energy at a Wired-sponsored event in 2011. That event took place soon after the Fukushima event captured widespread media attention. During the Wired gathering, he heard Bill Gates talk about his investments in TerraPower and his excitement in being involved in the […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic education, Atomic Pioneers, Podcast, Pro Nuclear Video

Micheal Shellenberger tells Cal Poly audience how nuclear fear began. How will it end?

January 7, 2017 By Rod Adams 7 Comments

Michael Shellenberger, the director of Environmental Progress, recently gave a talk at Cal Poly titled How Fear of Nuclear Ends. As usual, Michael did a terrific job of presenting the talk and provides excellent graphics in support of his primary discussion points. There is, not surprisingly, more to the story he told. After all, he […]

Filed Under: Pro Nuclear Video, Antinuclear activist, Atomic politics, Diablo Canyon

PBS Newshour teases NOVA’s Nuclear Option

January 5, 2017 By Rod Adams 34 Comments

Judy Woodruff introduced a “must see” segment on PBS’s Newshour last night. JUDY WOODRUFF: Now: why some engineers and investors are making big bets to develop a new generation of nuclear reactors. Miles O’Brien has the story. It was a co-production with our friends at PBS “NOVA” tied to the January 11 documentary “The Nuclear […]

Filed Under: Pro Nuclear Video, Advanced Atomic Technologies, Innovation

The New Fire project nears completion. Please prove there’s an eager market

November 28, 2016 By Rod Adams

Advanced nuclear reactor development is so vibrant, interesting and important that it has attracted a filmmaking team. The filmmakers, led by David Schumacher and Derek Wiesenhahn, are telling a story about some of the projects that aim to produce new ways to use fission to power society. The projects have been created by dedicated, interesting […]

Filed Under: Pro Nuclear Video

Showing up and speaking up for Diablo Canyon and nuclear energy in California

July 9, 2016 By Rod Adams 10 Comments

The California State Lands Commission meeting on June 28, 2016 included a number of articulate, knowledgable, rational and emotional talks by people who took time to attend the meeting and to deliver their public comments. Some had carefully prepared remarks, others spoke directly from their hearts. Some had a prop or a graph, others relied […]

Filed Under: Aging nuclear, Antinuclear activist, Atomic Advocacy, Atomic politics, decommissioning, Diablo Canyon, Pro Nuclear Video

Bipartisan support for advanced nuclear energy development

January 31, 2016 By Rod Adams 21 Comments

Third Way bills itself as a centrist think tank that is not satisfied with just thinking; they take action that gets results. Wednesday’s (Jan 27, 2016) Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase provided an excellent example of Third Way’s ability to seek common ground among people from both major political parties in the United States. The […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic politics, Pro Nuclear Video

Rachel Pritzker kicks off Third Way’s Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase

January 30, 2016 By Rod Adams Leave a Comment

In August 2015, I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Rachel Pritzker to Atomic Insights readers and Atomic Show listeners with Atomic Show #241 – Rachel Pritzker, philanthropic problem solver. Since that show, Rachel and I have met face to face, exchanged several emails, participated on the same conference calls, and interacted via Twitter. I […]

Filed Under: Atomic Advocacy, Pro Nuclear Video

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