Experience Power with a healthy dose of microgrids, hydrogen and nuclear energy information

Experience Power with a healthy dose of microgrids, hydrogen and nuclear energy information

Each year since 1998, POWER Magazine has hosted a conference titled Experience Power that brings together utilities, suppliers, customers and energy leaders to discuss trends in the electric power sector. The event is currently organized as three colocated conferences, one focusing on electric power insights, one on distributed power and one on hydrogen. The 2023…

Where is the nuclear industry headed? Four top executives share their thoughts at ANS Utility Working Conference 2023

Where is the nuclear industry headed? Four top executives share their thoughts at ANS Utility Working Conference 2023

One good reason to attend industry conferences is to be able carefully listen to the thoughts of industry leaders, especially during unscripted panel discussions. When the executives are among colleagues and aren’t delivering prepared, vetted speeches with polished slides, it’s possible to glean valuable information that can help form the basis for future actions. As…

Sense of purpose at the 2023 ANS Utility Working Conference

Sense of purpose at the 2023 ANS Utility Working Conference

The theme at the annual American Nuclear Society Utility Working Conference (#ANSUWC) was resiliency, a term that applies equally well to the equipment and the people that make up the U.S. nuclear industry. Resiliency is similar to the materials engineering term of toughness; it’s the ability to withstand pressure and blows and to spring back…

Is nuclear reactor licensing process being improved as Congress mandated with NEIMA?

Is nuclear reactor licensing process being improved as Congress mandated with NEIMA?

A panel of five experts and an experienced moderator addressed the progress being made in creating effective processes to license advanced and non-LWR (light water reactors) at an ANS Winter 2022 panel session titled “Licensing the Future: How the NRC is Approaching Advanced Reactors.” Four out of five of the panelists were cautiously positive and…

Confidently building foundations for successful nuclear energy growth

Confidently building foundations for successful nuclear energy growth

Some like to describe the movement towards smaller, simpler, more sophisticated nuclear energy systems as mere hype. But serious, committed, normally reserved scientists, engineers and investors are becoming more and more convinced that real progress is underway based on solid learning from prior experience. Before the end of this decade, there will be a number…

How Hot is Cold Fusion?

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…

Nuclear energy growth prospects and secure uranium supplies

The 121 Mining Investment event held in Las Vegas on March 30 and 31 included a panel discussion with leaders from three uranium mining companies, each of which has an asset base of potentially lucrative mining prospects mostly located in North America. The fourth member of the panel was a managing partner at Nucleation Capital,…

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….

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…

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…